movingforward
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Post by movingforward on May 1, 2019 9:42:04 GMT -5
I just got back from visiting my dad for a week. He is 72 years old and doesn't have a cell phone. I keep telling him that he needs to get one for emergencies but he argues that he doesn't want or need one. He is an active person who lives in a large city. It would make feel better if he had a cell phone in case he has car trouble on the freeway, etc. but he won't listen... Movingforward-your dad might think all cell phones are smart phones with all their apps and stuff. It can look a bit overwhelming. Do you think you could convince him to use a flip phone? About the only thing you can do with those things is call or receive a call. Not hard to learn either. I tried convincing him but he doesn't seem to care...about 4 years ago he went on a cross-country trip by himself. He did, at least, get a pre-paid phone for that journey. I told him he might still be able to use that phone for all I know...he might just be able to add some more minutes to it. He doesn't take a phone with him anywhere. He said "well, everyone else has a phone so if I need one I can just ask someone to use theirs." Uh, okay...I told him that not many people stop for someone broken down on the side of the road these days. Most just assume the person has a cell phone or they are too afraid to stop and help, etc. It is not 1950...
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Tennesseer
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Post by Tennesseer on May 1, 2019 10:00:00 GMT -5
Movingforward-your dad might think all cell phones are smart phones with all their apps and stuff. It can look a bit overwhelming. Do you think you could convince him to use a flip phone? About the only thing you can do with those things is call or receive a call. Not hard to learn either. I tried convincing him but he doesn't seem to care...about 4 years ago he went on a cross-country trip by himself. He did, at least, get a pre-paid phone for that journey. I told him he might still be able to use that phone for all I know...he might just be able to add some more minutes to it. He doesn't take a phone with him anywhere. He said "well, everyone else has a phone so if I need one I can just ask someone to use theirs." Uh, okay...I told him that not many people stop for someone broken down on the side of the road these days. Most just assume the person has a cell phone or they are too afraid to stop and help, etc. It is not 1950... Let him be then. Maybe he will have to learn from experience like a vehicle breakdown a flip phone would have come in handy. School of hard knocks.
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ners
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Post by ners on May 1, 2019 10:20:34 GMT -5
I just got back from visiting my dad for a week. He is 72 years old and doesn't have a cell phone. I keep telling him that he needs to get one for emergencies but he argues that he doesn't want or need one. He is an active person who lives in a large city. It would make feel better if he had a cell phone in case he has car trouble on the freeway, etc. but he won't listen... My dad is 90 years old. He has a flip phone so he can call someone if he locks his keys in his car or the car will not start. He charges the phone every Tuesday night. Wednesday is grocery shopping day. Dad only got the phone because he discovered there are no pay phones. When my sister stops over he gives her the phone and tells her to delete the junk texts.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on May 1, 2019 12:12:45 GMT -5
Movingforward-your dad might think all cell phones are smart phones with all their apps and stuff. It can look a bit overwhelming. Do you think you could convince him to use a flip phone? About the only thing you can do with those things is call or receive a call. Not hard to learn either. I tried convincing him but he doesn't seem to care...about 4 years ago he went on a cross-country trip by himself. He did, at least, get a pre-paid phone for that journey. I told him he might still be able to use that phone for all I know...he might just be able to add some more minutes to it. He doesn't take a phone with him anywhere. He said "well, everyone else has a phone so if I need one I can just ask someone to use theirs." Uh, okay...I told him that not many people stop for someone broken down on the side of the road these days. Most just assume the person has a cell phone or they are too afraid to stop and help, etc. It is not 1950... I had to take my parents to Walmart and pick out a prepaid phone that came with with a year of service. They weren't thrilled with me, but they agreed to it and were set for the year. After that they have figured out how to buy additional service a year at a time. Their main issue was not wanting a monthly cell phone bill on top of their regular phone bill, so the year pre-paid alleviated their concerns. However they wouldn't be able to order groceries over it since they haven't figured out how to read their text messages yet. I am just relieved that they have it and take it with them when they go on trips.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on May 1, 2019 13:35:31 GMT -5
My mom is 79. She is very tech savvy, always upgrading her iPhone, iPad and laptop. She still works part time as an office/personal assistant for 2 psychiatrists ( who are older than her). She uses her phone and laptop to work remotely even while her and Dad are traveling. I got a pretty good chuckle listening to her trying to explain to one of the doctors how to connect to WiFi.
My dad grudgingly got a flip phone several years ago. Due to his hearing problems he could no longer talk on the phone. My mom made him get one and learn to text so he could set up his outings with his fishing buddies. Now he has one of my moms old iPhones so he can now use it to check the weather for fishing and take fish pictures.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on May 2, 2019 7:43:27 GMT -5
I’m 72 and have a smart phone, IPad, laptop and desktop computer. I FaceTime with my grandkids and do lots of stuff via WiFi and the internet, but I see a lot of my contemporaries using old style phones and barely using computers. I will not be one of those!
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on May 2, 2019 8:11:19 GMT -5
I’m 72 and have a smart phone, IPad, laptop and desktop computer. I FaceTime with my grandkids and do lots of stuff via WiFi and the internet, but I see a lot of my contemporaries using old style phones and barely using computers. I will not be one of those! I have friends my age that say they wouldn't know how to turn on a computer. I just tell them to hit the power button. Easy peazy!! I was introduced to computers back in 1962-3 in school. But will admit that I don't use my cell phone except for emergencies - it's just another addiction waiting to happen and I don't need to be talking on it, looking up stuff, etc all the time.
My car is about the only place I can totally "unplug" from all things electronic. And I love listening to my music more than scanning a phone for latest coupons, etc.Don't have a laptop since have iPad that does basically the same thing - just carry it with me when traveling, etc.
I don't have a problem with those who do except for the folks texting and driving. Makes me want to kill
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on May 2, 2019 9:36:50 GMT -5
Well, I'll say for the record that I am 46 and really don't care about my smartphone. I could still be walking around with a dumb phone and it wouldn't bother me. As long as I can talk and text, I am good. The only reason why I got a smartphone is because every now and then I need to check work emails on it, or I might need GPS. I have actually been thinking about going back to a dumb phone. I get texts from work if it is something urgent. I have Ting so I only pay for the data I use though so might just stick with the smartphone. I have never paid more than $3 a month for data use. Work provides me with a surface so I mainly use that when traveling for business. When I am at home I use my kindle a lot. When ordering stuff online I always use my surface or my kindle.
I also don't do social media so I am definitely not one of those people checking FB constantly. The phone stays in my purse most all the time when I am out and about.
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Value Buy
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Post by Value Buy on May 2, 2019 9:42:01 GMT -5
I've locked myself out of the house twice and had to go to neighbors to call somebody with a key. You'd think that would have taught me to always keep a phone on me. No, it took falling on the ice bringing in the trash can a year ago. Thankfully, the car repair shop across the street saw it happen and came to help.
Now I carry the phone with me--even when I go to the basement.
Have you ever called from the basement? Might want to check this out. We do not get cellphone service from some of the basement area. We were checking circuit breakers from the garage area, with me throwing switches in the basement one year. My son in the garage did not receive my call from the basement. We tried again, with him calling me in the basement, and I did not receive service either. Turns out I had to be further away from the furnace room which was closest to the garage area......
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 2, 2019 10:36:42 GMT -5
There are some parts of the basement where the phone doesn't work.
There is a room without any windows and I get no service in that room. I do in the rest of the basement.
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