Any other technophobes?!

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I can, in theory, use my TV as I wrote down all the instruction and steps on a piece of paper. However, I am lazy and let the DH do it all. He likes to sit with the TV controller like Alexander the Great surveying his empire and he zaps through the ads too.

We only watch one thing a night, if that, and we decide what to see from the newspaper TV listings or from browsing the Netflix or Amazon Prime menu.

I think we have a good balance of using the advanced IT with which we are blessed but without letting it rule our lives - or spy on us.

We have a smart tv, a non smart tv, smart phones, 2 desktop computers and I have a tablet. I use the aspects of technology that I personally find useful ie. I use my phone as a phone and to send texts and occasionally as a SatNav don't watch films or play games. My tablet I use a lot, also my desktop computer. DH never uses his computer and very rarely uses his phone, its a PAYG and he tops it up perhaps once a year. But he has taken total control of the smart tv even though he doesn't really understand it. Thats fine with me, I rarely watch TV and have no interest in films or YouTube. If DH is watching something that appeals to me I'll watch otherwise I do something else. I'm not a technophobe, I have built 3 computers from scratch, that way I get the components and software I want not what the manufacturers think I should have. But because TVs and phones can do lots of clever things doesn't mean I have to use all of those features. I have a kindle but never use it, I prefer paper books. Two of our AC recently acquired Alexas, I simply said 'Why?' All the other technology they already have can do what Alexa does so why clutter their homes with another gadget. Having said all that I would love to have a laptop as I find the keyboard of my tablet irritatingly small.

4allweknow Whilst feeling overwhelmed when I first upgraded to a smart phone, I asked my techy daughter if she used every single app etc on hers, and she said "Don't be silly, Mum", so I agree with you.

Get one, they are though like washing machines, you end up only using half the programmes.

Saggi You're right.

Sparkle fizz and Hillwalker.....don’t you mean you dislike technology ‘after a point’ ....considering you own a CD player....?? Wasn’t that ‘new’ technology when vinyl went the way of the dodo!!?! You sound like my husband who thinks he doesn’t ‘do’ technology !! He watches myriad tv screens rather than the 3/4 he was brought up with!! He uses a remote rather than getting up and down out of a chair ( all technology surely) I think we all choose what we like to call technology ( usually stuff we don’t or WONT understand( ... and the stuff we DO understand we assume isn’t technology. We’re all ‘cherry pickers ’...

Bing is from Microsoft - I don't trust them much either.

I use a search engine called DuckDuckGo with Safari on my iPad and other Apple devices. It doesn't track you and respects your privacy. I also use a VPN to connect to the internet (if there are any interested techies reading this).

Annie
Lisagran has just put exactly what I was going to say.
If you want to search through Bing, just type it in your search bar.

Part of my comment disappeared.
I find it easier to watch catch up on a smart TV and most things are on catch up at least for a while so your way of watching changes and so I haven't bothered to buy a recording device. Also YouTube is just like another channel.
I was annoyed at first that I couldn't connect my DVD but I'm not bothered now although I probably will get a player at some time as I have a few DVDs I haven't watched.

kate1947 probably not. Scart connections are analogue and USB connections are digital so if your recorder only has a scart (which is usual) you won't be able to use it without a converter and it would probably be better to try a USB stick or buy a box and a DVD player. Amazon and other places sell a cable with a scart at one side and a USB at the other but I discovered afterwards that they are a con and that I should have read the reviews first.
Recorder boxes record the channel you are watching and I don't think that you can get ones that record one channel while you watch another but someone else may know one that does.

Type Bing in the search box on your iPad, Anniebach

Petra I only use my lap top once a week, I use my iPad every day, there is only google

I echo Willow , am tech savvy but can’t be bothered to keep up...its irritating. Am ok with GN but bored with the day to day life of bills/banking online would sooner go to a counter and pay ‘em. Also have Virgin and 2 TVs ..you need 2 boxes and they set them up.

