Showing posts with label smartphones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smartphones. Show all posts

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Sensory overload. Time to unplug.

I recently took on a mission. I'm looking to unplug a bit. Not get completely away from the web mind you, but release it some. Ease my grip from the desire to be plugged into the ongoings of everything a bit, and get back to basics. It seems more and more that we as a society are plugged into everything. I'll use myself for an example, as I have become typical in this respect. This probably rings true for you too. At least in some respect.

I almost always have a computer running around me. If I'm not on a computer, then odds are good that I have my smartphone in hand and something going with it. And even if I'm somewhat broken away from it, I'm on my Xbox, playing a multiplayer game, complete with my mic dangling from my head. Everything is plugged in.

And while it does provide a lot of convenience, it has also become a bit of a crutch. A simple conversation, I'm still doing something on a computer or my phone. Dinner with the family, my phone is in my free hand. TV is off so I can sleep, phone is back in hand. Taking my son to school, hold on a moment while I put in my earplugs so I don't miss anything on the way. Bathroom... fortunately I refrain from stupid duck face and other bathroom pics, but yes, there's a good chance I'm playing games or texting in there like everyone else.

Sensory overload.

I'm sitting here and I'm thinking to myself. When was the last time I enjoyed some time with my wife without looking down at some screen? When was the last time I truly just sat and enjoyed the scenery without looking a a little glowing screen? When was the last time I sat down to eat without reading posts, or something else for dinner? When was the last time I sat down and had a conversation outside of work where my attention was on nothing but the conversation?

So I've decided to unplug some. It's time to go back to a basic phone. It's time to get an mp3 player that's not constantly connected to the web. It's time to get back to enjoying scenery. It's time to be sitting down for a conversation and giving that person 100% of my attention.

So to do this, I'm forcing myself to break some habits, and form new ones.

1) Turn off the cable. Check. We did this a couple years ago, and it's been a wonderful change. I wish we had done it sooner.

2) Limit time on the computer. Hard, but doable.

3) Cut the smartphone, and go back to a basic phone. Very hard. But I do have my computer for most things that are on it. Aside from a few games which can be forgotten, or played on a tablet during computer time, the thing that's hardest for me is my music. Which brings us to 4.

4) Get an mp3 player. I love my music, it's a crutch that has always been with me. Listening to my parents record player when I was little. Basically taking over their first walkman and making it my own so I could listen to the radio and tapes as I went to sleep. (I probably listened to the Cars, and the Grass Roots more than anyone on the planet because of this). Even those goofy radio earphones in the 80's were part of my collection. And with the exception of USMC Boot Camp, I have always had a walkman of some sort with me. Everywhere I've been, music has been there.

5) Get out more. Time for walks or just finding more to do outside.

So the most critical part here, at least to me, is finding a music player that I can be happy with. Something that will hold a ton of music without me having to constantly re-sync with a computer. 2 GB probably seems like a lot to most people, but for someone of my tastes, it's a joke. I have well over 25 GB in the cloud alone, without looking at my CD collection. And my taste from now to 10 minutes from now can change in a rabbits heart beat.

In addition, I want something that will last. Not some cheap POS that will die after a 3 foot drop from my desk. Something that can handle the occasional drop without issue. And will last me for a while. From what I've been reading though, mp3 players have become cheap and disposable since most people rely on their phones for this entertainment now. As much as I despise Apple (I'm a Linux user that goes to Windows as needed) I find myself leaning more towards getting a dreaded iPod. It's not to say that it's the end of the world. But I'd rather not.

So my mission continues. If anything this rings a bell for you, you might look at making some changes too. What do you use as an mp3 player? Would you recommend it? How do you unplug from an increasingly plugged in world? ESCAPE THE MATRIX!

Friday, April 19, 2013

It's a game, not a dating site.

Games. It happens a lot with guys, and I with some women too. I find it annoying as hell. So here I am, I have my lovely smartphone in hand, and I'm looking to kill some time. So I do what so many others do, and I pull up a game on my phone. Doesn't matter what it is, a scrabble like game, mini golf, dice, or name that tune, I always run into the same problem. You send out an invite to start a game with a random person, and if you're the same sex you get declined almost every time! It makes it hard to find a good game. To make matters worse, you get some moron who wants to ask age, if you're married, etc. What the french toast! It's a friggin game, not a damn dating service!

So briefly I tried an experiment on one of them. I put up a random pic that doesn't show a person. It was obvious people didn't look at my screen name. Instead not only was the game accepted, but I'm getting in game messages asking if I'm a girl, where I am, how old I am, if I'm seeing anyone. Yeah, YOU ARE SOME DUMBASSES! And what makes it worse is that it's not all school kids, it's grown adults doing this! As soon as I changed my pic to show who I really am, it came to a screeching halt, and again I'm in exile with most men. Which isn't all bad, because at least when I do get a game going, I know it's someone like me that actually wants to play the game. 

