Friday, April 5, 2013

Butting Heads with Technology


I dig my heels in every time new technology arrives, and something 'new' seems to pop up almost every week. Now let me start out by saying I love the Internet! How else would I have come to know all of you lovely people? And since there are no phone lines out here, I like my cell phone now that they have built a tower on the ranch. Before that, no service. There was a phone in the house - the kind with a cord that hung on the wall - but it was just a glorified bag phone. There is a small tower behind the house with a little box that stores the bag phone. Once everything went digital, the analog phone no longer worked. Before that, we had a party line in Texas.

I do text so that is my nod to technology.

However, we only have one television. No DVR. I do not have a smart phone. I don't get picture mail. I don't have a dishwasher. We just installed central air 2 years ago. We drive a 14 yr old truck and when I test drove a couple of new ones, I balked because I felt like I was driving the space shuttle. I did not like it at all! I do not need a heated steering wheel cover nor do I need a step that folds down so that I can get into the bed of said truck. I am plumb happy with my old truck thank you very much.

Now, I don't begrudge anyone all of the bells and whistles that technology provides, but I am a simple gal. And yes, you can be a simple gal with bells and whistles, but the following is a true example of what happens when technology and I collide.

After 4 hours, in two days, and after lovely, lengthy conversations with Alex, Henry, Dustin, Alexis, and Melody, I finally have iTunes downloaded into my computer. Yes, the downloading is set to be stupid proof. No, I could not download it. But, in my defense, it took 2 senior advisers from Apple to finally get it done. Not to mention some finger, toe, and eye crossing. No bad words. I'm pretty patient when it comes to this kind of stuff, but it does make me want to weep. It should not be this hard.

Oh, my goodness! I just wanted to listen to an audio book from a library. Our library doesn't offer that so I had to get a card through my mom from her library. It came with 3 pages of instructions.

When the kids left, I inherited our girl's old Nano. It's a pretty lime green. The first time I tried to hook it up, I wiped out her entire library. Over 2000 songs. Poof. Gone. No, I do not know how that happened.

I thought it would be perfect for listening to audio books while I was trotting down the dirt road. I told myself, "I got this". Humph.

Just hit download. Do you see the box that pops up? No. It's right there. On the screen. No. Sorry. No box. Uninstall Bonjour and Quicktime and temp files. No. Can't download it on Chrome. Sigh. Error messages. Feel sanity slowly draining away.

Finally! Success...along with a message that I have used up all of my cell phone minutes.

Install Overdrive for WMA books.
Adjust AAC import settings.

Honestly! This book had better be AMAZING because I'm probably going to forget how I got it installed and  it'll be the only book I'll ever have on here. What book? Killing Lincoln.

That reminds me that I have to return it at the end of the month. How do you return a virtual book? Here we go again. Sheesh!

I'm going to play in the dirt. Just me, seeds, dirt, and a little whining to the good Lord about how this technology was supposed to make life easier.

I might be burying that Nano too...right next to the carrots.

Maybe they can get it to work.

15 comments:

Dorian said...

ROFL Karin. SOrry for you all troubles. I, too, am not into all this new technology. I don't even have a cell phone, much less know how to use any apps. I don't own a Nano or anything else to listen to books on. I much prefer a regular book. And old trucks/cars are so much more cool ;) LOL. Take care.

BunkHouseQuilts said...

Great post, and boy can I relate to everything you said!

Doniene said...

Okay, I'm in crying because I'm rolling on the floor - you sound like Mike!!!! But I must confess, I'm even dragging my feet about bloglovin!

Blessings

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Okay - that is funny!And this is why I tell my children they can't leave me!!!!

PS - I remember the bag phone - that was our phone line for years until the brought the telephone out here too - too funny!

Hilachas said...

Hahaha, what an entertaining post you wrote today. Your comments certainly brought a smile to my face this morning. I love, love all the new technology but I agree with you that it can be frustrating getting some of the gadgets to work. I finally figured out my Nano and love listening to audiobooks as we travel across West Texas since it's so difficult to get a radio station out here. Thanks for getting my day off with a smile :)

Lee said...

I so understand about modern technology. My husband got a Kindle Touch. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to download, or is it upload?, a free book to it. Amazon says I have the free book...it just isn't on the Kindle. And hubs got me a new desktop computer at Christmas...still trying to maneuver Windows 8.

Denise said...

I just call on my 13 yr. old son.... he can fix anything tech in a few minutes. So nice to have an expert around! He helps the teachers at school and the neighbours too ... think he should consider computer tech stuff for a career. Not sure why kids can figure it out but adults can't!! I'm with you ... it's a chore!

Janet said...

I hear you! No dishwasher. An old box tv with 11 channels and a VCR. Yup I still watch those old movies sometimes. I have sort of conquered the book download to my e-reader though. I find that they just become inaccessible after the 14 day take out time is up. So I can't figure on reading the last chapter in the morning like I would do with a hard copy book.

Carolyn Sullivan said...

We can form a new club! tech inabiltiy or some such. Ihad a teen ager show me how to text yrs ago, and my Grand Teen set up my blog!
the e book will return it self, but you can always renew. and get some for free that you can keep from Amazon. Love that. maybe I'll get time to read one.

Lou said...

The book is worth it! After you get that one read start Killing Kennedy:) Esp since you know how to download:)

Cindy said...

You got every tickle button in my oversized body giggling. JUST SEW. And I KNOW you do that wonderfully!

Nancy said...

I, too, have a love/hate relationship with technology.

juliehallfeldhaus said...

You will love the book I did! I also read Killing Kennedy and this fall Killing Jesus comes out.

Cactusneedle said...

Good news - you don't have to do anything to 'return" the book - when the checkout time is up, you lose access to it. FYI, if your gizmo is like my Kindle, it will still "appear" in your library, but you won't have access to it. That's the nice thing about digital books - they return themselves!

agent713 said...

Overdrive is not intuitive at all. It is incredibly frustrating to use. Good for you for persevering and figuring it out!

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