A real pandemic that no one talks about - Half the world to be nearsighted by 2050.

[SteyrAUG]

I know I'm a dinosaur, but I still like to walk around sometimes without the phone. Unless I'm on call for work, lots of times when I go out I will leave said phone in the truck when I go inside a store or something. Keep going down this digital ID rabbit hole, and before you know it, we're going to be just like China. No thanks, I'll hold off as long as I can.

Another dinosaur checking in. I ****ing HATE my phone. I hate if I'm in the kitchen and it rings I have to go down to my office to answer the goddamn thing...but I refuse to have it in my pocket at home. And once dinner is done, the ringer is OFF and anyone who calls will have to wait until tomorrow to hear from me.

I also only use my phone to make calls and send texts, I almost never use any kind of app or go online with my phone. If I want to look something up, that is what my computer is for. The last thing I need is my phone on my wrist, I can barely read a text on my phone. Also hate texting, still communicate by email so I can use an actual keyboard to express a thought.

While we are at it, who are these insane people who watch tv and films on their phone? There is a reason I've got a big screen tv and it's so I don't have to try and watch something I care about on a 3x3 inch screen.

Sent from my desktop with full keyboard and a giant ass monitor.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I ****ing HATE my phone. I hate if I'm in the kitchen and it rings I have to go down to my office to answer the goddamn thing...

I also hated that. Apple Watch solved that issue. It's on my wrist. No more chasing down the phone elsewhere in the house, can't find the damn thing, phone left it in the car or forgetting to take the phone when leaving home... on and on.


The last thing I need is my phone on my wrist, I can barely read a text on my phone. ;

Apple Watch solves that ailment. It is designed for the user to not have to read text messages or use that silly miniature keyboard. The Apps are designed to press a selection or Siri voice enabled.

Texting example:

Speak: "Siri, read my text message"

Siri Audio: From Tom
Siri audio: Hey Phil, I'll be at the clubhouse at noon
Siri Audio: Would you like to reply?

Speak: "Yes." "See you there"

It's that simple... no reading, no typing nor even looking at the screen. My hand never leaves the steering wheel and eyes stay on the road.

It's also quite easy to originate a text message.

Speak: "Siri, send a message to my wife and say let's go to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls this afternoon"

Apple Watch voice recognition and text to speech is really quite good. Also quite good on iPhone but it isn't on my wrist... back to where this post began.

[Det-Sog]

Now THAT was one of the more entertaining posts I've read lately. Thanks for the afternoon chuckle

I know... Everything went so far over your head that you didn't see the contrail or hear the sonic boom. Enjoy. Now, lets dive deeper into the hole that you are digging.

I ****ing HATE my phone. I hate if I'm in the kitchen and it rings I have to go down to my office to answer the goddamn thing...

I also hated that. Apple Watch solved that issue. It's on my wrist. No more chasing down the phone elsewhere in the house, can't find the damn thing, phone left it in the car or forgetting to take the phone when leaving home... on and on.

You CONVENIENTLY left out the part where he said "I refuse to have it in my pocket at home". For you chip in your head folks, A LOT of us intentionally don't walk around with chips on us. This gives us the option of being away from it, and maybe NOT walking to go pick it up. If I am not on call and my phones out of reach, it stays out of reach.

The last thing I need is my phone on my wrist, I can barely read a text on my phone.

Apple Watch solves that ailment. It is designed for the user to not have to read text messages or use that silly miniature keyboard. The Apps are designed to press a selection or Siri voice enabled.

Texting example:

Speak: "Siri, read my text message"

My point gets sharper now. You use siri, on top of having a communication interface chip strapped to you. God help the human race.

Instead of saying more choice words for you to ignore, I will bow out here. Enjoy being chipped. Maybe apple will be able to install that "watch" in your cerebral cortex someday. Different strokes for different folks. NOT being "chipped" is one of the few hills that I'm willing to die on. Let's hope your brain implant never gets a computer virus called "cardiac arrest"... I hope your McAfee subscription is up to date. Look, IT'S OK. The extra chuckles are on me.

Here. For those "watch guys" on here, this former SEAL has a few cool takes. He makes a nice point about the apple thing in the beginning.

[SteyrAUG]

I ****ing HATE my phone. I hate if I'm in the kitchen and it rings I have to go down to my office to answer the goddamn thing...

I also hated that. Apple Watch solved that issue. It's on my wrist. No more chasing down the phone elsewhere in the house, can't find the damn thing, phone left it in the car or forgetting to take the phone when leaving home... on and on.


The last thing I need is my phone on my wrist, I can barely read a text on my phone. ;

Apple Watch solves that ailment. It is designed for the user to not have to read text messages or use that silly miniature keyboard. The Apps are designed to press a selection or Siri voice enabled.

Texting example:

Speak: "Siri, read my text message"

Siri Audio: From Tom
Siri audio: Hey Phil, I'll be at the clubhouse at noon
Siri Audio: Would you like to reply?

Speak: "Yes." "See you there"

It's that simple... no reading, no typing nor even looking at the screen. My hand never leaves the steering wheel and eyes stay on the road.

It's also quite easy to originate a text message.

Speak: "Siri, send a message to my wife and say let's go to the driving range and hit a bucket of balls this afternoon"

Apple Watch voice recognition and text to speech is really quite good. Also quite good on iPhone but it isn't on my wrist... back to where this post began.

You lost me at "Siri", I hate that shit even more.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I know... Everything went so far over your head that you didn't see the contrail or hear the sonic boom. Enjoy. Now, lets dive deeper into the hole that you are digging.



