# Computer technology vs. Smart Phones.



## fuzzybuddy (Jan 22, 2022)

I've had a computer for the last 20+ years. And no way am I a geek. I can turn it on, and use it. I got an Iphone a few months ago. That's when I began to notice how old school computers were. To check if my medications from my pharmacy were ready, I had to click on the site, log in, click on different programs, and subprograms. But using my phone, I pushed the phone three times. It seems to me that phones are a better fit for most of us? I'm not sure why, buy I feel like some kind of heretic.


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## Alligatorob (Jan 22, 2022)

fuzzybuddy said:


> Computer technology vs. Smart Phones


I have to agree with you, I can operate my computer at least semi-competently, most of the time. 

My "smart" phone on the other hand I cannot, it seems to be smart enough, but with a dumb operator...


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## hollydolly (Jan 22, 2022)

I can do all sorts on my Iphone.. but it's fiddly and the screen is small as is the text so I much prefer my desktop Mac...


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## Gary O' (Jan 22, 2022)

I have the smart iPhone

Waiting the idiot savant version to come out

Guess which I'll be?


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## Alligatorob (Jan 22, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> I can do all sorts on my Iphone..


So can I, it makes a good paper weight, coaster, and pocket filler.  Sometimes I can even make and get calls on it.


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## Packerjohn (Jan 22, 2022)

I love to write and I learned "touch typing" from a correspondence course when I was in high school.  Can't imagine sitting and "chicken pecking" away on a smartphone.  I suppose this is why there are so many people writing 1 line statements these days.


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## Knight (Jan 22, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> I love to write and I learned "touch typing" from a correspondence course when I was in high school.  Can't imagine sitting and "chicken pecking" away on a smartphone.  I suppose this is why there are so many people writing 1 line statements these days.


The phone should have a pop up screen with a choice of whatever word you begin to type in. Mine for example if a type " t " it will give "the"  as an option. I can tap that choice to skip completing the word


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## hollydolly (Jan 22, 2022)

Knight said:


> The phone should have a pop up screen with a choice of whatever word you begin to type in. Mine for example if a type " t " it will give "the"  as an option. I can tap that choice to skip completing the word


Predictive Text ! It can be a blessing as well as a curse...


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## horseless carriage (Jan 22, 2022)

This is my first cell phone. I still have it and it would work if it wasn't analogue. It did all I ever want, made and received calls and texting. Although the latter could be a pain. Look at the digits, each one has a group of letters, you had to press the digit button as many times as the letter you wanted was in order. For example, the letter 'S' is fourth on the number seven, so that meant four presses on the number seven button in order to achieve the letter 'S.'

My smart phone is eleven years old now, and it's still far too smart for me. I don't even know how it connects to the internet, there again, I'm not that bothered.


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## Jace (Jan 22, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> _So_ can I, it makes a good paper weight, coaster, and pocket filler.  Sometimes I can even make and get calls on it.


"That's about 'the _size of it'! " _


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## Mitch86 (Jan 22, 2022)

I have a Samsung S21 smart phone but do all my texting on my Dell 7000 PC using Dell Mobile Connect.  I use my smart phone only to record all my health information (blood pressure, weight, sleep time, etc.) in the Samsung Health app on the phone.  I also rarely get calls there. Most of my calls are made and received on my landline phone.


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## David777 (Jan 22, 2022)

To be more term accurate, smartphones are very much computers as all have microprocessors with position/keyboard control.  The efficiency of using various computer appliances strongly depends on skills of the person and less with specific device types.  That noted, a desktop or laptop is going to be the choice with more skilled users while those with less skills, a smartphone or touch pad.  

As someone that worked at a few Silicon Valley company computer engineering departments during the rise of computers, not only do I prefer desktops or laptops but often run complex script operations on command line windows. I dislike how smartphone advocates have tried to dumb down recent versions of Windows.  Microsoft has backed off various attempts to make the Windows display more like smartphones because skilled users like this person strongly condemned many such "improvements" that tended to so hide many Control Panel operations that users usually had to annoyingly use Search functions.  Although I find smartphones fine for simple operations, there are many that become tedious, prone to being sent off into unintended pages where one is soon lost.  Smartphone operations requiring selecting, copying, and pasting text across multiple pages are particularly annoying.


