Dinosaur with smart phone.

Hi,

I've owned a mobile phone for over 8 years it costing a whole £5 new via eBay with a £10 credit added to it breaking my heart; I've always disliked the things and still don't really know how to use it; texting is also alien to me; this phone has only ever been used for less than a minute a month just to let Bron know I'm on my way home from Rufforth Auto Jumble weather permitting so I'm a true dinosaur.

Bron said she'd like a mobile just in case of emergency never intending to have it permanently welded to her ear. A few days ago I browsed eBay and bought Bron one of these smart phones;

Note 7 6.26" RAM 2GB Unlocked Android Mobile Smart Phone 4Core 16GB HD Phablet | eBay

The phone arrived yesterday then the fun started putting me on a ballistic learning curve. I played around a bit trying to add time and date plus my email address etc but didn't get anywhere apart from frustration caused by my ignorance; kids of 4 year old know more about these phones than I do.

At 4:30 yesterday afternoon enough was enough; I had inserted the 16GB memory card but didn't have a sim card; I'd spent quite a while browsing the web for instructions/information; we headed to Meadowhall Shopping Center; we visited the "3" phone store and Chris G was brilliant; he inserted a sim and I paid £10 for pay as you go credit just to get us up and running; Chris must have spent half an hour with us explaining everything he was doing but the phone wouldn't connect online so with grateful thanks we headed home. The phone however was now making and receiving calls.

This morning I spent a couple of hours with steam coming out of my ears trying to connect to the web; I was being asked for a password so you can guess how many passwords I entered all being rejected; wifi was on so what was wrong; we're with Virgin media cable through a router; our TV is coupled to an android; we've got about 9 assorted remotes including for our newly installed CCTV so boy I was having lots of fun.

I had Virgin Media showing but above this was a number I hadn't recognized? I'd completely forgotten the router had a password on an attached label; out with a torch and a scramble under the desk to obtain the password from the router; with the password carefully entered it was rejected but by now I just knew this to be the correct password so on second attempt we had Internet connection; why do electronic things just love to wind people up.

Date & time installed automatically; my email address was easy to install too; I've been showing Bron how to use it.

Phone companies seem to think they no longer need to supply instructions; the tiny booklet in many languages is absolutely pathetic.

For anyone buying a first mobile phone may I suggest saving lots of frustration and head to a mobile phone supplier such as "3"

Three Store - Phones, Mobile Broadband & SIMs

I don't mind admitting I'm a dinosaur or showing my ignorance; I'm more at home with stream power and line shafts. Go on have a laugh.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi,

You might find one of these booklets, worthwhile, some can be found in larger Sainsbury stores etc or online.

Really worth getting to know your mobile, ideally a newer smart one, as so many services like dentists, doctors and hospitals etc use text messages to confirm or remind you of appointments.

 

I can totally relate to that!

I’ve been using an android mobile phone for years, and regard myself as fairly computer-savvy. Hubby and I were part of the testing vanguard with gmail, both trained as computer programmers/analysts, and for a while part of one of my part-time jobs was assessing computer software packages. So, not wishing to blow my own trumpet, I know a bit about technical stuff.

You may be aware that many UK banks are now insisting that you have a UK mobile phone if you want to do any on-line banking. “What’s the problem with that?” I hear you ask. Well, some of us live abroad quite legally, with UK bank account, and don’t have a UK mobile. This means that we are about to loose on-line banking access. I also have LPOA for my mum, so this is actually quite a big deal for me. No way around it, says a very apologetic bank employee, so off I go to buy the cheapest PAYG UK mobile I can find. Got the SIM card, and the phone booklet. No clue as to size SIM card has to be broken down to, as the two booklets use different terminology. I went back to the shop, guy starts to laugh at me, then I point out “different terminology” for medium size SIM card, and once made too small, it’s invalid...
He then read the two booklets, and had the decency to blush, whilst setting up my phone. (It’s going to sit in a draw, and send a text every 2 months to keep it valid.)

 

Hi,

Many thanks ricky for taking the time to pass on this very useful information.

Bron and I are seldom away from home so for the little time we need a phone we use our landline. We have SatNav in the car and I've had my cheap non smart phone for years which is seldom used.

I like using email then I can read and reply at my leisure without jumping when a phone rings also email is handy because it gives a text record unlike a phone which can be put down and the details quickly forgotten (unless it's a text message).

We don't need mobile phones but Bron said she would like one just in case of emergency. I've had my mobile phone for over 8 years and still don't know how to send or receive text messages and it doesn't bother me at all; I'm happy being a dinosaur.

I've had a desktop computer for over twenty years which I like and keep updated; I don't need anything more modern like an iPad or tablet.

Thanks Sian; yes I too am finding many companies insist on sending text messages via mobile phone; early this year we bought a set of Michelin Cross Climate tyres costing £600 and had lots of problems with the online ordering using the tyre companies standard contact form; all went well until asked for mobile phone number which must be included; it stopped dead there; I got around it by email; I just don't like phones at all having suffered five phones on the three desks at work together with a pager; I was in charge of three departments with three offices; the phones and pager meant absolutely no peace and the pager meant no hiding place, there must still be many who never want to own or use a mobile phone?

