Dying devices and technologies

[aja8888]

Traditional e-mail is dying among young people.

All they seem to want to use is text messaging. Or, if they have to use an e-mail address, they set up a Yahoo or GMail account and check it on their handheld.

 

[marko]

Bluetooth in the car coupled to Pandora has really hurt Sirius radio.

 

[marko]

I retired my watch the day I retired. Since they have very few events that occur on a schedule, and no boring meetings to want to time. Around the house are lots of devices that tell time, computers, Tv's mechanical clocks, and the like. The watch is still sitting on a table and will likely soon run its battery down.

I was a known watch freak, had a few really, really expensive, interesting ones; sort of my working world trademark. The day I retired, I took it off, put it in a draw and haven't put one on since. My bare wrist a daily reminder that I've moved on!

 

[Arifriekinel]

Traditional e-mail is dying among young people.

All they seem to want to use is text messaging. Or, if they have to use an e-mail address, they set up a Yahoo or GMail account and check it on their handheld.

I'd agree with that, for personal use. I haven't used email to contact my friends since I was 14 or 15 at the latest, and only then when they were people I only knew online. It's been texting ever since. Texting doesn't get as bogged up with spam and all that.

I do use emails for business purposes. I like to take on odd jobs for different companies and that usually involves emailing resumes regularly. My grandmother was the last person I emailed personally, maybe one or two years ago.

And in response to the oven question, I use mine all the time. It's easier than most other things when I need to cook a lot, and my boyfriend and I usually cook in large batches so things are simpler later.

 

[Lsbcal]

This thread makes me anxious. I spend some time trying to figure out my optimal use model. It's tough when one feels challenged in this game.

Sometimes I worry too much about optimization. Just bought another small Canon camera ($160). Read that the Iphone only has 3x zoom (could be wrong about that). Those smartphones are nice but they fail in some specialized situations. Eventually I'll have one.

My Timex watch is used all the time for runs, timer, alarm, etc.

Desktop PC for heavy spreadsheet work.

Laptop for DW to do modest stuff on.

Tablet for sitting in the easy chair and web browsing. Has a camera but it seems primitive.

Cable TV, very convenient and Netflix DVD's still seem to have a wider range of choice then streaming. We do occasionally stream Amazon and Netflix.

Landline phone: haven't figured out how to deal with long term power failures like what might occur in an earthquake around this region.

 

[REWahoo]

Landline phone: haven't figured out how to deal with long term power failures like what might occur in an earthquake around this region.

Les, do you think a landline would be more reliable after a severe earthquake than cell phones?

BTW, whenever I first saw this thread title my initial thought was guillotines, hanging, electrocution, drug overdose...

 

[Lsbcal]

Les, do you think a landline would be more reliable after a severe earthquake than cell phones?

Earthquakes are so infrequent that I can only speculate the answer might be "yes". I'm more concerned about the situation on our end where power may be out so recharging is not easy. The last fairly bad one was back in 1989. Hopefully we will not have a real life test.

Recently we had a long power outage and our landline (that has an old Princess phone hooked up along with cordless ones) had a comforting dial tone. We also have cell phones and a small battery operated radio.

 

[REWahoo]

Earthquakes are so infrequent that I can only speculate the answer might be "yes". I'm more concerned about the situation on our end where power may be out so recharging is not easy.

You can recharge from the car, right?

 

[meierlde]

You can recharge from the car, right?

The other issue is that central offices for land lines tend to have their own power supplies and backup. (It used to be lots and lots of batteries, and a backup generator). So that in addition to the cell phone itself it appears that a lot of cell phone towers don't have the backup power capabilities of the central office, so that after a few hours the cell tower can go down due to run down of its batteries. In addition while central offices can be overwhealmed with traffic it appears that this is easier to do with cell phones, unless you stick with text messages only (far less data to move).
Of course in my case since I have DSL I keep the land line because of it.

 

[REWahoo]

. So that in addition to the cell phone itself it appears that a lot of cell phone towers don't have the backup power capabilities of the central office, so that after a few hours the cell tower can go down due to run down of its batteries.

Interesting. I haven't paid much attention to cell tower configuration other than the one our phones connect to a couple of miles from the house. It has a large generator and propane fuel tank, and I assumed that was the standard configuration. If that isn't the case, I see the problem. But I wonder how reliable either cell or land lines would be after a severe storm or earthquake. Once those copper wires break, it is very labor intensive to splice them back together.

 

[meierlde]

Interesting. I haven't paid much attention to cell tower configuration other than the one our phones connect to a couple of miles from the house. It has a large generator and propane fuel tank, and I assumed that was the standard configuration. If that isn't the case, I see the problem. But I wonder how reliable either cell or land lines would be after a severe storm or earthquake. Once those copper wires break, it is very labor intensive to splice them back together.

I was going by reports of what happened after the big northeast power failure in 2003. Perhaps some of those issues have been fixed.

 

[braumeister]

BTW, whenever I first saw this thread title my initial thought was guillotines, hanging, electrocution, drug overdose...