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## Tish (Jan 22, 2022)

Yeah, I rely on my phone a lot more than my laptop, They have come a long way since Nokia's Brick.


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## Packerjohn (Jan 23, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> Predictive Text ! It can be a blessing as well as a curse...


My word processor has this predictive text.  I have shut if off as I have found it very annoying.  For every time it has put in the correct word, it also puts in the wrong word.  I find the system very stressful but that's just me.  Others might think it's the greatest invention since "mother's milk."


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## hollydolly (Jan 23, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> My word processor has this predictive text.  I have shut if off as I have found it very annoying.  For every time it has put in the correct word, it also puts in the wrong word.  I find the system very stressful but that's just me.  Others might think it's the greatest invention since "mother's milk."


I hate predictive text so I have it turned off on my computer.. but it is handy on my iphone, because the buttons are so small I'm a slow texter , so predictive text comes in useful...


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## Don M. (Jan 23, 2022)

I carried a small basic 3G cell phone for years....hardly ever used it....just a means of communication when away from the house, in case we needed to talk to the kids, or had some car trouble, etc.  Then, a few weeks ago, Tracfone said it would no longer be supported after this coming March, so they offered a good deal on a "smart phone", and I switched.  What a Nuisance!  I spent quite a bit of time getting it set up to just be a Phone...without a bunch of needless Aps, and it going off every few minutes with some unnecessary messages and "news".  I've only carried it for about a month, but if any I have any problems with it, I may just go buy a basic Flip phone.....IF they still make them.


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## JustinCase (Jan 24, 2022)

Don M. said:


> I carried a small basic 3G cell phone for years....hardly ever used it....just a means of communication when away from the house, in case we needed to talk to the kids, or had some car trouble, etc.  Then, a few weeks ago, Tracfone said it would no longer be supported after this coming March, so they offered a good deal on a "smart phone", and I switched.  What a Nuisance!  I spent quite a bit of time getting it set up to just be a Phone...without a bunch of needless Aps, and it going off every few minutes with some unnecessary messages and "news".  I've only carried it for about a month, but if any I have any problems with it, I may just go buy a basic Flip phone.....IF they still make them.


When I was 'snowbirding' I had a smartphone to pay my bills (our internet was hit or miss) I used the provider's data connection.  Home for good I decided to go back to a flipper from ConCell.  Turn it on for trips/emergencies, send my calls to wife's.  Never looked back.


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## Jackie23 (Jan 24, 2022)

I text nearly everything on my iphone because of my poor hearing....love the predictive text...also all voicemails are transcribed into text, that's a big deal for me.


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## Murrmurr (Jan 24, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> Predictive Text ! It can be a blessing as well as a curse...


Voice-to-text is, too. For example, whether I say "He" or "She" the text always goes with "She". And I don't have a lisp....or as my phone would say, "list".


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

Murrmurr said:


> Voice-to-text is, too. For example, whether I say "He" or "She" the text always goes with "She". And I don't have a lisp....or as my phone would say, "list".


I've never tried voice to text... I wouldn't know how to do it...


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## Pinky (Jan 24, 2022)

Tish said:


> Yeah, I rely on my phone a lot more than my laptop, They have come a long way since Nokia's Brick.
> 
> View attachment 204928


My "new" Nokia still looks like that!


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## Murrmurr (Jan 24, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> I've never tried voice to text... I wouldn't know how to do it...


Where you enter your text there's like a toolbar across the top with an icon that looks like a microphone. Tap that and go from there. I like mine a lot, but I guess it isn't used to my voice yet....it's supposed to get used to your speech pattern, so I was told.


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

Murrmurr said:


> Where you enter your text there's like a toolbar across the top with an icon that looks like a microphone. Tap that and go from there. I like mine a lot, but I guess it isn't used to my voice yet....it's supposed to get used to your speech pattern, so I was told.


