When the photographer walked into the room he couldn't resist hurrying for his camera but there was no need to hurry - the scene remained unchanged, the expressions remained the same as busy fingers explored all the wonders of the new hi-tech world on their ipods and laptops as several shots were fired off.
To be honest, they do get their exercise in the outdoors on bikes, scooters, boogie boards and the like but this is fairly typical on the home scene.
A sibling in Canada who received the pic by email, replied that it could have been taken where she celebrated her New Year. Same scene, different people.
What a different world the kids of today are growing up in. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, but I'm glad I grew up when I did.
Another sister has just discovered the delights of electronic books with her new Kimble, but if I want to read, I prefer to nod off and drop the paperback on my lap after a few chapters.
Whiz-bang gadgets, iphones and the like, just don't appeal but that's just me. I am quite happy to be old fashioned and blissfully ignorant of the rapid progression of new models, new features, new apps but for those addicted, where will it all end?
Your thoughts are interesting to read John.
ReplyDeletePersonally I love new technology, and my smart phone is waaaay better than my pevious mobile phones.
I am also a big fan of lap tops, versus a desk top PC - so much easier to chuck in my wheelie bin when it blows up...of course I check nobody is looking when I chuck it in...I have a massive guilt trip after, I am not completely "unenvironmental"!
OMG, is that even a word.?
I know bogan is now listed as a word.
Anyway, "unenvironmental" is my contribution to the Nerd dictionary.
Maybe I'll be a bit famous one day, having invented a nerdy new word.
Oh Eb....." - so much easier to chuck in my wheelie bin when it blows up."
ReplyDeleteGood to see you hear with you forthright statements.
As a member of the Australian Environment Foundation http://aefweb.info/ (As are both Dale and Rob Moore) we are all true environmentalists. Other Enviro Organisations are, IMHO, radical communist propaganda units. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, was horrified when his organisation morphed into an arm of Communism.
http://www.climatedepot.com/a/17410/Former-Greenpeace-cofounder-Dr-Patrick-Moore-rips-Greenpeaces-Crime-Against-Humanity-for-opposing-Golden-Rice-which-can-eliminate-vitamin-A-deficiency
Anyway....you didn't really want my rant, Ebony, so I will say again,
Good to see you. Respect your opinions.
Cheers
Geoff
Me too. And if we all thought the same the world would be a pretty boring place. I personally would not lose a moment's sleep if all mobile phones and smart phones self destructed at the stroke of midnight but as far as smart phones being superior ... well interesting that when some of the tribe were up visiting, they could't get any reception at our house on their smart phones. My wife and I can both get reception with the same carrier (Optus) from various parts of the house with our "less smart" versions. One of my sons even hopped on a bike and rode around Tannum in a van search for a signal which he finally found when we took a load of rubbish to the local tip miles away.
ReplyDeleteSo which is smarter? The iphone or the old phone :0) Also I got a flash new laptop for my recent pre Christmas birthday which I have used once or twice, briefly. Prefer the desktop Mac over the laptop Mac but guess it will be useful on travels. But the holiday unit we stayed at on the Sunshine Coast recently wanted something ridiculous for wifi connection $30 a day or thereabouts which I wouldn't pay.
But I should have realised that all those busy fingers in the pic above were tapping in to my new router so when the new year was still a pup I got a message from Optus saying I had used 80% of my download allowance. Suddenly the penny dropped. Little buggers watching videos and playing computer games on their aps etc.
All part of the leaning curve ...
"hopped on a bike and rode around Tannum in a van search..."
ReplyDeleteMake up your mind, Mikko, was it a van or a bike? Just kidding.
Re Macs, I have two imacs on my desk and Anne also has an imac. I have an ipad and a laptop - MacBook Air.
For most of my blogging and research, I use the MacBook Air.
For travelling, as you say, the laptop is great.
I went to China in November and took my MacBook Air and ipad. China blocked the access to the NO CARBON TAX Climate Sceptics blog. Funny, because they don't agree with the man-made global warming hoax.
Ha, good pick-up Geoff. Typos happen and not easy to correct here. "vain search" on his bike. No vans involved :0)
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt about Young Geoff, his ability to pick up funny typos is the stuff of legend!
DeleteWhether it's a Mac or Windows laptop (which we use), I personally could never go back now to carting around a rodent, letalone being chained to a desktop! It's funny how these strong preferences develop, isn't it?
Our eldest grandson (14) just dipped heavily into his 'life savings' to buy a top of the range MSI laptop, when he was here with us in Melbourne. Must admit, when he started prattling on about this wonderful super computer his parents had given him permission to buy (I repeat, with is own saved money,)I at first thought he was getting mixed up with either miso soup or the Melb Symphony Ochestra, as I had never heard of MSI. Whatever, he bought it. Now, this Toshiba laptop I am using is a big, heavy so and so, but it's a babe compared to his matt jet black MSI gorilla, with wicked red highlights. So, why did he go for it? If you google the brand you will find that MSI's top laptops are 'top of the heap' for anyone seeking the fastest possible reponses, and unbelievable graphics and audio. ie young males heavily into online 'games' :-(
So John, as one 'nerd progenitor' to another ....... And as I had already said to you privately, I love that pic! :-)
Cheers al
Ah yes, it's a common affliction Al but as I said our littlies also get their fair share of outdoor activities, as do yours, so I guess it's not such a bad thing :0) (And I could have told 'Young Geoff' that our son had his bike in the back of his CRV van or should that be SUV? Actually it has a bike rack on the back of his towbar and manages to fit at least three or four on there, one of which arrived with a burnt out rear tyre from being too close to the exhaust!)