This is where good parenting comes in and parents limit, screen, and spot check what they allow their kids access too. Some of these deviants are down right disgusting. Yes, that includes women. Seriously, you're not going to get a date from playing a game. Do these people really think they're going to find love in a round or words with friends or draw something? Just because I played word feud with you, does not mean I want to marry you. In all honesty, you're lucky if I even respond to a message outside of "good game" or "rematch". 

A lot of people are complaining that they can't find love. Here's why. IT'S NOT IN A VIDEO GAME! Unplug for a while, get a job, move out of your parents basement, and learn how to talk to real live people. Oh crap, what a concept! Talking. It's not a new invention, it's just one that seems to be lost in the gibberish of text talk and playing Wii instead of actual basketball. 

Sunday, March 31, 2013

An observation about people

Something I've noticed over the past few years in the Operating System ecosystem that is, is that people are funny about what's on their computer Vs what's on their phone. Think about it. You have your hardcore Windows, Mac, Linux users for the most part. And they bash the hell out of each other. But then you look at what smartphone they use. Windows users love iPhones, Mac users love Android, Linux on Windows Phones, or any combination of the bunch. The love doesn't seem to survive the jump into the world of phones.

Linux users I can see being torn. Afterall many of us look to the various flavors of Linux to escape the proprietary garbage of Microsoft and Mac to a point. But with Google's Darth Vader like chokehold on Android, it's not really any different in a lot of respects. Still it's easier to swallow a Linux user on Android because of the relationship between Google and Ubuntu, and the accessibility that is there for that OS.

Microsoft has done pretty good with Windows Phone in recent incarnations, but with a bit of stumbling. Their future is still uncertain. Then you look at Mac. Steve Jobs was a great salesman, I'll give him that. But as predicted Mac is struggling since he died. Combined I recently read an article which points to the iPhone as being the main culprit in the virus and malware problem that smartphones are seeing now.

Maybe this is part of the reason Blackberry has survived when the likes of Palm and Symbian have been written off. Now we're looking at Samsung, Ubuntu, and others wanting to get their own flavors out there as well. Competition can bring better things, and having a bigger selection to chose from isn't neccessarily a bad thing.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Some sheep don't need smartphones.

So it's time for more of the crap in my mind to come forth. I recently saw an post on Google Plus that says that you can expect 24-32 hours of use on a Motorola Razr Maxx HD from a single full charge. And I couldn't help myself, I had to respond to it a call shenanigans. Especially since this is the very phone I'm using at the moment. Within minutes the sheep came out of the woodwork to back up that advert, and it just reminded me how much I hated working for Verizon Wireless Tech Support a few years ago. Bottom line, people should need to take a test before they're allowed to get a phone, and the results should dictate the type of phone they're allowed.

So I ask how people actually see these time frames while actually using their phones to their fullest. The responses I got are as follows: I set the smart controls to that WiFi turns on/off automatically at certain places, I turn off GPS location services, I turn off the Bluetooth feature when I'm not actually using it. I'm thinking, okay, all reasonable actions so far.

Then the headache starts. I dim the screen as much as possible, I set battery controls which stops data if I'm actually in an app an using it, I set my various email not to update unless I do so manually. I don't know about you, but I like a bright screen I can see. The purpose of a smartphone is to actually have access to things as they come to you such as email. But as much as I disagree with these actions, I can understand them coming down to personal preference that won't make a big deal in actual battery use. But in seeing this I know they're holding back, and battery life isn't impacted much by these changes.

The headache comes full on now. I use my phone for text, read my email though I don't respond to it from my phone, and I make calls all day. But I don't surf the web, play games, stream music or video, or use many apps. AH HA! Some truth has come out finally. My question to you now, why do you have a smartphone if you don't use it as such. The resounding answer, so I can read my email. My retort, GET A REGULAR PHONE YOU DOLT!

Reasons to get a smartphone: to get and respond to email. Access, modify and send documents while away from a computer, access the internet for various things, keep current on news and things important to you, stream music and/or video (video being great for video conferencing), being able to access and use banking apps like PayPal for various needs, AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN STARTED YET!

Here's my thing, if a phone is reported to have average use of these long hours that are advertised now, it should be based on the average use of people who actually use the smartphone to it's fullest. Obviously some features will drain the battery faster than others.

People are raping themselves by getting smartphones, and then dumbing them down to regular phones as much as possible. You can get a regular phone with or without a qwerty keypad, and/or a touch screen, that gives you access to calls, text, email, calendar with scheduling, navigation, and still offer you apps for much less than a smartphone, and in some cases (provider dependent) a lower data plan than you're using with a smartphone. People are falling in line with the various companies push to get everyone onto a smartphone and a data plan these days. You don't need all this crap! It's like buying a car and not driving it.

So the next time you see one of the many sheep out there talking up how great their phone is, but how they're getting shafted on their bill, just keep in mind they're probably raping themselves.

FYI, I wrote this from my smartphone. While I may only see 10-12 hours of life in it, I actually use it, so I don't feel as bad as the sheep when it comes time to pay my bill.

If you're dumbing down your phone, just to see the reported long battery life... you're an idiot and need to turn your phone off. Use that damn thing as it was intended, and start making the manufacturers deliver a product based on the use of people that use it and not as the average non-user that own it.