phones

[Drew Dowdell]

6 minutes ago, frogger said:

With every version upgrade of Android I'm noticing less features that interest me being added. For my use anyways. 

Last feature added I found pretty useful is tap to pay, only for when I walk to the stores in the neighbourhood and forget my wallet. 

Luckily in Canada now, service providers cannot sell carrier locked phones.

I'm with you... I'm not sure what other features I really want or need at this point.  I just want it to work well with my other devices/cars.   My big thing is music... I have yet to find a music app I actually like. 

[ykX]

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I'm with you... I'm not sure what other features I really want or need at this point. 

10 minutes ago, frogger said:

With every version upgrade of Android I'm noticing less features that interest me being added. For my use anyways. 

I think at this point it is true for both platforms.  Apple adding stupid emojis and VR emojis and some other crap teenagers can entertain themselves for another 15 minutes.

I think they all pretty much running out of useful ideas.  

I agree, I just want my phone/internet browser/music/navigation/camera work without glitches.

[frogger]

7 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I'm with you... I'm not sure what other features I really want or need at this point.  I just want it to work well with my other devices/cars.   My big thing is music... I have yet to find a music app I actually like. 

The UI on the music apps is sad.   I'm part of a family plan with internet strangers to keep the costs down for both Spotify and Tidal , and both apps are kludgy IMO.  Maybe that is the price to pay for having so much music available at your fingertips.

The other advancement I'm happy about is battery life.  Getting 6-8 hours screen time with the newer flagship procs is such a boost over the 3-4 from a few years back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[G. David Felt]

I think the next thing is true voice control over the whole phone and building it to be either a bracelet, or just an ear piece. I have found that there is a need to have everything in the phone but in a very small format as well as the need to be flexible with lifestyle.

[Drew Dowdell]

10 minutes ago, dfelt said:

I think the next thing is true voice control over the whole phone and building it to be either a bracelet, or just an ear piece. I have found that there is a need to have everything in the phone but in a very small format as well as the need to be flexible with lifestyle.

I'm not buying another piece of equipment just to have voice control.  Voice control doesn't even work well enough for me to use it much. 

[G. David Felt]

5 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I'm not buying another piece of equipment just to have voice control.  Voice control doesn't even work well enough for me to use it much. 

Agreed, right now voice truly sucks, but if they could get it to work without having to touch your phone then I would be up for that.

[riviera74]

Voice control when Siri, Alexa and Bixby underachieve? No thanks.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 3/12/2019 at 4:40 PM, riviera74 said:

Voice control when Siri, Alexa and Bixby underachieve? No thanks.

Voice control is also bad in an open office setting.  I don't want to talk to my phone to change tracks or if I need to check my Grindr messages. 

[balthazar]

Well, finally took the plunge. My prior 2 flip phones lasted a combined 11 years and I had no complaints, but I just bought a new iPhone 8. Man, is this going to be a long learning curve.

BTW - Costco, as referenced here on page 1, only sells the iPhone X.
 

Edited May 2, 2019 by balthazar

[ykX]

@balthazarCongrats, iPhone 8 is a good phone, hope it lasts you.

I bet few weeks from now you will wonder how you lived without a smartphone until now

[daves87rs]

I have to get a new phone for work- have to retire my HTC Desire 626. Been a great phone for 4 years. 

Tough choice....since I have to use it for work (they are partly covering it), I’m looking at either a Samsung s10e, or an IPhone XR.

Really like my “droid, but I also like the iPad I am on too......

[riviera74]

8 hours ago, balthazar said:

Well, finally took the plunge. My prior 2 flip phones lasted a combined 11 years and I had no complaints, but I just bought a new iPhone 8. Man, is this going to be a long learning curve.

BTW - Costco, as referenced here on page 1, only sells the iPhone X.
 

Welcome to iPhone. I have an iPhone 8 Plus since June and it is great.  No need (for me) to get a X, Xr or a Xs.

[balthazar]

22 hours ago, ykX said:

I bet few weeks from now you will wonder how you lived without a smartphone until now

Mine is going to be the most underutilized smart phone of all time. 

EDIT :: I charged to 100% Wed night, as of noon Friday it still has 66%- and I spent some time yesterday manually entering my contact list (42 so far). If I can get 3 days out of a charge, that's not too bad, and halfway between the 6 days I got out of the flip, and the 16-some hrs some people get.

Edited May 3, 2019 by balthazar

[Drew Dowdell]

55 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Mine is going to be the most underutilized smart phone of all time. 

Wait till you learn to search for car parts from it while you're still under the car.....

[oldshurst442]

All this talk about "wait until you can do this" or "you'll wonder how you have lived before smart phones that"...

 

All that wonderin' and doin' with smart phones just makes you into a phone zombie...

Its like crack cocaine or qualudes...sorry, Im still stuck in the 1980s...its like opioid drug abuse...(so you folk dont think Im stuck in the past)

We get addicted to the fast, instant information that we require instant repsonse and no waiting times...like for anything...

We will send a message to order something, then like spoiled bratty children, we look at our phones to see if the recieving party got the message and we want him/her to respond IMMEDIATELY and we continue looking at our phone to see if and when he/she will respond...

And with all that, one could just have the patience to get to a regualr computer and process all their messages he/she wants  and the reciever will recieve all the messages and he/she will process those messages and those answers will back answered when possible...and all will be done sent and recieved instantly because the medium used between a smart phone or a regualr computer like we did in the early 2000s BEFORE Smartphones is the same medium...

