It’s amazing to see how fast things have changed. I remember as if it was not to long ago, reading the directions and connecting my family’s 1st VHS-VCR, so that we wouldn’t miss anything.
Just a few years ago, when the DVR was introduce, I was not only amazed, but so excited with the possibilities that were ahead of me. I could pause LIVE TV and rewind and – this is unbelievable. Now, if you watch just about any program on television now days, they almost always comment on how you should go on-line and do — what-ever. What-ever can be anything from re-watch the program, vote for a certain topic, or get more information on a topic. And in the past few months, I’ve used my computer for all of the options.
This past week, my wife and I went and got new cell phones. We knew what we wanted before we got there, but it still took forever to actually get what we wanted. We heard the salesman’s pitch on the Voyager and all the other phones, but selected a very generic but good quality phone. But after listening Steve (the Verizon guy), I thought to myself… wow, it’s a good thing they didn’t have all this technology years ago, I probably would have spent all my nights out on the town.
But now that this is available today, do people have a need for Time Warner or a television at that? What about a home computer? If all you need if a cell phone… why waste all that room in your house or apartment?
I’m not sure about different programs such as WORD or EXCEL for the phone, but I’m sure they’re out there or at least on the way. I just feel that writing that 7-page research paper with my phone’s keyboard, would cramp my thumb and kill my eye-sight. I’ll use my HP.
March 9, 2008...2:33 am
Is this an elimination game?
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2 Comments
March 15, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Peter
A comment on your second paragraph…. my parents – aged 80 – recently commented that they feel alienated because everything on TV requires computer access to get more information, enter a competition etc. As non-computer uses they feel that society has left them out. A fair & valid comment & one worth some consideration & discussion. How many people in our midst feel like this – not just the elderly.
My next task is to take them to the library for computer lessons (don’t feel I can provide technical support for home computer from 100 kilometres!!)
Cheers from Downunder
March 24, 2008 at 6:29 pm
@Peter – it won’t be long before what you describe is quite easily done on a cell phone. As speech-to-text improves one will be able to speak into the cell phone and have it saved as a document that can be printed or sent to a desktop computer for further tweaking or refinement. There are college courses being designed and deployed for the cell phone in Asia. Keep your eye on the iPhone over the next year, as they have just opened it up to 3rd party developers.