OH I see it... in my whatsapp  on my Iphone it's down bottom right next to the camera for anyone else whose looking...


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

No matter how convenient, there's certain things I prefer not to do on my phone. Some I do on my tablet, others I have to be on my computer. I would never do Senior Forum on my phone and would only do Facebook if I absolutely had no other choice. I don't use my banking apps on my phone although I could now that I have a VPN on it. 

What makes the phones (and tablets) so convenient are the apps. I remember before I got my iPhone years ago, I was hearing so much about apps. Seems people were going crazy for them and I wondered why.  I found out when I got the iPhone. I've had Android devices for several years now but there's plenty of apps on them too. I recently realized it's much easier to navigate my pharmacy site using the app. There are a few other sites that I prefer using the apps over the computer. And of course, our emails are readily available without logging in. except I have a business email that is not accessible unless I log in and that's by choice.


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## Packerjohn (Jan 24, 2022)

I have a flip phone but only use it very seldom.  Sometimes a month goes by and I don't even look at it.  Anyway, walking the hallway this morning, I met this "little old lady" who asked me if I knew anything about her Apple phone.  I said NO!  I keep away from them.  She told me she had a problem because she keeps getting all these adds and the "delete" button does not work.  I said I'm sorry but I can't help her but suggested she find a 5 year old kid.  Usually they can fix most things on computers or smartphones.  Just kidding but not really!


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> No matter how convenient, there's certain things I prefer not to do on my phone. Some I do on my tablet, others I have to be on my computer. I would never do Senior Forum on my phone and would only do Facebook if I absolutely had no other choice. I don't use my banking apps on my phone although I could now that I have a VPN on it.
> 
> What makes the phones (and tablets) so convenient are the apps. I remember before I got my iPhone years ago, I was hearing so much about apps. Seems people were going crazy for them and I wondered why.  I found out when I got the iPhone. I've had Android devices for several years now but there's plenty of apps on them too. I recently realized it's much easier to navigate my pharmacy site using the app. There are a few other sites that I prefer using the apps over the computer. And of course, our emails are readily available without logging in. except I have a business email that is not accessible unless I log in and that's by choice.


I would never do banking on my phone, altho' my family do..... I would just be so terrified of losing my phone I wouldn't take it out .. my family tell me that as long as I have my phone locked  it's very safe to do banking on it.. but nope I don't trust  myself to always to remember to lock my phone, and or to not leave my phone on a table in a cafe.. or a supermarket checkout... or even have it stolen from my bag


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> I have a flip phone but only use it very seldom.  Sometimes a month goes by and I don't even look at it.  Anyway, walking the hallway this morning, I met this "little old lady" who asked me if I knew anything about her Apple phone.  I said NO!  I keep away from them.  She told me she had a problem because she keeps getting all these adds and the "delete" button does not work.  I said I'm sorry but I can't help her but suggested she find a 5 year old kid.  Usually they can fix most things on computers or smartphones.  Just kidding but not really!


she would be as well to find a teenager they would certainly have sorted it out for her, but her best bet would be to go to the Apple store...


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> I would never do banking on my phone, altho' my family do..... I would just be so terrifieded of losing my phone I wouldn't take it out .. my family tell me that as long as I have my phone locked  it's very safe to do banking on it.. but nope I don't trust  myself to always to remember to lock my phone, and or to not leave my phone on a table in a cafe.. or a supermarket checkout... or even have it stolen from my bag


HD...I would hope that you have it set up to log in and log out of your banking site using your phone just as you would on the computer. One should alway log off and close the browser (or banking app) right after visiting the site. I log into my banking apps using my tablet most of the time but prefer to log into my credit union using a web browser (tablet or computer) simply because their app is not as sophisticated as the banking apps.


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> HD...I would hope that you have it set up to log in and log out of your banking site using your phone just as you would on the computer. One should alway log off and close the browser (or banking app) right after visiting the site. I log into my banking apps using my tablet most of the time but prefer to log into my credit union using a web browser (tablet or computer) simply because their app is not as sophisticated as the banking apps.