Glad I'm not the only weird one.
My first thought was tie-dyed t-shirts.

 

[Amethyst]

I think I'm a lady. Everyone says I act so much like one

I wouldn't be without 2 ovens - baking pizza in one, cookies in the other; roasting beef in one, potatoes in the other....A microwave doesn't give the same results, especially with baked goods, and the countertop oven - while useful for quick snacks - can't handle volume orders.

The double-oven is still expected in homes in our area.

Amethyst

Besides that, does anybody actually use a built-in conventional oven any more, other than ladies baking mountains of cookies and pies? With all the great countertop devices (microwaves, electric grills, electric woks, toaster ovens, and more) I just don't think the built-in conventional ovens can compete...

 

[REWahoo]

I was going by reports of what happened after the big northeast power failure in 2003. Perhaps some of those issues have been fixed.

Not sure they were fixed, but the FCC did take action in 2007 to require back-up power: FCC ruling requiring backup power for cell towers

EDIT: Here's an article on how the above ruling improved the availability of cell service after Hurricane Sandy:In Sandy’s wake, here’s why millions of Americans have cell service but no power – Quartz

 

[Lsbcal]

You can recharge from the car, right?

I guess this is right. Alternately I think (?) there are devices one can buy that provide emergency charging. Or maybe a charged 2nd phone battery? As you may have noticed, my answers are kind of tentative.

Maybe I could partly justify the smartphone cost (+ data plan) if I ditch the landline? We have cordless phones in 4 places in the house. It would be a real change to carry a smartphone from room to room and there would be no house phone as DW would have her own number.

Present cost per month is about $56 for landline and 2 Tracphones. I'm pretty sure our costs would rise as I'd want a decent data plan but don't need a lot of talk minutes.

I have not really thought this through. Maybe I should start a new thread on this? Might title it: Rethinking the phone situation

 

[MRG]

Phone is interesting. So if I have a cell phone, it never hits a physical line(ever)? Or the opposite? Just curious.

MRG

 

[meierlde]

Phone is interesting. So if I have a cell phone, it never hits a physical line(ever)? Or the opposite? Just curious.

MRG

It hits wired internet connection from the cell tower to whereever the cell phone companies switch is. They don't use analog phone lines. Its basically a T3 or above digital connection back to a routing service. Then the voice is split off and switched as needed.

 

[NW-Bound]

BTW, whenever I first saw this thread title my initial thought was guillotines, hanging, electrocution, drug overdose...

No, that would be "Killer devices" thread, not "Dying".

Speaking of guillotines, does anyone know the last time the guillotine was used?

Think about it for 10 seconds, then search the Web. The answer would surprise you.

 

[REWahoo]

No, that would be "Killer devices" thread, not "Dying".

Depends on whether you were the "doer" or the "doee".

 

[martyp]

About 2 yrs ago I stopped wearing a wristwatch because I always have an iPhone with me. I check the time on the phone. BTW, I hardly ever talk on the phone. The iPhone is basically a mobile pocket computer. I split my communication between some email, FB messages, and texting.

When I retired I got rid of my desktop PC and bought a 13" MacBook Air.

I'm a foodie. I do a fair amount of cooking so the oven get a decent amount of use.

I had a Pioneer GPS, CD player, iPod player installed into my car. My entire music collection is on the 60 GB iPod. Sometime I use the Waze app for navigation from my iPhone because it has real-time traffic info.

I stopped buying CD's many years ago. I still have a stereo system in the living room but I plug my iPhone or iPod into it to play music. I'm thinking about getting some wireless speakers to expand the music throughout the house and outside.

I would like to get rid of the landline but my wife wants to keep it for communication during our rare power outages.

My wife got her father a Kindle. I think she is intrigued by it. She may be heading for a purchase in the future. Othewise we still read paper books. I get most of my news off the internet including digital subscriptions to the local paper and the NY Times.

 

[Greg V]

So...should I stay with Betamax or make the switch to VHS?

 

[NW-Bound]

I think I'm a lady. Everyone says I act so much like one

I just recalled this song from the 70s.

I looked up Tom Jones, and found that he's still alive and at 73 years of age. Hmm... I thought he would be older than that.

PS. And I just learned that the song was written by Paul Anka. Anka wrote many songs that became associated with other singers who recorded them, Sinatra included.

Tom Jones - She's a lady - YouTube

 

[Chuckanut]

I've been through two earthquakes and several big storms that have knocked out power for days. The old POTS phone line is the only thing that worked all the time.

Having said that I no longer have POTS. $360 a year was just to expensive.

 

[Lsbcal]

I've been through two earthquakes and several big storms that have knocked out power for days. The old POTS phone line is the only thing that worked all the time.

Having said that I no longer have POTS. $360 a year was just to expensive.

Did your cell phones go down too during extended outages?

 

[Chuckanut]

Did your cell phones go down too during extended outages?

The towers went down making it difficult to make calls for many people. I had my neighbors using my land line to call relatives and friends.

I believe the newer towers have more backup power.