Navigating senior years.

Grumpy Bear · December 29, 2025

My wife forced upon me her old middle single digit I Phone retiring my compact flip so she could buy a double digit I Phone. My old phone was a phone and camera and did texting...period. My new phone allowed some applications to be added and I have, a few. It connected to my new car and provided maps, weather and a few widgets. I still carry paper maps, read the sky and enjoy the silence one seeks when plagued with tinnitus. Coolest feature of the new phone was a spam blocker that sort of added itself. Instead of dozens a day its two or three a month. Oh and voice to text which never sends what I said. :crackup:

Wife's phone added little practical features that I was interested in except a bit better picture quality and fewer dead zones although we have the same plan. That one is curious and yes, they tell me if I buy a new phone it will improve. It's not that big a problem to spend that kind of money on.

Her work phone is Apples latest and greatest and has more bells a whistles that I could ever imagine useful. It is also in constant nonstop alert mode for one thing or another or updating this or that right when you need to use it. LOL

My 2015 Chevy truck still has hand cranks and a CD player and while I have a tablet and landline I still use a very old PC with the newest software, firewalls and blockers. Works better than my phone. Bank in person too. It's two miles down the road and there's a great bar and grill next door. Can't get atmosphere delivered Door Dash.

I miss the simplicity of my 64 Malibu SS and mechanical tuner black and white Zenith TV and listening to Jack Benny and The Shadow on AM radio.

Oh I like watching the games on Sunday on the new big screen but not real fond of the hundred a month to feed that pig. With a landline and no voice messaging, stay outdoors and there isn't any spam.

Coolest gadget I've bought in the last 30 years is my Linear Logic Scan Gauge III

I find, in my case, the simpler the eye, the cheaper life is. Less stressful too. I'm good.

Edited December 29, 2025 by Grumpy Bear

PhilB · December 29, 2025

Better cell reception with newer cell phones on the 5G network. Why? Better hardware and better software. Also with newer phones you get better security. Talking about hackers here. They exploit s/w issues, which is resolved by s/w updates. But there are times the hackers will find a hardware issue to exploit. Then it's game over. They get your banking information, personal identifying information (PII), passwords, etc. So getting a new phone that is only a few generations old is a good choice. And like StingerZ says, you learn through the progressions of devices.

Personally I don't do everything on my phone. I like using a physical keyboard when I can. I also have better security on my laptop to prevent malwares and such. Many years ago I foolishly tried to download music from an unauthorized site, and my computer was infected. Took me a couple of weeks to clean it all up. This was early 2000s. Lesson learned.

Atlas · December 29, 2025

My parents (mid 70's) began embracing technology in retirement almost 20 years ago. Back then I laid a few ground rules. If you want me to help support your devices and answer your tech questions, you will buy Apple devices only for phones and computers. That stuck.

When dad had a heart attack in ~2017, he embraced wearing an Apple Watch going forward for the fall protection / alert stuff. Since then it's gotten into alerting for potential abnormal heart rhythms, and he has that now. Still can't get my mom to wear one - mostly because she can't see or deal with screens that small (eyes and arthritis). But she probably needs it the most.

The biggest challenge has been keeping them safe in a digital world. Password management and having them practice good digital housekeeping in general. They don't know what they don't know about information security.

Tech is too much like work. My devices are serviceable but aren't the latest hardware. They get replaced with new hardware when it's time. I'm running a 3 year old laptop and my phone is old. Too old. I'll be upgrading shortly from an iPhone 12 pro to a 17. Apple still supports the 12 but it's basically EOL/ end of life.

There's a lot of fluff in technology these days. Features and IOT/Internet of Things that nobody really asked for. A good example is our refrigerator - it has an app. Our oven has an app. We don't use either app because they do nothing useful. A useful feature would be push notifications if the refrigerator temperature unexpectedly drops below its set temperature. It does not do that.

I refer to our EV as the "software car". It took a long time to learn and set everything up. It too requires device and software management. Too much like work.

I struggle with AI. Much like the internet eclipsed my parents, I'm at the age where AI could eclipse me. I implement AI functionality at work. Much of AI is junk. I have yet to find an actual use for myself, personally, but I push myself to continue learning and using things like ChatGPT and learning how to better prompt and converse with AI to get better results.

AI is worth paying attention to.

Edited December 29, 2025 by Atlas

PhilB · December 29, 2025

8 minutes ago, Atlas said:

I struggle with AI. Much like the internet eclipsed my parents, I'm at the age where AI could eclipse me. I implement AI functionality at work. Much of AI is junk. I have yet to find an actual use for myself, personally, but I push myself to continue learning and using things like ChatGPT and learning how to better prompt and converse with AI to get better results.

I'm staying away from AI as much as possible. When you converse with AI, the conversation is out in the internet forever. Don't need someone (DOGE comes to mind) mining that information and using it against me or stealing from me. Paranoid? Maybe a bit, but just being cautious.

