I surrender to the Borg....

I can recall a long time ago, looking through magazines and newspapers, seeing something curious in ads, and even editorials. Businesses were starting to put odd annotations about "emailing" them and visiting their site at _____.com. I had heard of the internet, of course, in the computer related magazines I was reading at the time. But it seemed like some sort of arcane nerd network where the geeks could hang out by typing messages on a keyboard and watching received messages scroll across the screen through their phone line modems. Now, suddenly, this was becoming mainstream.

I started thinking that perhaps there was something to this, and that perhaps I needed to jump into this myself. It sort of looked like this internet stuff was here to stay. This was back in the mid '90s, and I thought perhaps my SerpenCo business might be worthwhile taking advantage of this new medium obviously gaining steam. I could see the potential of posting pics "online" along with a price list, instead of spending a fortune every year mailing out lists and some accompanying photos. Heck, this could actually be a GOOD thing.

So we fast forward to now. Over the last few years, I have been highly resistant of the "smart" phone generation, because quite honestly, I just didn't see the need for it. Obviously I had been looking at it only from the "phone" aspect, rather than the "smart" aspect. I really don't want to get phone calls when I am anywhere else but in my home. So spending the kind of money these things were demanding for the opportunity to be bothered by a phone call while I am out driving, out shopping, eating dinner out, or even walking the beach, just didn't make any sense to me. Heck, I can remember a time when if someone called you on the phone and asked you "where are you", that would be grounds to throw a straight jacket on them and haul them away. I also remember a time when someone would be walking down the street apparently talking to themselves, that you knew to just give them a wide berth and try not to make eye contact with them. But things have changed.

And to be perfectly honest, from the phone calls I have gotten from people using this cell phone technology, with the conversation breaking up all of the time with only every other word being completely audible, and sometimes making what the other party was saying completely indecipherable, I just couldn't see the sense to it. Seemed like a lot of money to pay for half baked technology. Heck, I still see people who have to walk outside in order to use their phones. Rain or shine. But this technology HAS to have improved, right? RIGHT??

So anyway here comes this deja vu slowly creeping up on me. I start seeing these odd square boxes in magazines and newspapers, saying something like "For more information"..... next to the boxes. Hmmm.... They don't even say what you are supposed to DO with those boxes, like everyone already knows. So yeah, that tingling sensation has started building up on the back of my neck. I can feel the hair growing all over my body as I become a caveman suddenly thrust into the future.

But still I had been resistant, although I could feel the cracks in the armor of my excuses. So the breaking point came back in June, when Connie and I were on Sanibel Island and we took our bikes and rode down to the "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Used to be they would have various signs along the way, explaining the wildlife, or history, or some other aspect of the natural features along the way. Not any more. Know what they have now?



Yeah, that is it. No text for the "smart phone challenged" cavemen. You either have a smart phone to scan that box, or you are just plain out of luck if you want to know what the sign is trying to tell you. A caveman would have felt no less out of his element looking at those signs. They meant absolutely nothing to me. If they had said, "walk forward 4 feet, start digging, and there is a million dollars in the ground", I would have passed it by because I could not have read that message. I will tell you, that was a real smack in the head for me.

So at first I was irritated. How DARE them to treat me like a caveman! So I stewed in silence on that while continuing to ride my bicycle on down the road, thinking hard about what this meant. Then I started feeling worried. Suppose this is the future staring at me. Suppose it is going to become NECESSARY to have a smart phone eventually. Shades of the mark of the devil! I have already had several instances of online verification requiring receiving a text message that I could not comply with. So is this where this is all headed? Eventually you will not be able to accomplish simple basic tasks without having a smart phone in order to do it. Heck, I don't know how many household devices now have apps that will run on a smart phone. A while back I was really interested in getting one of those radio controlled drones to take aerial video, but most of them required a smart phone or tablet as the visual interface. So I lost interest and put that idea WAY back on the back burner. But how long before I won't be able to drive a new car because it too will need to interface with a smart phone? Or I find that I cannot even use the microwave oven without one? Or I come to a door one day that requires the use of a cell phone to provide ID so I can gain entry? Sheesh.....