No, because I don't have any banking set up on my phone Diva.. I refuse to do it..I do all my banking on my home Mac..


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> No, because I don't have any banking set up on my phone Diva.. I refuse to do it..I do all my banking on my home Mac..


I understand that but what I was pointing out is that anyone who chose to bank by phone wouldn't have to worry about their bank information being compromised (under normal circumstances) if they followed those steps. I hate it when people use the would "you" (when talking to me) when they mean someone else and now I've done it !!  But noticed I did use the world "One" and not 'you" in the next sentence.


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> I understand that but what I was pointing out is that anyone who chose to bank by phone wouldn't have to worry about their bank information being compromised (under normal circumstances) if they followed those steps. I hate it when people use the would "you" (when talking to me) when they mean someone else and now I've done it !!  But noticed I did use the world "One" and not 'you" in the next sentence.


yes I understand and that's what my family tell me, because they do use their phones for banking far more than they do their computers, but nope I'm not ready to trust myself with it...


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## Jules (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> HD...I would hope that you have it set up to log in and log out of your banking site using your phone just as you would on the computer. One should alway log off and close the browser (or banking app) right after visiting the site. I log into my banking apps using my tablet most of the time but prefer to log into my credit union using a web browser (tablet or computer) simply because their app is not as sophisticated as the banking apps.


No matter the device, banking sites want you to use a dropdown to log out.  There should be an icon right at the top that says* LOG OUT.*  It’s easy to become distracted at home and could be easier to forget while on a phone.  Even though the bank logs you out within a few minutes, I’m not willing to chance that on my phone while out and about.


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## hollydolly (Jan 24, 2022)

Jules said:


> No matter the device, banking sites want you to use a dropdown to log out.  There should be an icon right at the top that says* LOG OUT.*  It’s easy to become distracted at home and could be easier to forget while on a phone.  Even though the bank logs you out within a few minutes, I’m not willing to chance that on my phone while out and about.


My bank uses the icon at the Top that says Log Out ..no drop down menu


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> yes I understand and that's what my family tell me, because they do use their phones for banking far more than they do their computers, but nope I'm not ready to trust myself with it...


You don't have to HD. Really...you don't.


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## Alligatorob (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> You don't have to HD.


A good thing!

What is HD?


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> A good thing!
> 
> What is HD?


HD is Hollydolly Alligatorob.


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## Alligatorob (Jan 24, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> HD is Hollydolly Alligatorob.


Now I am embarrassed!

I was thinking it was yet another phone feature I didn't understand...


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## OneEyedDiva (Jan 24, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> Now I am embarrassed!
> 
> I was thinking it was yet another phone feature I didn't understand...


ROFLM*O!!! (Sorry Alligatorob)


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## hollydolly (Jan 25, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> You don't have to HD. Really...you don't.


...and I'm not going to... there's absolutely no reason for me to use my phone for banking...


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## fuzzybuddy (Jan 29, 2022)

I completely understand everything about smartphones, and I lie like hell. I just got my phone a few months ago, unless it visually recognizes me, it won't unlock. That's a pain, when you're wearing a mask. If your phone has that feature, I would guess using it to do banking should be safe.


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## David777 (Jan 29, 2022)

As someone in computer hardware engineering in 2 companies for over a decade and another 14 on Internet router/switching appliances, I refuse to do banking on any of my devices.  Given access to otherwise supposedly secure hardware, a program like wireshark can record all Internet traffic.  Fortunately for most of us peons, the few engineering savvy miscreants doing so are big game fishing.


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## horseless carriage (Dec 1, 2022)

It served me well, in fact I still hand write
all my mail. E-mail was a requirement to
join this forum, but I can't think why, so I 
got an email address. It's now defunct, 
covered in dust and collecting cobwebs.


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## Mr. Ed (Dec 2, 2022)

Computer technology vs. Smart Phones vs. Smart people​


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## NorthernLight (Dec 2, 2022)

Computers used to drive me crazy -- constant frustration and repairs. 

Now I have just a smart phone for everything. It's relatively idiot proof, and I quickly got used to typing with a stylus.


