This topic contains 13 replies, has 12 voices, and was last updated by 
Chatauqua560 9 years, 4 months ago.
-
Posts
-
I don’t mean to pick on labrat at all, but in the question I posed to the Board candidates about information dissemination, responses seem to assume that we all have this technology. We don’t. As retirees, one place where we’ve chosen to conserve our fixed income is to have one dumb phone with a super cheap plan. I know others who don’t want to get sucked into social media. So my question here is…who else lacks a smartphone? Who has resisted social media engagement?
We don’t have a smart phone. I have been disheartened by the increasing move towards that technology by The Frog and his friends, and one of these days we might no longer be able to play this game with just a receiver and access to a computer. As with vinyl albums turning to eight-tracks, and then to cassette tapes, and then CDs… and now downloading music… we may find ourselves having to adapt or die, so to speak.
Do I like it? No. Will I someday have to get a smart phone? Who knows? Maybe one of these days I will have to raise my receiver in my fist over my head and pronounce loudly… “From my cold dead hands!”
(I am on the Book of Faces, but my preferred social media is the WGA Thread Stealers’ Thread and the other forums on the WGA website.)
No smart phone, but someday for sure…it is just an expense I can’t take right now.
No book of faces, but likely someday. I don’t care for some of the limitations on registration and I am waiting to see how things evolve. It may be unavoidable at some point, but I can’t see myself being addicted to it like some are. There is too much else to do in life and not enough time for everything.
I am not opposed to technology nor am I jealous of those who can afford the best and most recent. Priorities, money or otherwise, are just a little different in my case.
For years I could not afford the technology but finally gave in a few years ago. With my job I have found it useful at times and with the WGA FB page, priceless.
From a May 2015 article:
187.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (77 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in March, up 3 percent since December.
Another site posts this data in April of 2015:
64% of Americans now own a smartphone, up from 58% in early 2014Smartphone Ownership Highest Among Young Adults, Those With High Income/Education LevelsNearly two-thirds of American adults (64%) now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 58% in early 2014. Smartphone ownership has increased by 29 percentage points since Pew Research conducted its first survey of smartphone ownership in the spring of 2011, when 35% of Americans were smartphone owners.
With 64% of the US owning a smartphone, yes it is safe to assume the majority now embraces the technology. Also from the same article: 23% of smartphone owners have had to cancel or suspend their service in the past due to financial constraints.
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/chapter-one-a-portrait-of-smartphone-ownership/
What does this all mean? Probably nothing except just like Internet service, smartphone ownership are now assumed as is having a FB account but I know of a few friends that still choose to not drink the FB Kool- Aid.
We’d all be better off without the smartphones. Think of how much safer driving would be!
Following the signals from space.
No smart phone; limited contacts on FB to keep out-of-state family informed, as well as a backup for pictures. I DO consider some geocachers as ‘family’!
Smart phones aren’t within our budget so I doubt if we will ever have them. Now that we are not going to be working it’s even less than a chance we’ll ever have them. We take the lap top on trips and that keeps us in the loop and allows us to get info we need. We’re willing to wait that few hours for it.
I had a regular cell phone then went to a smartphone, sharing a data plan to ease the monthly expense. When my GPS 450t Garmin went down and out, it was an excellent back up. These phones of course only work as well as the connection. They aren’t for everyone and for everywhere. However, in their favor, I see the WGA may have a greater chance of attracting new members who already have a smartphone as their only phone of choice, to encourage them to use the geocaching.com app and start their caching adventures. To cache with a smartphone would only be one major purchase, not both a phone and a GPS.
I’d Rather Be Lost Geocaching, Than Found At Home!
A smartphone is an indispensable tool for me. First, it’s required at work, so that I’m connected for texts, emails, photos, etc.
But aside from work, it’s my go-to GPSr for driving, with audible turn-by-turn instructions in addition to the map. It’s great for geocaching, and you can load the caches and entire pocket queries into it on its hard drive quite easily so that you can navigate to them WITHOUT even needing a phone tower connection or a wireless Wi-Fi data connection (and if you don’t think they’re accurate enough for caching, spend 5 minutes with me at an event and I’ll explain how wrong you are). I can send/receive not only texts, but pictures, and those texts with pictures attached are often necessary to view right then, not a few hours later on my computer. I eventually discontinued keeping a paper appointment book; now may calendar is on my phone so I can see what entries are scheduled at any time, and they’re synched with the cloud so I can look at my schedule online as well. I’m not getting any younger; having a smartphone is GREAT for reminders, whether a note to call someone or an item to pick up next time I go shopping, with an audible reminder when it’s time to go. It’s an alarm clock, a timer, a digital camera, a newspaper, an internet browser, a notebook, a flashlight, a Bible, a movie player, a scanner, a photo album (guess how many pics I have on it ;-)), a music player, a TV remote control, a pedometer, a weather forecaster, a calculator, a GPSr, and… it even makes phone calls (with all of my contacts’ phone numbers and email addresses conveniently listed). I don’t use mine for games (unless you count geocaching), but it makes my life more organized.