A little story about banking; we've banked online for years and when we first started with online banking only a single password allowed full access to our multiple accounts; this was worrying us so I wrote to the bank explaining our concern handing in the letter to our local branch; the following morning at exactly 9 o'clock I answered our phone to a rather abrupt bank employee who told me in no uncertain terms that the bank online security was robust enough and it would upset customers having to go through a password for each account; she was very agitated indeed and I thought I'd broken her favourite doll; I politely replied that we as customers would be even more upset to lose all our life savings to an hacker; this irate lady even followed up with a letter which I received the day after the phone call; within a few weeks lo and behold a full page at log on stating the bank would be upgrading its online security spreading this over three stages; this new online security is still is use and the only thanks I ever received was the irate phone call; I bet the lady was being employed in a capacity of online banking security and my letter had embarrassed her. I still have the letter.

These modern smartphones are wonderful pieces of technology and it appears to me they are outdated three months after being sold?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

I can see why sales-reps can be confused by me....

I started to go grey in my early 30s, and stopped using any hair-dye when we moved here to be on septic tanks. I now have a shock of white-grey hair.

The reps see this, think “little old lady” ... then they register that I tower over them (I’m nearly 6’ tall) and probably stronger than they are, unless they work out regularly (gardening keeps you fit, and carrying 30kg of dog up and down stairs several times a day removes any need for gym membership).

When all’s said and done, dinosaurs didn’t die out due to stupidity, or ignorance, or “not keeping up with the times”, but because of an extra-terrestrial strike, slightly beyond their control!

 

Oh yes you do.....


Seriously you would be so much better off if you got one of those booklets and steadily worked your way thought it with a half decent Smart phone and a low cost payg or sim only monthly deal.
eg something like a sim free Motorola G6 for under £100 at Argos.

We are no techies, but when out , we do find receiving emails handy and so many places as mentioned above rely on informing you by text, even couriers, to let you know when they will be arriving etc, etc.

Banking/Paypal and similar , their security methods are relying on you having a smart phone more and more and we find it a reassuring double check when we get their codes and messages by text.

Equally we very seldom send texts, walking around all day with your thumbs twiddling on a screen is not our thing
Also we avoid using the phones wifi /hotspots as unless you are tech savvy thats a real security risk, just use the service providers direct data link.

There are many other advantages which even we are not fully aware of, but we find call blocking very handy and on the odd occasion when the broadband goes down we can just connect the phone to the pc with a usb cable ( tethering) and still access our email or banking on the pc using the phone just as a direct data link.

hth

 

Hi,

Thanks ricky; oh no we don't.

I understand what you mean but I've no interest in mobile phones and as such doubt I'll spend time learning how to use one; our landline and computer serve our needs; it's companies trying to force everyone into using a mobile phone and the cost of mobile phones I'm against.

We pay Virgin Media for a bundle including TV; phone and broadband; we hardly ever use the phone and the TV is usually absolute rubbish so we hook up to YouTube selecting our viewing; broadband is unlimited and gets a lot of use we don't NEED anything else.

My chum pays £12 per month for his mobile and he likes it; I'll be surprised if our yearly call bill is £12 so why spend money complicating our lives when not needed? I appreciate we're all different and it seems to me just about everyone these days are married to their mobile phone but I want to relax in my retirement enjoying my workshop and home life; how many kids are preoccupied with mobile phone or computer just pressing buttons; the world is full of interesting things and I'd much rather spend my time making or repairing something; it's the way I am and the way i was taught. I can cheerfully live without either mobile phone or landline.

I do online banking securely from my computer not adding additional risk of a mobile phone; I prefer to be contacted by email and use my email a lot; Bron and I are happy living without all The Must Have electronic devices; we've not had a single days holiday away from home for the last 42 years; we've a beautiful fully restored random stone detached bungalow in its own gardens; we are comfortably off and can afford a brand new car every three year; we come and go as we please usually together for trips out to stores and garden centers; in short we are content with our lives; the furthest we travel from home is about 70 miles to visit our best friends so we are not on the moon stranded wishing we had a mobile phone.

Funds aren't a problem it's just that Bron said she would like a mobile phone just in case of emergency and apart from keeping the phone connected I doubt Bron will ever use it.

I'm interested though to learn why people regard a mobile phone as something they must have rather than something they don't really need and like us could very easily live without.

I added this thread just for a bit of interest because I know Bron and I are becoming rare in not wanting everything; the time I spent sorting the phone out I could have been doing something a lot more interesting to me like metal spinning; doe's anyone remember;

Hannah Hauxwell - Wikipedia

Bron and I are definitely not in poverty like Hannah but we can understand her way of living. Bron's new phone is brilliant but it only doubles what we already have on the desktop the only difference it's mobile. Interesting discussion though ricky thank you.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Not if you don't give them your number, it's not compulsory. A hospital receptionist got quite huffy with me because I wouldn't give her mine. I don't need reminding about appointments, not once, let alone up to four times which has happened to Mr S.

I agree, I have one but it's only used for emergencies.

I have a landline they don't need to text, and more often than not they have to ring anyway because they can't find where I live.