OK, OK, yeah I know most of you already have your smart phones and probably cannot understand why I don't too, and this is all pretty humorous to you. I'm an old guy, so ease up on me. I am coming around. I finally see no choice but to surrender to the tide. I am going to finally get one of these new fangled devices, because it appears that sooner rather than later, I will have no choice. Of course, I will probably stencil "666" on the back of it, and be damned for all eternity, but what the heck. It's the price I am going to have to pay to come out of the cave, I guess.

But I am asking of you all that if you see me sitting at dinner with Connie, or walking through a mall, or driving, with my nose stuck to my cell phone, oblivious to the outside world, please just SHOOT me. Well, shoot the phone first, please, and if I look like my soul has been taken from me with the death of my cell phone, THEN shoot me. I have seen these things apparently taking over people's lives. Heck, I have been reading up on smart phones in articles on the net, and I actually read one where the author claimed that buying a smart phone is going to be the most important decision you can make in your life. I kid you not. And I seriously hope no one really believes that. Because if it were true, we are in some SERIOUS trouble as a society.

I suppose it's just a matter of time before these things are going to be required to be implanted into our brains and make cyborgs out of us. Of course, I also suppose that a majority of the people thoroughly hooked on their cell phones would welcome the convenience of something like that and fight to get first in line to have that done. It probably wouldn't even have to be made mandatory for most folks.

Oh well... Welcome to the Borg, Caveman.

My son stopped over to give me a phone he replaced with the latest smart phone. He said it is 5G whatever that means. Apparently the new phone is better than 5G, so I assume it is 6G. I asked him what was wrong with the 5G phone, since it does everything a person could want. He said I need to move out of my cave and get rid of my old "flip" phone. I told him the 5G phone is big and heavy, and there's no way I want it. My old flip phone allows me to speak to people, and now some have found out that I can text, so I receive texts all day and half the night.

Heck, I can't think of a half dozen people who might know the new phone number when we get it. Which probably won't even include me. I've had a flip cell phone for at least 10 years and until VERY recently I couldn't have told you that phone number if my life depended on it. In all the time we have had it, I would bet that we haven't even put an hour's worth of time on it. Most of that time was probably when the power was out here for four days when a hurricane went through. Not sure if anyone ever tries to call that number, as we never have it turned on. We have it solely for emergencies. Like hurricanes.....

The only way the new cell phone will get any sort of "talk" minutes on it is if Connie winds up liking it and uses it to talk to her sisters, aunts, and cousins. Then the minutes will REALLY add up..... :laugh:

I don't think we will get more than the one cell phone. Connie and I are rarely apart except when she makes the occasional trip up north to visit her family. Sometimes I go with her and sometimes I don't. I think she has a better time with family if she doesn't have to worry about me getting bored up there. It's not her family, it's just me. I just can't work up any interest in family matters, even in my own family. Most of which are gone anyway. In any event she would take the cell phone with her, as I most likely won't need it while I'm at home.

My flip phone is also 10+ years old. Half the time I don't know where it is, so my wife calls my number so I can locate it. I didn't know my own phone number so had to ask my wife what it is. I figure if it is important they will call my wife's phone.

My daughter-in-law has a watch, or it looks like a watch, that she talks into and texts. Kind of reminds me of the old Get Smart television show.

One of the benefits of being a later generation who grew up with the internet and watched the transition from clunky walkie-talkie phones to slim pocket computers with 100x the power and 1000x the storage of my first PC with youthful eyes is that I've learned it's better to just adapt rather than question. Still, I find myself starting to resist some as I get older. I did think "smart" phones were dumb until I actually got to mess with one and realized that people who were already computer-illiterate would eventually use it as their primary means of connecting to the internet. And they did. Now these smart watches seem pretty cool and useful , but I refuse to get one if only because I think I'd probably break the damned thing like every other watch I've tried to wear (and I'm not sure why I'd need one just yet since I always have my phone on me). I managed to break my FitBit and that didn't even have a screen.

