I have another widow friend who has done without an oven for several years. It broke, and she hasn't gotten around to fixing it. I thought this was a bit crazy, because I couldn't possible live without baking things. Tonight, I realized that I am exactly the same as her, but with technology.
I have three electronic devices: a latop, a tablet, and a phone. Right now, none of them works properly. Andrew was the one who made sure electronics functioned around here. I've taken on a lot of his jobs, but somehow I've slipped up on this.
The laptop was his, so it runs on the Linux operating system. I know how great Linux is, because I heard him explain that a million times, but I don't actually know how to do very much with it. In fact, I don't even know how to install software. In the past two years, it's slowly decayed to do less and less, and I squeak by because so many basic functions, like word processing and photo editing, can be accessed through browsers.
The tablet, also inherited from Andrew, is an iPad 1. I purchased it for him in 2010, which doesn't seem that long ago, but to Apple, that's apparently prehistoric. No new apps can be installed because Apple doesn't support the operating system that was originally installed on it, and Apple doesn't make upgrades for the iPad 1.
My phone, the one piece of technology I purchased myself, quit connecting to the Wi-Fi last month. This may not seem serious, but I have a hybrid phone designed to automatically switch between Wi-Fi and cellular service, even in the middle of calls (which are also routed through Wi-Fi whenever possible). Tonight, following the instructions the tech support people sent me, I seem to have wiped my phone in a way that I can't even make phone calls.
Apparently, I'm *this* close to living in the nineteenth century. I guess I'll take my candle and my book and go to bed.
Edited to add: Last month my Kindle broke and I had to spend hours on the phone to correct some Internet provider issues, but I thought if I mentioned those problems I'd sound like a bit of a complainer.
3 comments:
Ouch!
While I usually read before I go to sleep, and not by candlelight, I don't know how I'd manage if the computer was misbehaving. Not owning a smart phone I have no problems with that particular piece of technology and the tablet I bought, at a bargain price from Tesco, is pristine - it mainly stays in its box.
So - I can't offer any technological advice. What about asking your little brother?
Re edit: You don't complain - you face problems head on - remember the handlebar problem?
what a streak of bad luck. :(
Post a Comment