On 18/06/2015 10:06 PM, songbird wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 17/06/2015 11:20 PM, songbird wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
...
I really like a traditional machine - a screen in front of me that stand
up by itself and a good keyboard that I could pound on if I was really
getting into the swing of a response. I hate tapping at screens which
aren't made for real human sized fingers. I'm a dinosaur.

yeah, plus i don't want to carry any gadgets around
and if i'm away from the keyboard it means i'm also
probably not going to answer the phone until i come
back in from the gardens.

they're really slow too for someone used to touch
typing.

i used to get actual written responses to notes to
people. now i get "ru thr?" or other similar one-
liners.

LOL. I'm suspect I'm even more of a dinosaur than you.

not too likely, we don't have cellphones (either of us)
and there are no plans to get one. Ma won't even touch a
computer any more (she used to have to use an old system
at the trucking company, but since she retired i've been
her "secretary").

Well I've decided that I'm a slightly newer model dinosaur than you 2
are. :-)) I do have a mobile phone, not that it gets pulled out or
used from one month to the next, but I could live without one like you
tow do. lets face it, we went for decades without owning one so it's no
drama to go back to that if need be.


I cna't
understand all this need for instant and constant contact. TMWOT, the
mobile phone plugged in people need to get a life. I watch people in
cafes and am astounded that they would prefer to look at a little screen
than the people they are with or their own tiny children who I can see
are doing things to attract attention and get the parent away from their
screen. Pathetic, IMO. The parent will be the only one to blame when
their kids grow up and care so little for their parent that they refuse
to change their parents incontinence pads.

it went from beating drums and smoke signals at a
distance to constant intrusion. what i think is missed
is the capability to be confident and content alone.
and not that i think many people are content anyways

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.

One saying I've always liked is: "I'm never less alone than when by
myself". Him and I are both people who have a very satisfactory and
pleasing life - we both have hobbies that we enjoy, keep us busy and
entertained and challenged and we both laugh a lot each day and are very
content with our lives. I cant think of anything I need to make my life
more content.

(it may not be a natural state for any being who can
"survive"), but being able to know how to relax and
be alone without a radio or even being able to sit and
observe is a skill and it's being lost in most people.
when left alone a lot of people become frantic, addled
or disconcerted to the point that they seem like ants
cut off from their colony.

Yes. I've observed that too.


I've only ever sent one text message on my mobile phone (as a test) and
(as far as I know) have never received one (and wouldn't respond even if
I was sent one).

I don't answer my mobile phone either and I have only given out my
mobile phone number to 2 family members who know better than to ring me
unless I'm off travelling and even then I'm always travelling with one
of them.

whenever a certain sibling brings up the point about
cell phones i say to them, "i'm rarely not home. if you
want to buy one for me and pay the bill i'll keep it."
so far, no cell phone. which is more than what
happened when some folks gave Ma a cell phone when she
was being a nanny for their kids. she just stuffed it
in her drawer and left it there.

:-)) I like that.


It's there for MY convenience so that I can ring if I need to do so, not
to make me accessible at all hours of the day or to anyone who doesn't
have the patience to ring, leave a message on the home phone and then
wait for a reponse.

yeah, i gave up being 24hr contactable when i quit work
full time (in '96) and i haven't regretted a moment since.

Atta boy!!!


songbird (fellow dinosaur

Yay!!!

it's getting interesting as eventually i'll have to
replace this desktop (it's already been through a
replaced motherboard and the replacement is used too
so i have no real expectation it's going to last much
longer, but i hope it does).

My husband replaced ours when i was away for 5 weeks about 18 months ago
and although I hated this machine at first (new Microsoft shit on it
that isn't as good as the old Microsoft) I'm now used to it. I still
think the new microsoft stuff is shit, but at least I can now do most of
the things that I used to be able to do. Some things I still haven't
figured out how to do but it's been so long now I no longer miss the way
I used to be able to do certain things.

Fran Farmer wrote:
songbird wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
On 17/06/2015 11:20 PM, songbird wrote:
Fran Farmer wrote:
...
I really like a traditional machine - a screen in front of me that stand
up by itself and a good keyboard that I could pound on if I was really
getting into the swing of a response. I hate tapping at screens which
aren't made for real human sized fingers. I'm a dinosaur.

yeah, plus i don't want to carry any gadgets around
and if i'm away from the keyboard it means i'm also
probably not going to answer the phone until i come
back in from the gardens.

they're really slow too for someone used to touch
typing.

i used to get actual written responses to notes to
people. now i get "ru thr?" or other similar one-
liners.

LOL. I'm suspect I'm even more of a dinosaur than you.

not too likely, we don't have cellphones (either of us)
and there are no plans to get one. Ma won't even touch a
computer any more (she used to have to use an old system
at the trucking company, but since she retired i've been
her "secretary").