If we sent the messgae 2 hours ago on our smartphone...but the dude on the recieveing end could not respond immediatley...but responds 3 hours after...what difference does it make if we did not have smart phones and we waitned those same two hours when we got to our regular computers?

Now...having a smartphone on our persons is a GREAT invention...changed humanity even more than an internet computer did...and THAT is saying a lot... but...all it really did, is make us zombies and impatient and intolerant as a whole...

So...count me out on the "wait until you see what you could do with a smartphone..." camp

Because I actually DO the what the smartphone does...at MY OWN PACE WHEN I CAN WHILE NOT USING A SMART PHONE and it seems I HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO ENJOY MY SURROUNDINGS AT THE SAME TIME...UNLIKE SOME SMARTPHONE USERS!!!

 

Im like that lone guy in the pic...

 

[Robert Hall]

Having had a smart phone for over a decade, and cell phones since the mid 90s, I really can't remember life without them, or when I still used a land line phone.   Hard to imagine the hardships of what living was like in ancient times.    

[Drew Dowdell]

17 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Having had a smart phone for over a decade, and cell phones since the mid 90s, I really can't remember life without them, or when I still used a land line phone.   Hard to imagine the hardships of what living was like in ancient times.    

I've had to carry two smart phones with me for 19 years now, back when they were blackberries and palm pilots.  These days my work phone isn't that important. I haven't been on call in years. 

[Robert Hall]

5 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I've had to carry two smart phones with me for 19 years now, back when they were blackberries and palm pilots.  These days my work phone isn't that important. I haven't been on call in years. 

I don't miss being on call...hated that with some companies.  Now if there is a production issue Level 1 looks at it and creates a ticket.  With my client's life insurance systems there really is no after hours support, not like when I was in banking and utilities.  

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, oldshurst442 said:

Im like that lone guy in the pic...

His battery is dead.

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Having had a smart phone for over a decade, and cell phones since the mid 90s, I really can't remember life without them, or when I still used a land line phone.   Hard to imagine the hardships of what living was like in ancient times.    

I have a smartphone too.

An ancient iPhone6. Im not some sort of nantzy panzy who doesnt realize the worth of tech. Smartphone tech at that.

But...I also dont agree with your statement of putting it as "ancient times without smartphones"

Ive had a cellphone since 1993. I was 20 years old.  I use my smartphone in countless of ways. But I also found myself yearning for those "ancient times" to come back...only with the constant need to use our smartphone every second of the damned day.

When I need to use the internet for whatever reason, to make a restaurant order, or whatever, yes, I could do it with my iPhone...

I used to log unto my on my restaurant's security cameras with my iPhone to see what is going on at the store.

All that constant need to be connected got me into a paranoia state of mind...

Now...I just calmed myself the phoque down,  breathe, and just use the internet when I can. ON MY OWN TERMS... And if that means being off the grid for 15 hours, 20 hours. 48 hours, so be it...

I just use the internet the way we used to use the internet during the "ancient times"

OK...sometimes Im on Youtube listening to music. OK...kinda like all the time when Im at home NOT watching TV or doing homework with my kids...But never when I drive. I dont use internet to listen to music when I drive or Im waiting in a doctor's office.  I got enough music using early 2000s tech for that. I dont use CDs, but other storage devices NOT called the cloud...or Spotify...

In fact, when Im waiting in a doctor's office, or dealership, or check-out line, or whatever, my smartphone, is tucked away in my pocket, like it was in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996...in other words, I simply use my phone as a phone, and if I do NOT want to be bothered, its off. Internet and all...all on my OWN terms

But yeah...a life without internet is almost impossible today. Even for non-business usages.

You can play your own DJ.  Get sports scores instantly.  And all that great instant information stuff...Yada yada yada....

But...I have found a happy medium to NOT be connected 24/7/365.   And its such a nice feeling is alls Im saying.

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

3 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

But...I have found a happy medium to NOT be connected 24/7/365.   And its such a nice feeling is alls Im saying.

There are often times I feel like I would like to do that, but there are too many things I need to monitor, not just the latest sports ball scores, but things like tenants and web servers, that it's really hard to take a "vacation" without a phone. 

My phone plan works in 122 different countries without extra charges too. 

[Robert Hall]

56 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

But yeah...a life without internet is almost impossible today. Even for non-business usages.

You can play your own DJ.  Get sports scores instantly.  And all that great instant information stuff...Yada yada yada....

But...I have found a happy medium to NOT be connected 24/7/365.   And its such a nice feeling is alls Im saying.

 

 

When I'm waiting in a line, waiting at the airport, or waiting at the doctor--I'm on my phone...what else is there to do in those circumstances but surf the web, read C&G, check email, check Facebook, check my home Ring cameras, check my ADT, etc.  I just find it really hard to be 'offline' these days, I've been online for so long... part of that comes from being in IT--I'm on a computer all day for work, so being on my computer, iPad, iPhone in my off hours comes naturally...a few times I don't use my phone is when I'm driving, on a plane (though I'm on my iPad or Kindle then), at a concert, play, movie or other artistic performance.   It's fun to disconnect for a couple hours...but longer than that is hard.  I have tried going a weekend without internet or phone and it's near impossible. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by Robert Hall