You CONVENIENTLY left out the part where he said "I refuse to have it in my pocket at home". For you chip in your head folks, A LOT of us intentionally don't walk around with chips on us. This gives us the option of being away from it, and maybe NOT walking to go pick it up. If I am not on call and my phones out of reach, it stays out of reach.




My point gets sharper now. You use siri, on top of having a communication interface chip strapped to you. God help the human race.

Instead of saying more choice words for you to ignore, I will bow out here. Enjoy being chipped. Maybe apple will be able to install that "watch" in your cerebral cortex someday. Different strokes for different folks. NOT being "chipped" is one of the few hills that I'm willing to die on. Let's hope your brain implant never gets a computer virus called "cardiac arrest"... I hope your McAfee subscription is up to date. Look, IT'S OK. The extra chuckles are on me.

Here. For those "watch guys" on here, this former SEAL has a few cool takes. He makes a nice point about the apple thing in the beginning.

LOL! Well done, sir.

[Todd.K]

…This gives us the option of being away from it, and maybe NOT walking to go pick it up. If I am not on call and my phones out of reach, it stays out of reach.

There isn’t a friend or family member in your life that you would like to talk to if they call? Some of us have teenagers to worry about, or an elderly relative.

Look, I understand some of your feelings, but you shouldn’t be treating tech as an enslaver when it’s actually a tool that someone can choose to either use or abuse.

[SteyrAUG]

There isn’t a friend or family member in your life that you would like to talk to if they call? Some of us have teenagers to worry about, or an elderly relative.

Look, I understand some of your feelings, but you shouldn’t be treating tech as an enslaver when it’s actually a tool that someone can choose to either use or abuse.

I think some of us just grew up as kids who left the house and were unreachable until we returned. Then as adults in the 90s we saw parents actually put children on a leash in the mall. Some of us don't want to allow tech to do the same.

I do not wish to always have a phone on me. If it's important, I'll see and return the call. I understand parents with kids it's a different thing now. And if somebody really wants to see me, they come to my house, my friends do it all the time.

[Det-Sog]

There isn’t a friend or family member in your life that you would like to talk to if they call? Some of us have teenagers to worry about, or an elderly relative.

Look, I understand some of your feelings, but you shouldn’t be treating tech as an enslaver when it’s actually a tool that someone can choose to either use or abuse.

Sounds like you're hooked too. That's fine. Like I said, different strokes. Guess I was raised different. The house I grew up in had a rotary dial phone then later a wall mount touch tone. They would get unplugged at night. The horror. This ISN'T new.

That said, there's a lot of us that are smarter than our tech devices. For scenarios that you mention, I have different ringtones for different people. This allows me further information to decide whether or not I want to go pick up the phone. Short of my wife, everyone I care about lives hundreds of miles away. If I miss a call, it's not like I can walk over and do something.

Guess what? When I go to sleep... The phone ringer is off.

[SteyrAUG]

Sounds like you're hooked too. That's fine. Like I said, different strokes. Guess I was raised different. The house I grew up in had a rotary dial phone then later a wall mount touch tone. They would get unplugged at night. The horror. This ISN'T new.

That said, there's a lot of us that are smarter than our tech devices. For scenarios that you mention, I have different ringtones for different people. This allows me further information to decide whether or not I want to go pick up the phone. Short of my wife, everyone I care about lives hundreds of miles away. If I miss a call, it's not like I can walk over and do something.

Guess what? When I go to sleep... The phone ringer is off.

One of the best things about smart phones. Beyond the caller ID is assigned ring tones. Everyone important has a unique ring tone. Everyone else gets the standard ring tone. If I don't recognize the number, I look it up and if it's span it gets assigned a spam ID with a silent ring tone.

That is one way where tech has dramatically improved my life over an ordinary phone. Back in the 90s when I had started my business and was trying to put together proposals so I could generate revenue I despised the sound of my phone. Between solicitors and people who used the telephone to entertain themselves "Hi...what are you doing?" (translation: I have nothing to do so I called you so that you could save me from my boredom) I once chucked a phone down the hallway after it rang 6 times in the space of 15 minutes when I was trying to focus on what I was doing.

It's still why I do the bulk of my work from 2am to 4am. Everyone is sleeping, my phone isn't ringing and I can get much more done in that two hours than I can during the day with 6 hours but constant interruptions.

My favorite thing in the world is still email. It's there when I get to it, I can take the time to give a thoughtful reply and I have a record of the exchange in case anything gets confused.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

There isn’t a friend or family member in your life that you would like to talk to if they call? Some of us have teenagers to worry about, or an elderly relative.

Look, I understand some of your feelings, but you shouldn’t be treating tech as an enslaver when it’s actually a tool that someone can choose to either use or abuse.

Oh sure. For example, my 85y/o mother who lives alone finds comfort in being able to see her family via Facetime. For her, it's the next best thing to being there with her.

That wasn't always the case. Years ago, mom protested that she had no use for an iPhone, didn't want one, and even if she had an iPhone she wouldn't know how to use it. So... I sent her an iPhone anyway with a note to toss it in a drawer if she didn't want it. Fast forward a few months later... loves and uses it for all sorts of things. When she learned that Apple Watch can monitor her heart and alert for abnormal heart rhythms, detect falls and alert, and have a device on her wrist to call for help if needed... mom purchased one the same day. Contrary to the views of some, these type devices are often used to liberate folks' lives.

Like you say, very useful tools in so many ways.