The internet: a salutory lesson

[Richard Tarleton]

True enough - and, for all I refuse to have a mobile phone (I have a small one of limited possibilities which I can never find when I need it, and is never charged when I do find it), I discover how much of a nuisance it is to other people that I don't have one

After several years with a phone like yours ff, , I finally acquired a smartphone a year ago. I make very few calls on it, and receive hardly any (because hardly anyone knows the number) but value it for the other things it can do. When we were rear-ended in our last car by a young driver who had only just passed his test (and was out for the first time with a carful of his mates) all of them leapt out and started taking photos with their phones. I felt I needed to be able to do this. (It was OK, they lost the case and their insurance paid up.) It was on a remote country road in north Pembrokeshire. My phone now has an AA app which knows exactly where my car is, rather than having to explain to someone in a call centre in Dundee. If I collapse unconscious in a ditch whilst out birdwatching somewhere remote, there's a chance someone can GPS my phone. Listening to my first redstart of the season, I was able to google "redstart song" to confirm that was what I was listening to. My phone tells me how many "steps" I've taken today. And that's about a millionth of its capabilities. I wouldn't be without it. I do send the odd text and email.

[french frank]

I wouldn't be without it. I do send the odd text and email.

I did enquire about it a few months ago but I thought it would be too expensive to have 'just in case' as, unlike my old Pay-As-You-Go, I was told a smartphone clocks up the mileage whether you use it or not

[Dave2002]

I did enquire about it a few months ago but I thought it would be too expensive to have 'just in case' as, unlike my old Pay-As-You-Go, I was told a smartphone clocks up the mileage whether you use it or not

A smartphone is just a phone though perhaps with a larger display and the ability to send and receive email, and to browse the internet plus also to run Apps. Clocking up money is a function of the plan you select, not the device, so it is possible to select Paygo, and choose limited options to minimise costs. Many people don't do this, and for some it makes sense if they don't have a landline, but others seem content to donate money to those charitable organisations known as telecoms providers.

[french frank]

A smartphone is just a phone though perhaps with a larger display and the ability to send and receive email, and to browse the internet plus also to run Apps.

Yes, I know. That's what I don't have on my Nokia But if I'm going to choose a cheap option that doesn't do much, I might as well make do with the Nokia (it has a camera but I don't really feel I need that anyway).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

We are brainwashed to abandon "real" things. This particular product aims to go a step further, but it's ridiculously expensive and doesn't work in a long power cut.

[MrGongGong]

We are brainwashed to abandon "real" things. This particular product aims to go a step further, but it's ridiculously expensive and doesn't work in a long power cut.

I'm sticking with this, it's just as "real" as the music I was doing with the OAE a few weeks ago

[P. G. Tipps]

Unusually I am in some agreement with Richard Barrett here.

We might justifiably deplore a lot about the Internet but that applies to many things. We cannot really hope to be King Canutes defying the tide of history.

In the last month alone I have solved three technical problems by consulting the all-knowing Mr Google, which in previous times I'd have had to pay professionals to rectify.

As far as I'm concerned the Internet has been one of the greatest revolutionary inventions in the cause of individual knowledge and advancement in the history of Mankind.

[Dave2002]

Yes, I know. That's what I don't have on my Nokia But if I'm going to choose a cheap option that doesn't do much, I might as well make do with the Nokia (it has a camera but I don't really feel I need that anyway).

I have a low end smartphone, but mostly I don't bother to top it up, either with minutes for "real" phoning, or for the digital bit. I keep my trusty old Sony Ericsson 810i for making phone calls, and only top that up once or twice a year. Mind you, the 810i wasn't so cheap when I bought it. Apparently you can get more (perhaps more than I paid) for old phones now for some rather dubious applications ....

I think if you want to do photography you might as well get a decent phone - such as one of the more recent iPhones, but there are still things like this available - http://www.jessops.com/online.store/...FUy37QodqVACfw - or perhaps cheaper ones.

[french frank]

I think if you want to do photography you might as well get a decent phone

If I want to do photography I use my small shockproof, waterproof compact digital camera with which I took the "selfie" which is my avatar! The outside world is my 'quiet desktop' into which the internet doesn't intrude.

[AmpH]

An example of the internet furthering mutual understanding! (I always wondered why casement windows opened out in this country and in in other countries. Impossible to clean the windows on upper floors here. Is there an answer on the internet?

Well, the building industry has provided solutions to this for some time in the form of ' easy clean ' hinges which allow access to the outside of the glazing for cleaning purposes or alternatively ' Tilt and Turn ' windows which when the handle is moved to the ' Turn ' position function as an inward opening casement to allow cleaning amongst various functions. These are quite often installed in window replacement schemes nowadays. Plenty of examples on the good old internet.

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, the building industry has provided solutions to this for some time in the form of ' easy clean ' hinges which allow access to the outside of the glazing for cleaning purposes or alternatively ' Tilt and Turn ' windows which when the handle is moved to the ' Turn ' position function as an inward opening casement to allow cleaning amongst various functions. These are quite often installed in window replacement schemes nowadays. Plenty of examples on the good old internet.

Our old Crittal windows hihge out in such a way as to allow one to get one's arom around the back from both sides when open. Make sure first there's no wind blowing, or you could end up like Venus de Milo.

(An 'armless joke!)