Apps and computer technology

[aandncaravan]

Hasn't life always been a bit like this? Sure the leaps and bounds might have been greater in the last 20 years, but wouldn't someone in their seventies used to walking have been staggered by the steam engines of 1849?

Weren't Steam trains such an 'event', that there were stories your nose lining would rupture and you would bleed to death if you went over 20 miles per hour?

 

How about someone with a 1902 bicycle being confronted by a 1904 Fiat 24/32 and maybe struggling with the concept of maintaining/driving one?

 

 

From the mid 1960's I had quite an interest in electronics repair and construction, even repairing valve driven TV's for a Saturday job.

When the shop owner trained me on the 'new' Transistor TV's and Radios I couldn't wait to leave the old Valve technology behind.

The 'new' Integrated Circuit chips when they arrived seemed unbelievable technology at the time.

 

Like Derek I was writing simple programs on NCR (315 and Century) computers back in the 1970's.

When I got my hands on a Tandy TRS80 'micro computer' in the late 1970's it was a revelation.

So I have been around advancements all my life, but don't always embrace everything 'tech'.

 

 

Will86, just as you didn't need to learn all about how the advanced DOHC 16 valve engine worked in a Triumph Dolomite, or learn about the switch from carburettors to Fuel Injection on the Triumph 2.5Pi back then, you don't need to understand or take on board everything now.

 

 

 

As for the TSB banking issues, that is nothing new.

Back in the mid 1990's I was working for Lloyds bank supporting the Mortgage Computer systems when one of the operators on the Retail banking system ran the same program suite twice. Errors were made trying to recover the corrupted data making the situation worse. The whole retail banking system was dead.

 

As a result, by the Friday the Bank was technically 'insolvent' (no incoming funds could be credited so we technically had paid out more than came in) and didn't have the funds legally needed to operate as a Bank.

Lloyds bank had to get special permission from the Bank of England to keep operating. Luckily, the weekend close down of the banking system gave enough respite to catch up and we opened on the Monday as an almost normal working day.

Obviously we were all sworn to secrecy.

 

 

 

 

[peterjl]

My aunt was housebound and used to buy her food from Asda by phone. When they stopped offering the telephone option she was 94 and overjoyed that at last she had a reason to buy a computer which she had heard all about.

 

I helped her buy her first laptop and from then on she was flying sending emails to all the family friends she new. She was still sending emails and shopping online until just before she died, still living alone in her own home, at aged 100.

 

She found the computer liberating, was fascinated by iPads and was thinking of buying one.

My father, her brother, bought his first iPad in his early 90’s and learnt to use it to communicate with family and friends..

 

As I travelled round the world either long haul or by Moho I used to send blogs with photo’s of where we were everyday and they both loved it. It bought the outside world into their homes, especially my aunt who, in her younger days was widely travelled.

 

Soooo I reckon your never too young to learn new IT skills and it can be liberating.

 

Peter

[Tracker]

You make some interesting points Allan and as one who drives a modern hybrid powered car I am so glad that I don't have to strip and rebuild the engines and gearboxes as I did the Minis and Escorts etc of the 60's to 90's. And as for the electrics and electronics - no thanks - not for me beyond changing a dead battery - and even that is often no longer as simple as it once was!! Advances in reliability and build quality are great plus also to having more cash to be able to buy a better car and as you say I don't need to know how it works to be able to enjoy it.

A car that does not leak water or break down was only a dream not so many years ago!

 

These, to my way of thinking, are tangible advances that serve a useful purpose, as are sat nav, mobile phones, laptops, the internet, emails etc but there are many alleged benefits in cars as in so many things that one has to ask WHY?

 

Traffic sign recognition for example, it does not do anything except bleep at you or show yet another display that you need to take your eyes off the road to see, and we would see the original if we had our eyes on the road - how did we ever manage without it?

 

What used to be a simple car radio has morphed into a thing of such complexity even changing chanells can be a challenge, let alone some of the more obscure functions that so many of will never use, don't understand, don't need to understand and just say WHY? Nevertheless we still have to pay for them - progress eh?

 

And as for Twitface and other social media, if you read some of the crud posted again I have to say WHY? I accept they can be a very handy tool for true communication but with so much rubbish and intrusion I don't thust them or use them.

 

Similarly with so many pointless apps one has to ask WHY? How ever did we survive for so many years without this allegedly wonderful technology and, more importantly, are our lives enhanced by our phones having all sorts of crud apps that many of us never use but is still often unable to get a signal to make a phone call when we really need to?

[laimeduck]

peterjl - 2018-05-04 2:09 PMMy aunt was housebound and used to buy her food from Asda by phone. When they stopped offering the telephone option she was 94 and overjoyed that at last she had a reason to buy a computer which she had heard all about.I helped her buy her first laptop and from then on she was flying sending emails to all the family friends she new. She was still sending emails and shopping online until just before she died, still living alone in her own home, at aged 100.She found the computer liberating, was fascinated by iPads and was thinking of buying one.My father, her brother, bought his first iPad in his early 90’s and learnt to use it to communicate with family and friends..As I travelled round the world either long haul or by Moho I used to send blogs with photo’s of where we were everyday and they both loved it. It bought the outside world into their homes, especially my aunt who, in her younger days was widely travelled.Soooo I reckon your never too young to learn new IT skills and it can be liberating.Peter

 

Yes it can until you lose your sight - then it is debilitating! As stated my mother is 97 and to all extents blind. She used a computer until about 10 years ago - then she couldn't see it. End of being able to communicate via those means.

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, I used to work as an engineer for commercial tv

Over time they went from 405 line tv black and white, to 625 line colour, then to digital multy channel

 

Over time I progressed up the greasy pole, and went into design department, and that evolved from paper based systems to ultimately they were to introduce "one per desk", computer that is.

 

I asked for a typing course, so that I could carry out my job .

 

My immediate boss said that at my age , I should not worry.. it was because plans were well advanced for the sale of ita/iba to private enterprise, and persons of certain ages would be offered early retirement.

 

I decided that as I did not want a computer at work, then early retirement was attractive option.and financially option for redundancy pay was attractive..

 

Once I left work, it was not long, before I succumbed, and bought my first computer, a commodore pet, and learned how to write simple programmes in machine code, 2 finger typing

The years pass by, and now , I have a tablet, mobile phone, and desktop computer with windows 10

And satnav devices as well.

 

Still 2 finger typing. Banking with touch card, bills paying by direct debit etc, pension direct into bank, etc, all clever stuff,

Both ears fitted with mico size heading aids. Modern technology tv, satellite etc.

 

Is that all welcome progress.are we all any happier, .

 

Is the world any better?

 

Tonyg3nwl

 

Ps, I still have my amateur radio equipment .