A few years ago, I VOWED that there was NO way that I would ever have a computer.
I could not understand them, I did not see the point of them, and I had managed without one all of my life. I did not need or want this kind of Technology.
My Brother eventually persuaded me otherwise as he was desperate to bring me up to date.
The rest as they say is History. Put it this way, when my last computer started going wrong and had become very dated, I ordered a new one the very next day.
And yes, I would do the same again.
Huge thanks to my Brother as I would never have known about Gransnet otherwise. ??.

I have a normal tv and a DVD/HD recorder, so I can record , thinking in the future if I get a smart TV will my recorder still work?
I don't have super fast broadband and manage perfectly well with it, I have an I pad and a laptop, I don't even have a smartphone just an ordinary mobile to send texts and make occasional calls

Your Virgin package should work with a second set although you may need another connection in the room you're putting it in - presumably you have cable if you're on Virgin which is very good. If you get a smart TV and don't have anyone to set it all up for you ask someone from Virgin to talk you through it or get a TV engineer in.

I did think I was quite techno savvy but I don't know if it's an age thing or I just can't be bothered any more to try and keep up.

I'm with you luckyfour I don't like operating other people's computers or TVs in case I cause a disaster.
Hillwalker I do like the idea of a 'fart' phone
I can manage all the basics on my laptop, phone and tablet but if anything goes wrong I panic. I usually whatsapp my children or grandchildren for advice and can almost see their eyes rolling.

Smart TV. Smart Car. Smart phone.
Every thing is smart except me. I'm stupid. Well I feel stupid. Can't get to grips with these devices. Glad it's not just me.

We have two smart TVs and six recorders and I can not operate any of them, I can switch on one of the TVs but have not found the on/off button on the set in the music room so haven't used that TV. DH sets recorders which allows me to watch programmes if he does it for me.

I’m also not interested in linking my stuff to smart phone. Not talking to machines and don’t want it on my phone either where my data is permanently switched off. There is so much ‘spying ‘ going on that I feel big brother is always watching (hackers, global companies and government) and I find this very intrusive. Some criminals have managed to hook up their stuff to all the technology owned by some. Gives me the shivers.

I did Physics at university and worked as a design engineer before the children but I'm totally at sea with modern technology. Luckily my husband can set it up, but I don't know what I'll do if he goes first.
I've got the simplest possible mobile phone but after 15 years the battery doesn't last as long as it used to.
I've just got my husband's cast off I pad ( he couldn't get on with it) to read books from the library but am still a bit hit or miss and don't really know how to do anything else on it,
My daughter set it up for face time, and it was worth the money just to see my grandchildren at Christmas.

I own laptop, iPad and smart TV and can manage Netflix etc. but DH is always around if I get stuck. He talks to his technology and this is where I draw a line! I’m NOT going to talk to a machine.
These days I usually buy an extended guarantee and this has been very useful because of the built in obsolescence. My last laptop crashed the day before the one year guarantee expired so got it fixed for free. DH has had a new replacem not laptop not so long ago because of technical problems. They even reset up a computer after a repair which has been great. I’ve not done this in the past but for computer technology it has been worthwhile.
We have a Samsung Smart TV that DH said it almost set itself up and we have found it OK for catch up but I prefer the IPad. I think all TVs are smart these days so not much choice really.
Good luck with a new one. I’m not quite sure if I’d manage it all without DH, TBH.

Megs36, I'm not that clever, but I do understand most techy stuff. I don't have Sky tv, but I pay for Amazon Music Unlimited and Netflix. Our tv comes via Freesat. There are enough channels for our needs, and all the films and tv series I could possibly want. As we live in an area where radio reception is almost non-existent my Amazon Echo devices are paying for themselves. I 'd really rather listen to music than watch tv.

Annie
I use Bing as my search engine, owned by Microsoft, chairman, Bill Gates, a man I admire who does so much good around the world.