Do you unlock your devices potential?

[8 Bit WWBG]

As much as I love and appreciate technology, sometimes I feel like I've failed to unlock even a small percentage of my various devices potential.  I try to make it a point to look at the options in menus and read the tutorials, but sometimes I have a very 'just do what I need' mindset.

After spending a bit more time, I've unlocked some neat features.  I always wanted to learn voice commands (Android, not iOS) and have come along a bit with that.  I know the humble PS3 has a few nifty media features.  I'll have to play more with that.

Do you have the patience to look through the advanced features and really open up the potential of what you paid for?  Or are you more the "I just need a phone" type?

[billisonboard]

I don't even have a clue as to my devices "potential" that I might "unlock".

[Cass]

My dinosaur phone died and I replaced it with a Blackberry.  I think this thing may be smarter than I am

[achelois]

I haven't even unlocked all my own potential yet. I am a work in progress.  After I achieve perfection,  I will conquer the machines.


 I do read the Tech section in USA Today. 

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2014 9:41:05 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

I don't even have a clue as to my devices "potential" that I might "unlock".

  and I don't think my devices have much potential anyway.

[midjd]

I do to some extent, but I think it's just succeeded in making me lazier.

I use the voice-to-text feature constantly, and now I get really annoyed when I have to try to type something out on the tiny iPhone keyboard.

I also have my phone synced with the bluetooth in my car, and I get annoyed when I ride somewhere with DH and have the horrifying experience of actually having to hold the phone up to my ear to talk to someone (that sucker gets hot!)

I use the mobile banking apps to deposit checks... I haven't been inside a branch for months.

Sometimes I feel like I'm turning into the Aziz Ansari character from Parks and Rec.

[Mardi Gras Audrey]

I don't unlock any potential. I only like to do a few things with technology (surf the web, text, and phone calls) so everything else is a waste. I don't even have an ipod for music (Have an ipod touch to use for web surfing). I will play with some stuff if it is user friendly/intuitive but it seems like a lot of the new stuff isn't as intuitive (Windows 8, I'm talking to you!). I don't want to have to read anything- I want to just turn it on and go...

ETA: I bought a new computer last month and purposefully looked for one with Windows 7.  There's no way in hell I'm learning Win 8 and I'm not a fan of the Apple products (The itouch was a gift).

[thyme4change]

I bought a new car and my kids are making it their purpose in life to see what every button and option does.  Some of them I think I will wait for the next version - the voice command feature is buggy at best.

[billisonboard]

I remember one time many years ago being at a meeting and someone talking about setting up a site for the organization on the "Internet".  I asked, not truly seriously but not totally jokingly either, "I have a cargo net on my challenge course, is this internet anything like that?".  I sit today at my desk typing on my desktop with a Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 Edition tablet with Bluetooth keyboard to my right and a Samsung Rugby in my pocket (I refused to update my phone the other day because I love the ruggedness of the one I have).

I had a guy working with me (until last week) who was great at, "Hey, can you get my device to ...".  Not sure how I will survive from now on.

[TrixAre4Kids]

Find a kid. 

[busymom]

No. When I bought my last cell phone, it didn't even come with an instruction book, even 'tho it was new. Like I've got time to waste online looking stuff up.

[msventoux]

Probably not.  I know enough that a lot of people come to me with questions on how to do things, but there's also a lot of features I know I'll never use.

[truthbound]

Do you unlock your devices potential?

No I don't buy them.

[Deleted]

Sometimes. I have a serious camera that I use on trips and I know I haven't scratched the surface of what it can do.

I first bought an iPod for the music and have expanded my use to podcasts, storing pictures, taking notes, and using the radio function in the gym (they have TVs up front and the audio is on radio frequencies.) I used the iPod Touch Wi-Fi function a lot before I got my iPhone.

The iPhone- no, I haven't tapped its full potential but that's a conscious decision. I got the cheapest data plan I could, so when I'm not around Wi-Fi I minimize data usage. That means I'm not going to be streaming movies, music and videos in the car on road trips. I have quite a few apps but I'm constantly whittling them down; all of them "leak" information about you and many are constantly pinging wi-fi networks. I tried GroceryIQ but the coupons it kept sending me were worthless (processed crap foods or 50 cents off if I buy 3 of something at $2.50 each). In the meantime, they get all the info about what's on your shopping list, what brands you buy, and how long you linger in front of the Embarrassing Personal Hygiene Items in the grocery store.  I deleted my brokerage account apps because it just tells someone who might steal my phone where my money is. I had them set so that I had to sign in every time, but then they're a pain to use. I just read that the Cincinnati airport is going to use passengers' devices to figure out how long TSA line waits were and determine how long people stay in the airport shops (and the bathroom? ) I PAY for this device. I'll make the decision about whether the tradeoff of privacy is worth the convenience of the app.

[sheilaincali]

Jun 22, 2014 15:38:13 GMT -5 TrixAre4Kids said:

Find a kid. 

I purposely buy the Boy the same devices that I have so he can show me how to use them.  He figures out all the tricks and shortcuts and whatnots.  I just hand him my electronic thing and say "Make it stop....."
 or "how do I ......" 