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## Mitch86 (Dec 2, 2022)

I believe most Americans have a PC AND a smart phone.


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## mrstime (Dec 2, 2022)

I have a cell phone, and it isn't smart, that for sure. Well it might be my fault, I bought a cheap one, paid for a few minutes and burned through them so fast because I didn't know how to turn it off. I don't know how to use it, so it lives in my scooter basket because if we have a problem when we are out on our scooters I can dial 911 with it. I figure anyone wants to talk to me, I have a perfectly good landline phone. If I am not home leave a message.


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## hollydolly (Dec 3, 2022)

mrstime said:


> I have a cell phone, and it isn't smart, that for sure. Well it might be my fault, I bought a cheap one, paid for a few minutes and burned through them so fast because I didn't know how to turn it off. I don't know how to use it, so it lives in my scooter basket because if we have a problem when we are out on our scooters I can dial 911 with it. I figure anyone wants to talk to me, I have a perfectly good landline phone. If I am not home leave a message.


you don't know how to turn it off.. lol... go to youtube, type in the name and model of your phone, and get instructions..


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## hollydolly (Dec 3, 2022)

Since this thread was started almost a year ago..I have yet another Iphone. It's not new.. it's the Iphone 12...  which for those who don't know is 2 years younger than my previous Iphone X... the latest Model phone is the Iphone 14... In the past my husband would upgrade every year or every other year and I would get his old phone ( technically only a year or 2 old ).. but now he's gone.. DD is giving me her old phones.. so I've got a 2 year old Iphone now.. which altho' not new, is new to me.. and really the camera is much better than on my Iphone X


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## Buckeye (Dec 3, 2022)

Jackie23 said:


> I text nearly everything on my iphone because of my poor hearing....love the predictive text...also all voicemails are transcribed into text, that's a big deal for me.



Predictive text is my worst enema....


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## mrstime (Dec 3, 2022)

hollydolly said:


> you don't know how to turn it off.. lol... go to youtube, type in the name and model of your phone, and get instructions..


I know how now, but I also still don't know how to use the damn thing.


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## Feelslikefar (Dec 3, 2022)

I enjoy the leaps in tech that allow our lives to be a little easier (at least for me).
Will use my laptop to download an audio book from the library, send a copy to my phone and control
it with my smart watch, the phone stays in my pocket.

If I get a call, I just touch my hearing aid and the aids take over.
From what I've been told, talking with the aids is clear on the other end.

Could get along without these items, but I sure enjoy them.


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## Happyflowerlady (Dec 3, 2022)

I have been using an iPad ever since they came out, and I absolutely would never want to go back to having to use a computer.  I do have a laptop, and it works fine; but everything i want to do is just SO much easier with the iPad. 
When I take a picture with my iphone, it is almost instantly uploaded to my ipad as well; because all of the apple devices will sync with each other. 
I have an older, smaller ipad that I use for doing surveys with, and I have an external keyboard that I can use with it if the survey asks for me to type in a long er answer. 

I would be lost without my apple iphone and ipads, and especially my Apple Watch, because it helps me monitor all of my health conditions and encourages me to exercise each day.


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## perChance (Dec 12, 2022)

I use a tablet for surfing and reading the news but prefer a desktop with a big monitor (or 2 smaller ones) for everything else - spreadsheets,  photo editing,  researching for future trips etc.  For years I had 2 monitors - but with a big monitor you can use split screens.


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## Indiana Joe (Dec 12, 2022)

Alligatorob said:


> I have to agree with you, I can operate my computer at least semi-competently, most of the time.
> 
> My "smart" phone on the other hand I cannot, it seems to be smart enough, but with a dumb operator...


Story of 90 percent of us.


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## horseless carriage (Dec 12, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> I love to write and I learned "touch typing" from a correspondence course when I was in high school.



At this time of the year all our Christmas cards have our greetings written in pen and ink.
It does garner some wonderful comments, but those comments are always by text message.


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## katlupe (Dec 13, 2022)

I prefer my laptop. I only use my telephone for telephone calls and texts (mostly from my bf or appointments).


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