ReplyDeleteBut it also gets back to how smart are smart phones if they can't get a signal where dumber devices can?
Hey Mikko and Bro al,
ReplyDeleteI have the towbar rack for my bike(s) as well. There is a piece that fits beneath the tow ball and then the rack fits over the towball and connects with a bolt and circular cotter spring.
To make sure the ball was safely screwed (no snickers please) I went to Lisarow trailer to tighten it. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the bottom bracket was not quite square with the car and so the bikes sit at a rakish angle (with the tyre away from the exhaust.)
CRV or SUV? How about giving them more pleasing designs and using the CRV/SUV anagram of CURVVS?
Hi, all,
ReplyDeleteI have been a bit remiss in coming on here - still finding my feet and getting into arguments on Facebook.
I LOVE the picture, John, and cannot help chuckling.
I am with you though and do you notice not much noise around any more with no one actually talking???
Eb, I really should get a smart phone or an iPad or something modern. I keep thinking but it's a bit like "what would I do with it once I got it" sort of thing.
I love the idea of those iPads.
Happy new year to all on here anyway. I will check in more often now that things are getting back to normal after the festive season.
Hi Bev good to hear from you. My wife had a temporary fling with an iphone but when the accounts started arriving she found the sales person had completely misled her about not costing any more than her ixisting mobile plan. It cost heaps more and it took months of frustration and phone calls to various people straight out of the TV comedy "Mumbai Calling" to eventually straighten it all out and get a refund even after she returned the phone. I eventually had to threaten to pass it all over to the communications ombudsman before the accounts were corrected and her former plan restored.
ReplyDeleteNow she has what you might call a semi smart phone with touch screen etc but she does not use the internet access, just the phone and text, which is all I do with mine.
So if you get talked into an iphone, make sure whoever sells it to you is giving you the full story.
Hey and Geoff, re" CRV or SUV? How about giving them more pleasing designs and using the CRV/SUV anagram of CURVVS?"
Or CURVYS maybe?
And...
ReplyDeleteIf you are on a pre-paid service be very midful when using your smart phone.
1. Don't down load itunes.
2. Don't do Facebook.
3. Don't surf the net.
4. Don't leave your smart phone browser on.
If you get caught like I did, when I first tried my amazing new technolgy - you are pretty much screwed out of big bucks real fast.
Thank goodness I was a pre-paid nerd!
If you run out of your credit - while it seems unfair, you don't have those awful dramas attached to caps & plans, associated with bill shock on a contract plan.
True Eb, but my wife was on a plan and the sales guy had assured her she was being offered a new iphone because she had been a loyal customer for years and apart from that, charges would remain the same. She didn't use the internet but the charges rose considerably. Apparently the sales people were just contract sellers and it was difficult convincing the carrier of what she had been promised and even when they believed her it took months for the accounts to be corrected. She would get a refund for one month over charged, then the next account would arrive with the same over-charge and the whole process would have to happen again with people who could hardly speak English promising they would sort it out.
ReplyDeleteHad to ring Telstra today about a damaged inspection pit on our footpath/ nature strip first reported before Christmas. They had arrived a couple of days later and installed a portable safety cage over it but no action since then. This morning I encountered a very polite customer service bloke who unfortunately could hardly speak or understand English, couldn't find our beach town anywhere "(it's not in our system" but he had maybe entered Cannumsends) repeated 'Cladstone' back with a C instead for a "G for George") had several goes at getting the street right, kept putting me on hold and asked me half a dozen times to give a physical description of the damaged pit. (It's chipped and cracked and the cover wobbles if you stand on it).
ReplyDeleteAnyway he eventually assured me he would issue a top priority alert to get it fixed as a safety issue and I would not have to ring Telstra again.
Here's hoping but after 20 minutes when he asked me to wait and answer a couple of simple questions about the service, I didn't have the heart.
OMG John, I just lose it....when it all gets lost in translation, I just ask - that planet you are living on, does it have weird people who are getting paid to be stupid? or is there another person a different colour, one who speaks English?
ReplyDeleteFair enough Eb :0) Even my wife said I was a model of patience for not doing my block (my usual reaction too) but he was such a poor polite specimen I just bit my tongue. Also didn't want to go thru the procedure again of trying to explain the problem to a robot who answers all calls before connecting to a 'customer service officer'.
ReplyDeleteAh the wonders of modern technology. Remember when calls were actually answered by a person back in the Dark Ages?