KARNUT · December 29, 2025

My wife just went through a password change. It’s amazing how many things have passwords. She keeps a notebook. My brother in law just bought a new TV. Part of its function requires downloading an app to his phone. He took it back.

customboss · December 29, 2025

28 minutes ago, PhilB said:

I'm staying away from AI as much as possible. When you converse with AI, the conversation is out in the internet forever. Don't need someone (DOGE comes to mind) mining that information and using it against me or stealing from me. Paranoid? Maybe a bit, but just being cautious.

They already are mining everything we do digitally. Sadly.

customboss · December 29, 2025

21 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

My wife just went through a password change. It’s amazing how many things have passwords. She keeps a notebook. My brother in law just bought a new TV. Part of its function requires downloading an app to his phone. He took it back.

Get NordPass it’s worth it when you lose your marbles like me. Memory and notebooks not good enough anymore. Someone gets that notebook and you have connected banking retirement etc you are toast.

Atlas · December 29, 2025

44 minutes ago, PhilB said:

I'm staying away from AI as much as possible. When you converse with AI, the conversation is out in the internet forever. Don't need someone (DOGE comes to mind) mining that information and using it against me or stealing from me. Paranoid? Maybe a bit, but just being cautious.

You are not wrong. Information security applies to AI just like it does PII and other sensitive information. You would not want to give AI services any information that you wouldn't mind broadcasting publicly.

But that doesn't mean AI services can't be used. For example, prompting it with questions to gather and provide a real estate market analysis for a particular area. Asking AI for cooking tips and recipes. Doing research for hobbies or other pursuits. It can be very useful without being exploitative.

PhilB · December 30, 2025

customboss · December 30, 2025

Do any of you old people miss working in a machine shop?

Edited December 30, 2025 by customboss

Donstar · January 1

"Why would I want a smartphone?", is a question that does prompt a chuckle. It is unimaginable why anyone would choose to be without one. The cartoon in the post above depicts many of the basic tasks a modern "phone" does cheaper and more conveniently than previous technology. The part I find funny is why we call it a phone. I seldom use it to speak to anyone but I use this device frequently. I still own a landline, a dedicated digital camera, a laptop, a desk calendar. a portable radio a library card and look forward to our weekly newspaper! Oh, and I lick my finger to check wind direction. (Some may need to use their phone to find out why! )

KARNUT · January 1

3 hours ago, Donstar said:

"Why would I want a smartphone?", is a question that does prompt a chuckle. It is unimaginable why anyone would choose to be without one. The cartoon in the post above depicts many of the basic tasks a modern "phone" does cheaper and more conveniently than previous technology. The part I find funny is why we call it a phone. I seldom use it to speak to anyone but I use this device frequently. I still own a landline, a dedicated digital camera, a laptop, a desk calendar. a portable radio a library card and look forward to our weekly newspaper! Oh, and I lick my finger to check wind direction. (Some may need to use their phone to find out why! )

I like many people look at my phone before I get out of bed. That’s if I didn’t need it to wake me up with an alarm. I look at several news apps while waiting for my coffee. See if anyone has left me a text. Look at this website. At 8.00 I leave for my morning walk it hits Bluetooth with my morning podcast. If I’m going more than through town I’m using it for navigation. If I’m in the mood for music. I can hit several apps for that. I can open my garage door and start my car with my phone. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Atlas · January 1

5 hours ago, Donstar said:

The part I find funny is why we call it a phone. I seldom use it to speak to anyone but I use this device frequently.

Phone? Yeah, I think I still have an app for that somewhere on this device..

In reality I have many phone apps for work and other communications. One of the unfortunate parts of still being on the clock.

I'm older-millennial, and I particularly don't enjoy "talking on the phone". Need something, message me. If I don't pick up? Don't leave a voicemail, send a text instead, and why didn't you send a text in the first place.

Someone died? Message me and tell me we need to meet, or talk on the phone somewhere privately, that way I know it's serious and to make time/space. My parents drive me nuts in this regard. They still call - for everything - so every time I see one of their names pop up, they may just be calling to catch up, or make plans, or maybe someone died or is in the hospital. Ya just never know.

Grumpy Bear · January 1

5 hours ago, Donstar said:

(Some may need to use their phone to find out why! )

Point set and match. :rollin: .

When I retired I removed my watch and got rid of the alarm by the bed. Calendars are everywhere. Dad had a rule when I was home. If a call takes more than three minutes then go meet face to face. We played baseball not Grand Thief Auto. Sun on the face not screen glow.

customboss · January 1

10 minutes ago, Atlas said:

Phone? Yeah, I think I still have an app for that somewhere on this device..

In reality I have many phone apps for work and other communications. One of the unfortunate parts of still being on the clock.

I'm older-millennial, and I particularly don't enjoy "talking on the phone". Need something, message me. If I don't pick up? Don't leave a voicemail, send a text instead, and why didn't you send a text in the first place.

Someone died? Message me and tell me we need to meet, or talk on the phone somewhere privately, that way I know it's serious and to make time/space. My parents drive me nuts in this regard. They still call - for everything - so every time I see one of their names pop up, they may just be calling to catch up, or make plans, or maybe someone died or is in the hospital. Ya just never know.

You are my brothers age range and I drive him nuts.