My brother, who is the closest thing to a hermit that I know, refused to buy a computer. However, every time he needed to buy something unavailable locally, he would call me to search the web and find him the best deal. His neighbor convinced him that he should buy a cell phone in case of a hurricane emergency. He bought a smart phone with a data plan and now all I hear is how great the phone is, and what he can do with it. I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks after all. I guess that I'd buy one if I didn't have my computer.

That would be wonderful for additional information and for translations to other languages besides English for foreign visitors. But the basic information should still be on the sign. Whoever did that is ignorant at best.

I recently used a conservation article in Afrikaans for my house snake display at ReptileFest. There was a QR code label for the English translation. However, I did have a print out "behind the table" for anyone who asked. That's a proper way to do it IMO. Maybe I'm an old fogey, but when using a QR code makes information less accessible it is being used wrongly.

That would be wonderful for additional information and for translations to other languages besides English for foreign visitors. But the basic information should still be on the sign. Whoever did that is ignorant at best.

I recently used a conservation article in Afrikaans for my house snake display at ReptileFest. There was a QR code label for the English translation. However, I did have a print out "behind the table" for anyone who asked. That's a proper way to do it IMO. Maybe I'm an old fogey, but when using a QR code makes information less accessible it is being used wrongly.

For the curious:

https://youtu.be/ReySrtqyUjU

DollysMom said:

That would be wonderful for additional information and for translations to other languages besides English for foreign visitors. But the basic information should still be on the sign. Whoever did that is ignorant at best.

I recently used a conservation article in Afrikaans for my house snake display at ReptileFest. There was a QR code label for the English translation. However, I did have a print out "behind the table" for anyone who asked. That's a proper way to do it IMO. Maybe I'm an old fogey, but when using a QR code makes information less accessible it is being used wrongly.

Click to expand...

Exactly my thought on that sign.

I love my smart phone, not for making calls, because I hate talking on the phone and the actual phone feature does kind of suck still, but texting is a breeze and my favorite way to talk to people and I can manage most things with our hobby reptile business with it from nearly anywhere. Being able to Google any random question that darts through the mind is quite addictive as well.

But I know a lot of people that still don't have smart phones, they are expensive enough to be a luxury many of the people around here can't afford and they wouldn't be able to do anything with that QR code either.

:iagree:

Funny thing that YouTube video it linked to is not even the sort of thing I go to a wildlife refuge for. I can watch YouTube's all day long on my couch at home.

Well, today (Tuesday) Connie and I went to the local Best Buy store, and found that Verizon was offering a real deal on the Samsung Galaxy S8+. $300 off of the regular price. I had been reading up on the front runners for IOS (Apple) and Android phones and the new Galaxy phone has gotten glowing reviews.

The guys there couldn't believe the old flip phone we had, and were too young to have ever seen the old plan we had with Verizon.

So I have to charge up the phone fully so I can take a look at options and play with it a bit. I can see where these is going to be a sharp learning curve here. Sort of made me change my perception of all the people I see staring intently at their smart phone constantly. Perhaps they are just trying to figure the darn things out. :laugh:

And I learned something (partially) new too. This cell phone (and I assume others) can be charged up wirelessly just by laying it on a sort of paddle thingie. No direct contacts, or plug ins. It's just like laying the cell phone on a dish and it somehow draws power from it. I have to look this up to see how that works. Shades of Nikola Tesla magic!