Well I've decided that I'm a slightly newer model dinosaur than you 2
are. :-)) I do have a mobile phone, not that it gets pulled out or
used from one month to the next, but I could live without one like you
tow do. lets face it, we went for decades without owning one so it's no
drama to go back to that if need be.

yep. once in a while people complain that they
can't get ahold of us when we are both out, but we
do have an answering machine. i think an important
part of "being out" for me is the idea that it is
different, a break from the routine. with me, i'm such
a homebody anyways... years ago i almost joined a
monastery and one of the vows was a vow of stability --
i liked that, it meant that they didn't just run out
for random things all the time. they had one person
who usually did their errands and that was it, everyone
else stayed put for the most part. it was a real change
for them that they would come down to our once a month
Tai Chi class and i got to know them well and would go
up to visit and practice at their place when the
weather was better (May-Sept). they've expanded quite
a bit since i first met them. beautiful location on
the shore of Lake Superior. winter months can be a
real challenge... good for the contemplative sorts.


I cna't
understand all this need for instant and constant contact. TMWOT, the
mobile phone plugged in people need to get a life. I watch people in
cafes and am astounded that they would prefer to look at a little screen
than the people they are with or their own tiny children who I can see
are doing things to attract attention and get the parent away from their
screen. Pathetic, IMO. The parent will be the only one to blame when
their kids grow up and care so little for their parent that they refuse
to change their parents incontinence pads.

it went from beating drums and smoke signals at a
distance to constant intrusion. what i think is missed
is the capability to be confident and content alone.
and not that i think many people are content anyways

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.

One saying I've always liked is: "I'm never less alone than when by
myself". Him and I are both people who have a very satisfactory and
pleasing life - we both have hobbies that we enjoy, keep us busy and
entertained and challenged and we both laugh a lot each day and are very
content with our lives. I cant think of anything I need to make my life
more content.

i've been through enough that i've figured out i
don't need a lot to be happy and content. yes,
there's always room for improvement, but none of
those things are critical to me.


(it may not be a natural state for any being who can
"survive"), but being able to know how to relax and
be alone without a radio or even being able to sit and
observe is a skill and it's being lost in most people.
when left alone a lot of people become frantic, addled
or disconcerted to the point that they seem like ants
cut off from their colony.

Yes. I've observed that too.

and having conversations that aren't interrupted by
pings from cellphones/ipads etc. becomes harder.


I've only ever sent one text message on my mobile phone (as a test) and
(as far as I know) have never received one (and wouldn't respond even if
I was sent one).

I don't answer my mobile phone either and I have only given out my
mobile phone number to 2 family members who know better than to ring me
unless I'm off travelling and even then I'm always travelling with one
of them.

whenever a certain sibling brings up the point about
cell phones i say to them, "i'm rarely not home. if you
want to buy one for me and pay the bill i'll keep it."
so far, no cell phone. which is more than what
happened when some folks gave Ma a cell phone when she
was being a nanny for their kids. she just stuffed it
in her drawer and left it there.

:-)) I like that.

seems to be working...


It's there for MY convenience so that I can ring if I need to do so, not
to make me accessible at all hours of the day or to anyone who doesn't
have the patience to ring, leave a message on the home phone and then
wait for a reponse.

yeah, i gave up being 24hr contactable when i quit work
full time (in '96) and i haven't regretted a moment since.

Atta boy!!!

wasn't it just yesterday when i was working part-time at
the library? i think i quit that around five years ago...
time is going by quickly.


songbird (fellow dinosaur

Yay!!!

it's getting interesting as eventually i'll have to
replace this desktop (it's already been through a
replaced motherboard and the replacement is used too
so i have no real expectation it's going to last much
longer, but i hope it does).

My husband replaced ours when i was away for 5 weeks about 18 months ago
and although I hated this machine at first (new Microsoft shit on it
that isn't as good as the old Microsoft) I'm now used to it. I still
think the new microsoft stuff is shit, but at least I can now do most of
the things that I used to be able to do. Some things I still haven't
figured out how to do but it's been so long now I no longer miss the way
I used to be able to do certain things.

i deleted my WinXP partition some time ago, i was
only using it for e-mail by that time. my heart really
belongs in the Unix world as that was where i did a ton
of the college class work and also some of my other work.
i've mostly been using Debian GNU Linux for odd projects
and fun stuff for 10-15 years.

to me the functions are all the same it's just figuring
out how to do whatever i need to do using the interfaces
that others are designing. i'm on the third desktop (KDE
- Gnome - Mate) and there are many others to choose
from if Mate ever wanders too far from what i need (Mate
is similar to the traditional Windows interface), but it
looks so far that Mate is doing just fine.

i think a lot of the newer software is really rotten
too (dumbed down so it can be used via tablets and such).
i'm glad i don't have to use any of it.

desktop users are probably going to be rarer birds as
time keeps marching on, yet i think there will always be
some of us around.


songbird