We call him "tech support" at our house.  He will just laugh and say "what did you break now?"  And I say "make it stop doing the beep beep thing every night for the random game I played once two weeks ago when I was waiting for you to get out of school"  Apparently I had some "notification" thingy on?  IDK I just know he made it stop doing that at 9:15pm every night. 

[alabamagal]

Yes, but it is an old style flip phone!

[mollyanna58]

No.  Reading Thyme's post about her new car reminded me that I had my car for almost 10 years before I realized the pedals were adjustable.  


When my home internet went out on Thursday, I was quite pleased with myself for remembering I could sign into  the local wifi hotspot.

[Deleted]

Jun 23, 2014 10:33:48 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

No.  Reading Thyme's post about her new car reminded me that I had my car for almost 10 years before I realized the pedals were adjustable.  

My first car was a POS 1973 Hornet.  I loaned it to a friend after I'd had it for a couple of years and noticed the steering wheel was at a different angle when he returned it. He told me how much he liked the adjustable steering wheel.  I had no idea.

[souldoubt]

I use it primarily as a phone and to a lesser degree some of the apps (maps, sports) for convenience.  I'm the type of person who only upgrades their phone when it's a free upgrade and was a holdout with a flip phone.  To each their own but too many people live and die with their phones these days.  

[justme]

Jun 22, 2014 12:25:52 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

No, I've barely scratched the surface of most of my devices and programs.  I've spent literally hundreds, if not thousands, of hours on Lightroom, Photoshop and using my DSLR and while I still impress a lot of people with what I can do it's the tiniest percentage of what they are capable of.  I have a windows Phone and don't find it limiting despite the lack of apps because I prefer my computer for a lot of things.

I'm having this debate right now with what tech toy to buy next.   The Kindle Fire HDX will do most of what I do on a tablet - read books and browse the internet - but I'm still waffling on whether to buy the Ipad Mini instead for all the apps I won't use. But the Ipad costs twice as much as the Kindle and will bum me out if it gets stolen from my bag.

Might want to look into a Windows tablet. They should sync great with your phone, and your computer too if it has Windows 8. 

[msventoux]

Jun 23, 2014 11:06:26 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jun 23, 2014 10:33:48 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

No.  Reading Thyme's post about her new car reminded me that I had my car for almost 10 years before I realized the pedals were adjustable.  

My first car was a POS 1973 Hornet.  I loaned it to a friend after I'd had it for a couple of years and noticed the steering wheel was at a different angle when he returned it. He told me how much he liked the adjustable steering wheel.  I had no idea.

I purchased my first "new" vehicle used. It was a few years old, in good shape, but didn't come with any type of instruction manual or accessory listing. I didn't know until after I had it for a number of months that it had a remote start on it. I was sitting in a parking lot waiting for someone and fiddling with the key chain when all of the sudden the engine started. Took me a while to figure out what sequence of buttons to push again to get it to start.

[ZaireinHD]

yea I think of this often
which is why I don't go for some electronics because I know it can do far more than I need it to. so all the extra money I am paying for said item is wasted. example gaming - I play games on my PS3 - I can play some of those games on my cell but I don't cause it's not the same.

but yes I do try to use features that are available with my electronics that I have access to.

example:
my LED HD TV's I use the timer as my alarm clock. both TV cut on in the morning an hour apart and turn off at the same time so I can stop watching TV and get out the door to work! LOL

PS3 I do watch movies, and You Tube videos - I do make my wireless network work like they show in the commercials!

my cell - OH YEAH! my cell is my assistant - I do watch movies, on internet, set reminders, voice commands, ring tones, and a bunch of stuff.

my cable box I change the setting colors every so often, set favorites, DVR of course.

the Blu-Ray player and DVD player has a bunch of playback options but I don't use them.

the 3-N-1 printer I mostly use for scanning, not much printing or copying.

digital camera, I do use for video and pictures.
can't think of other stuff at the moment

[teen persuasion]

I know I haven't even touched the majority of the potential in our devices.  I'm very hit or miss with things like that - I will just use something in one way most of the time, and then I'll have a project that drives me to explore functionality.  That exploration leads me to all kinds of new & neat stuff.  An upgrade in our database led us to upgrade one of the older circ computers, and we no longer had the photo software I'd grown accustomed to.  Poking around on my circ computer, I found different SW that was roughly analogous, somethings easier, some more clunky.  Playing with the features to figure it out, I learned more.  A random question from a patron led me to examine parts of our website, and soon had a list of things to fix/update.  I intended to pass it along to our PR person, but got curious and figured out how to do lots myself.

I'm a reader, so if you give me a good manual, I'll go thru it and explore that way.  I'm less than impressed with manuals for most things lately - they tend to only explain the basics, and not all the fancy, quirky stuff.  It especially irks me, because in college my professors really pushed the documentation side of programs, to the point where 98 page docs were the norm, and you made sure everything possible was covered.  The joke was: find a glitch?  Document it, and it's a feature!