Are Our Smartphones Really as Smart as We’d Like Them To Be?

Whew! I just put down my iPhone and I’m exhausted. And frustrated. I am tired of being ordered around by this erratic engineering.

It’s true. I miss my small, light 3G. I realize I could go back to a 4G that isn’t as “fancy” as my iPhone 11. They have fewer options. I’ve read that some people are returning to the past and buying these kinds of phones.

Missing my 3G

The only reason we even have smartphones is our carrier, and I guess every other telecom, dropped 3G.

I miss the simplicity of my dumb phone. The press of ONE button would have me on the phone with Paul. Now, depending on where my phone is resting on the screen, it can take 3-4 taps to get ahold of him.

The dumb phone did all I needed it to do. Talk and text. My needs are small. If I need the Internet, I go to my iPad.

Do I really need a smartphone?

I don’t, but today’s culture all but demands it.

It was like getting a VCR. Like getting my first microwave, a Christmas present from Paul. I remember suffering through learning how to operate the VCR.

I remember ruining a bunch of food stuffs early on when trying to figure out how this New Age way of preparing food came on the scene.

I couldn’t help but teach myself these things. Basically, The Devil Made Me Do It. Either get onboard or be left behind in culture and society. “What? you don’t have a __________________?” No way do I want to fill in the blank. Who wants to be left behind?

And to think that parts of the country have minimal bandwidth, if any at all. Some people ARE being left behind. Let’s not even talk about the expense of owning one of these babies. I don’t think telecoms care about who’s being left behind and left out.

(Couldn’t help but to stand on my soapbox for a minute.)

And the same was true with the advent of desktop computers — only here, if you wanted to keep your job, there was no “opting out.”

I don’t really like my smartphone. All I really need is a dumb flip phone. For one, I think they are more secure. I used to never get spam texts. I don’t require the best in cameras or microphones. I certainly don’t need Siri suggesting and telling me what to do except when navigating. Is she considered AI?

On the smartphone, I feel like I press way more keystrokes than necessary to accomplish one task. I guess that’s why Siri exists. Perhaps having this phone for only a year and a half is an impediment and therein lies my frustration and incongruence.

I could do with a little bigger keyboard. I don’t know how men with big hands can even text. I imagine wearing gloves might be challenging. I just realized why gloves with cut-out fingertips are popular. I’m definitely slow on the uptake! I think my age is showing.

Updates iOS

Updates I am familiar with. Each time there is an update, someplace and somewhere on the phone things get skewed. Frustration. And I can count on it.

Not too long ago, I was trying to get in touch with my sister-in-law. I texted her two times. Left voicemail. Left two emails. She never replied.

I called her son finally to see if she was okay. It was unlike Cindy not to return communications promptly. Her son contacted her. She had responded to everything I had sent to her — unbeknownst to me.

I called her and we couldn’t figure out what the problem was. She could email me on my iPad but that was it.

After we played this charade for a week, we figured it out. The culprit was the latest update, I’m almost positive.

I went to her contact page. Towards the bottom, it said “Unblock this Caller.” Shame on you too-big-for-your-pants Apple. I would never block her.

There’s also the time some contacts were just dropped off the page and who knows where they went. Again, shame on you Apple update.

Input from friends and me

Seems most everyone has at least one thing they wish was different. One friend had not one complaint — maybe that comes with an iPhone 13. I am but a mere 11.

Someone mentioned that her phone no longer caps the first letter of someone’s name they call often . So now she has to be cognizant of proper nouns.

She said her phone now wants to put all names in bold. She doesn’t like that either.

Another friend said she’d have to think about it, but she misses the simplicity of her old phone.

Right now my main gripe is I’ll be reading a blog or a newspaper piece, and the next thing I know the page has scrolled to the bottom on its own without my assistance. I have to hunt back up the page to find where I had been stranded.

Just to be a show-off

I remember the very first time I talked on a cell phone. Ready: I was sitting in the back seat of a Rolls Royce. It was the mid 70s. I’m not sure I had even heard of a cell phone. The phone was as big as a bulldozer. Naturally, I called my mother, “I’m on a cell phone!” So exciting. Nice memory.

Surfing the net.

I found a few little tidbits of trivia:

Cons of smartphones:

1. Mobile phones cause accidents.
2. More difficult to establish interpersonal connections and strong relationships
3. Distracting
4. Battery can explode (now that is dangerous)

Pros of smartphones:

1. Good in case of emergency
2. GPS
3. Control smart homes
4. Online banking and finance (don’t use because I am not comfortable having my banking business available to some ingenious hacker)

Lifespan of smartphones: (1) iPhone – 4-8 years; (2) Samsung – 3-6 years. Replacing your device every two years is still a good idea. This recommendation probably comes from the industry so you’ll spend more money more often.

There’s so much more to be said (good and bad) about smartphones, but space doesn’t allow for it here. So sad, but what would we do without our phones. I’d like to try, and I can live without the constant iOS updates — can’t I?

Updates

My meds: I am delighted to report that I am feeling much, much better. Still wish I could drop one or two pills. Maybe one day. In fact, I told Paul yesterday and prefaced it with, “You are going to think this sounds corny and weird.”

I hesitated and then said, “I have never felt as alive as I do now.” That is how I was feeling at that moment anyway, always subject to change. My arms were stretching high to the sky, willing to soak in whatever the Universe sees fit to send my way.

I attribute this to my new cocktail of medicines. My anxiety is under control now, which has greatly improved my breathing patterns.

The tics are still with me, but only faintly. The only one I actually notice is drawing my upper teeth down over my bottom lip. Still a little squinting. So, not bad at all.

I also attribute feeling this way to my latent interest in art. It has sprung up from deep within. I must thank Miss Pink and doodle Art Studio for this awakening. With love and hugs, Thank You, Miss Pink, for being the wonder you are.

Rejection: If you are a fairly regular reader of The Bruno Papers, you know I consider my cross to bear to be rejection. I happened upon a quote that lightens my heart a great deal. “Rejection is merely a redirection; a course correction to your destiny.” Quote by Bryant McGill. Love this.

My new car: As I alluded to in my last post, who knew how big the learning curve is for driving a car. Can’t help but laugh at myself.

I was leaving my trainer’s house the other day. I park in front of her house instead of her driveway because leaves and stuff and mainly bird do were leaving marks on the car.

Into “R” I go and lo and behold I hear this terrible sound of scratching/scraping. Got out of the car and didn’t see a thing. “Whoa” I say to myself, that was a close one.

I drive on and realize there was no way all that sound didn’t damage the car. I pulled over. Sure enough, the front right bumper had been pulled from the frame. I called Paul (nice having a cellphone) immediately to confess my inadequacy of backing up my car.

Got home. Paul said “no problem” and snapped the fender right back into place. Makes me wonder how much “snapping” is used in cars today. Legos, anyone?

That’s all for now

Here’s to the wonderful world of smartphones, great quotes, fabulous medicinal cocktails, art instructors, and a man who still can fix a car at home.

Until next time, wishing you peace, joy, tranquility, and love each and every day.

Your friend, Yvonne

Namaste 🌷

Thank you so much for reading. As always, I love receiving comments.

Sources

http://www.goodreads.com
http://www.smallbusiness.chron.com