Congrats Rich. I hope you and Connie enjoy your new phone! They really are little computers in your hand. I've had iPhones since they came out (before there was an App Store). I do put mine away when driving and rarely walk around with it out like the kids do, but I certainly have it with me. I've heard great things about the Galaxy S8 and that charging system is so neat. One of the best things is that you always have a camera and a GPS with you. That and unlimited texting is life changing.

(By the way I don't buy into the Apple-Android rivalry. I'm all for people enjoying whichever phone they own.)

My two smart phones have been Galaxies, 3 for the old one and current one is the 7. I've had good luck with them so far.

I can't believe Rich went over to the dark side. Now I may be the only one on the forum with an outdated flip phone. They will have to pry it away from my cold, oh wait. I think that had something to do with handguns. Anyway good luck with the new toys.

I can't believe I'm reading this. Did someone hack into Rich's account?????

Well, I have mixed feelings about this smart phone stuff. One one hand, the Borg seem to be OK to rub elbows with. Kind of handy having a pocket programmable computer. Still only scratching the surface, but the idea of being able to speak into a handheld device and get answers to just about anything is right intriguing. Of course, I haven't tested it much yet to see what sort of limits there are. Could it REALLY tell me what the torque specs are on the starter bolts for a 2002 Corvette engine while I am in the garage in a NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW sort of situation?

Seem to be a LOT of freebie apps available, but it seems the strings attached mean being slammed with ads. Of course, I guess anything run by Google would have to be that way. Probably after I get my feet wet learning on the freebie apps, I might just try to replace what I can with paid apps. Of course, I don't know how the pricing structure works. Prices seem cheap enough, but is that a one time purchase, or are they what I would have to pay each month? I've stopped buying PC software from vendors who just want to lease you their software products instead of you BUYING them outright.

One thing I do know.... No way in hell I would want to do much of anything on the internet on something like this. I logged into FaunaClassifieds and just tried viewing some classified ads, and that was actually painful to do. Expanding and shrinking the screen constantly, scrolling just to read the text or view a picture CONSTANTLY is WAY too much work. I'll stick with my 4K 28 inch screen and full sized keyboard on my desktop computer, thank you very much. If I HAD to do much of the stuff I do on a daily basis on my sites only using a smart phone, I would be out of and over this stuff in a hurry. Heck, I have small hands and fingers, and trying to tap out even the most basic stuff to post a message is cruel and unusual punishment. I found a stylus I had laying around and find it much easier to "type" that way. Why anyone would put themselves through that day in and day out is beyond me. It just makes the internet actually painful to use.

I do like being able to see weather radar on the fly, and the GPS topo maps look like they could be useful when on trips. Then there is a tool package I installed that has some pretty nifty stuff. The ability to make the smart phone effectively into a magnifying glass is neat. One of the tools is a metal detector, so I'm curious to see how that one works. Also a heart rate monitor, compass, etc.. And yeah, it is kind of cool to be able to take photos and 4K video on the fly with this phone. But I really can't see it taking the place of my photo and video gear for serious shooting. This would be for times when I DON'T have camera gear with me, and something photo worthy just happens to come along. This would be WAY better than nothing in a situation like that.

But yeah, when I take trips, I am STILL going to be taking my laptop with me. This smart phone makes a pretty interesting tool for a lot of things, but I just cannot see it ever taking the place of my main desktop and laptop computers. Even though the computing power should be sufficient, the user interface itself is severely lacking.

So, I guess I am not fully assimilated into the Borg culture yet. This could go one of two ways, I guess. (1) I become absorbed in this technology as I find more and more practical things to use it for, or (2) The newness of a new fangled device enthralls me for a little while, but eventually the novelty will wear off, and it becomes "just a phone with other benefits" to me. Even as a phone, I sure as heck don't want anyone calling me unless I am at home without a darn good reason.

Oh yeah, Connie wants her own phone. So I guess we will be buying another one pretty shortly. Normally she just takes the cell phone we had with her when she makes trips when we are not together. But she worries about me being without one when I am here alone and driving on the roads anywhere. I sincerely doubt she will ever get much involved with a smart phone, however. She just doesn't care much for anything of a technical nature.