Not feeling picked on at all Gwyn.
While the statement was a glaring generality, the main point of the response was that the website is still relevant and we to find a way to draw more attention to it. If it wasn’t for my teen/young adult children,there was a chance that I would not have a smartphone and would be putting that money to another use.Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.
I think some interesting observations have come from the overall discussion. While those with “always on” access can get frequent updates, this site seems to have the capability for searching and possibly deeper conversation. I checked out of Facebook for a few months some time back, but got back on because….birds! Still, there is usually someone on the Facebook sites that will quickly share the cool sightings on the email notifications. Maybe one answer would be to create some kind of social media to reach the cellphone crew, but someone who can then share relevant stuff here in a timely manner?
…but someone who can then share relevant stuff here in a timely manner?
You might be on to something here. It’s hard to not comment on items that interest you but often the conversation gets buried and the interesting stuff gets lost. The Thread Stealers link is an interesting example. Often something pops up that’s interesting but then gets buried. If you miss a few days, you can miss the interesting tidbits (Free geocoin, interesting event, cache, the list goes on).
I’m not saying the Thread Stealers thread shouldn’t be as it is but like you, I think, maybe there should be a thread such as “You need to see this.” (For lack of a better name. Some name that hopefully defines it.) Similar to the Fun Things to see thread that you started, almost like a event? thread.
Being hard of hearing, a smart phone is a must for me. I have an app that downloads my voice mail and transcribes it to text. I also have an app that will caption my phone calls though it needs FCC approval to be operational.
Having other apps like Facebook, email, etc. are just a bonus. But if I wasn’t hard of hearing, I wouldn’t need a smart phone. I would be ok going without other apps that I use now on my smart phone such as checking sport scores, reading up-to-date news, etc.
As for navigation with a smart phone, that requires data and I’m on a limited data plan. I prefer using my trusty Garmin Nuvi for that even the maps may not always be up to date as a smart phone navigation app might be. In fact, my current Garmin Nuvi 205 has a map that was installed in 2009 😆 I just use common sense when using the Nuvi and use my smart phone navigation as a backup if I’m going somewhere new.
While I’ve used C:GEO on it in a pinch, I still prefer a dedicated GPS to cache. Even though a smart phone can be accurate for caching with apps like C:GEO, I do not want to expose it to the elements – rain, mud, risk of dropping it, etc.
To sum it up, for me, a smart phone is necessary for me because of my deafness, but if I wasn’t deaf, I wouldn’t need it.
Todd, Your point about the usefulness of the smartphone for your hearing loss makes me realize how quickly things have changed in the five years since I retired. I worked 30 years as a speech/language pathologist, and many of my students were non-verbal for one reason or another. Used to be, to get a device (like you’ve seen Stephen Hawkings use) that speaks for you, it was a big, computer like thing, which cost upwards of $3000 and wasn’t real helpful to ambulatory kids. The last kid I tried to match with a device, it was a small hand held thing, but still kind of bulky and not very ‘cool.’ Cost around $1500. Now, there are all kinds of great apps that can be put on a smart phone and there you have it. And it’s cool and just like what all the other kids have.
So I see the value for those kind of things. I just don’t see that I need one myself.
We have been using Tracfones for 3 years. My little flipphone was hard to hear and needing a new battery so I it was time to get a new phone. HSN had an LG for $89 and triple minutes (1200 minutes X 3 and that was 3600 each for talk, text and data). A year plan is usually around $109 and the minutes roll over when the year is up. I keep the data turned off. I said if I ever got a smartphone, we wouldn’t get anywhere on time because I would be checking for caches the whole route. With the limited data, I’m not tempted to do that so it is working out great, got it if I need it. Usually get a discount when it is time to renew so for the past 2 years, it has been less than $95 for the year. Used c:geo a few times to get coords that I entered in the GPS. Haven’t tried using the phone to locate a cache yet.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.