There is a learning curve and just like any computer it needs to serve you and not the other way round. In the end it's just a tool.

Give Connie my best on her new phone.

While I don't want or need a smart phone, it seems that everyone who has one does like the thing. I'll tell you how far out of touch I am. My daughter-in-law asked if we could babysit our 18 month old granddaughter, and I said bring her over. She said if the baby gets bored here's a smart phone, just give it to her. I assumed it was broken and the baby would just throw it around. No way, she turned it on and selected some app that brought up Mother Goose Club. Her tiny fingers scrolled through all the songs and she selected the ones she wanted to watch. Holy mackerel, an 18 month old knows more about a smart phone than I do. Sue told me to turn off the phone so she could feed the baby, but I said I don't know how you turn it off. I finally convinced the baby to turn it off by telling her I have ice cream.

I don't know if I'm also too old to have fully assimilated, I only got a smart phone in 2012, but yeah, there are quite a few things that are actively painful to attempt on a phone and I've always had decent (for a phone) sized screens. There is no way that I would be able to do without a PC of some kind.

I do love the GPS feature though!

So Friday Connie and I went back up to Best Buy to see if we could get another phone while it is still on sale. Yep! So now Connie has her own phone too.

This makes it kind of tough, because I usually have to help her figure out technical stuff, and I'm a newbie with this stuff too, and floundering to come up with answers when she asks. I still haven't figured out how to rearrange the icons on the screen to move the ones I will actually ever use to the front, and the other ones to the back. Or heck, perhaps I could just create folders to put the really arcane icons out of sight completely? I already deleted the games that are preloaded on the phone, as I can't see me ever playing games. After playing games on my desktop, I can't see where playing games on a little phone is going to have much attraction for me.

I had downloaded some ringtones and figured out how to get them from my PC to the phones, and had Connie pick out something she would like. She found one that was OK, but she really wanted something better. I had to pry out of her what she had in mind, and she said she really likes the into to the song "Key Largo". So I spent some time last night creating a custom ringtone for her from that song. Would have gone a LOT quicker if the utilities I had would have been able to download the music file from YouTube. I finally did find one video I could download, but all the rest of them just would not work. Extracting the intro and editing it a bit was a snap after I got the raw file.

Oh, the ringtone I picked cracked me up when I first heard it. It starts with the oldtime bell ringer, and then some Pakistani sounding guy starts talking about "pick up the phone, please". It will probably get old after a while, but for now it's worth a laugh when I hear it.

So looks like today Connie is going to be calling members of her family to give them her new phone number and also have their phone numbers stored on her new phone. I showed her how to edit them as contacts to make them easier to find. I know she is going to be hoping that someone calls her so she can hear her ringtone.

I'm waiting for a case to come in that I ordered. We bought a sort of wallet style case for mine when I bought it, but Connie really likes that one, so I gave it to her. I'm thinking I want one with a belt clip so it will be easy to carry around when we are hiking in the woods, or riding the trails on our bikes. Not that I am expecting, or wanting, any phone calls, but accidents can happen.... I will tell you what, these things without a case are as slippery as gravy on a doorknob. No wonder people drop and break them. I also put screen protectors on the front of both phones. I'll be honest, seeing fingerprints, smudges and streaks on the shiny surfaces of the phones really drives both of us nuts.

Oh, I found a nifty little app that supposedly lets you GPS track another phone via the phone number. Connie is planning on visiting family soon, so I thought it kind of cool to be able to track her progress as she drives up north. I passed this by her first, of course. We figure the government already can use these things to track everyone anyway, so this just allows us to tap into that capability. Of course, our limited app requires that the same app be on each phone we would want to track, but I'm sure the government doesn't have any such limitation.

So when do I get that cool metallic exoskeleton on my body of the Borg?