I don't know why I post these things. They never get any responce. However; someone has to suffer for the electronic world we live in.

So: Me at the Phone Store

"My phone is using an alarming amount of data - and I have not changed my usage habits".

Girl at the front Desk ...

"Is all the software up to date?"

I'm concerned about what has begun to use my data at an alarming rate - I'm certain there is some update available - there is always some update available ... "

"See .... we can ... THERE! ... it's updating ... "

What does that have to do with my data usage?

But it needed to update. IF we need to replace it ....

I'm not making myself clear ... something has changed. I'm not using the data ... but I'm being awakened at 3am by Verizon ... telling me that I've used 75% of my data in the first few days of the month. Then, last night - I'm awakened at 3am - I've used 90%. Why do we have to wait ... what does it say .... 30 minutes ... do begin to explore my data usage ....?

Those numbers are never right ...

(To myself ... WHERE do they get these people?)

I go over to the bookstore to wait. 30 minutes later I look ... the download had paused after a few minutes. I hit resume. Nothing. I hit it five more times. Nothing. I go back to the store. I tell the girl. She hits resume. Again, Again. She reinitiates the download. THERE!!, It's updating!!!!

Oh ...... goodie.

Why can't someone begin to look at my data usage BEFORE it has updated?

Surprised look. Well - they can ... (unspoken ... but why would you?)

Guy comes over .... "Your phone is updating ... "

Yes ... I know. ]How much longer for this now?[/[/color]

It's a very big update - it's the ENTIRE OPERATING SYSTEM ....

Why do we have to update the ENTIRE OS before we see what is using up all my data at an alarming rate?

You can upgrade your data plan to ....^&*() ..... for ^&*()_ .... and it will only ^&*()_ ....

I'm sorry - I'm still not making myself clear ... I AM NOT USING IT MYSELF ... we could increase it all we want ..... it is still ....


Well, once the phone updates ... it might correct the excess data usage issues some people have had ...

Wait ... I'm sorry .... did you just indicate that the upgarde is CONNECTED to the data usage issue???? That there is a KNOWN problem with this?

Well - it's not a problem .... well - a few people have reported ....

OK - this is the FIRST indication that this upgrade may be related to my problem.

Weak smile.

I'm skeptical that they've come up with an entire new OS upgrade for a few people's report. Can't we see a log of my data usage, and see if there's a visible issue ....?

You'd have to go to customer service for that ...

I look around the store for a sign .... he says ..... By phone.

I thought this WAS customer service - we came in to the store ...

We can't tell anything from here ...

Hands me my phone back - which is all nice and UPDATED now (for about half an hour).

You can upgrade to the iPhone 5 for ..... $200 ....%^&*()_ ...... plus $30 upgrade fee ..... %^&*() .... should UPGRADE data usage plan ... $$$$$$$ ....... get ACCESSORY PACKAGE .......... $%^&*() ...... and the iPhone 5 uses a NEW CHARGER PLUG!

Oh .... does it now? Gosh ... who'd have guessed THAT. So all of my cables, chargers, and car chargers would be useless.

Hours of absolute wasted time. So they could push the STUPID update button. And, if anybody tells me I can set the phone to automatically update .... I'm canceling your ledger spot!

Madness!! I used my iMac for years and years and years .... not one STUPID upgrade. I just used it. Now everything demands endless upgrades in order to make every existing component obsolute. But - no worries mate - you can BUY new stuff! Imagine ... your Bison flashes a big smile and says .... Before you shoot ... there is a new Valve available. Upgrade NOW???? Then proceedes to corrode the entire rest of the gun unless you comply.

And ... you walk into these phone stores with a white beard ... and they talk to you a bit louder and in small syllables. I kept expecting them to give me animal cookies and a sippie cup of milk .....

Oh ... you should have seen the guy's face when I mused over maybe just getting the iPhone 4S instead of the 5. You'd have thought I'd told him Star Wars wasn't a documentary .....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2013 07:39PM by barnespneumatic.

BTW, the update itself just drove your data transfer amount to 200%! I've never been a fan of Apple, they just seem too smug and self-impressed. They used to have a great user interface and seemed to respect the customer but there was always that patronizing undercurrent. Now, updates are pushed and they are huge because "we can't load a patch, we need to replace everything!" And, after all the smug talk about hackers only being able to destroy Windows machines, they've attracted the attention of ambitious hackers that now dive right into Apple stuff too. But that's OK, the hackers don't seem to want to be any more intrusive than Google or Apple!

Are you enjoying your Droid?

I'm honestly debating. I have enjoyed the iPhone. I don't know if the update thing is the same with each manufacturer. Probably. You hire a mess of programers, and they are gonna program. Endlessly. Used to be if it worked, they'd let it alone and just come out with the new thing. And - it would be backwards compatable. Now - it's an update every day. An endless nagging to upgrade. And, it's been my experience ... when anything goes wrong ... they don't have a clue what's caused it or how to correct it. They give you a new phone (if yours is insured) and insinuate that an upgrade a day keeps the problems away.

All the security programs want to update and want you to upgrade. Every Ap is a royal pain. They give you all you ever want in a free Ap. And then begin to nag and extort. I use White Noise for sleep. (Because I don't live in the middle of 20k acres of pristine quiet). I've used a couple of different Aps. They tell you nearly each time you tune in - how many days you've been using them. They make the "deny button" useless. They make the "don't ask again" button useless. The "don't care to rate" button doesn't get rid of them either. They send you notes which say that if you upgrade, then "these annoying messages" will go away. Hummmm - extortion? And then ... amazingly ... the sound tracks you have been using will begin to have new annoying repeated distractions in them ... that were not there before. Would you suspect a less then honorable company? Message to Company: Hey - dummy - don't give people all they ever want for free - and then demand that they buy what they don't want afterwards.

Since this is a rant/therapy post, for fun; isn't it just amazing what we've come to accept - just to go thru the days? I stopped at Sears when walking thru the Mall. I bought a small pr. of shears. They nag the life out of you for information - just to spend 9 dollars. They fully expect you to volunteer all manner of information. And play along with whatever gimmick of the day they've cooked up. Will you use your Sears card? Do you have one? Do you want one? What's your phone number? What's your e-mail address? Zip code? On and on. I get aggrivated when it goes on and on. Kelly feels sorry for the kid, and tells me it's "not his fault". The cashier says "It's my job". Well - who's fault is ANYTHING anymore? There's layer after layer upon layer of shielding. And - it's fully expected that you should stand in line, wait your turn, volunteer anything they ask, and comply ... in order for the privilege of spending 9 lousy bucks. Resist, at all; and they look at you as if they've never SEEN such disobedience. Dude - have you ever watched an Awards Ceremony on TV? My asking you to just ring up the pr. of shears so I can leave is pretty tame. Amazing.

Type "Walk the Dog" into Google. You'll get "buy Walk the Dog" ... "Walk the Dog for less" .... "God Bless America Walk the Dog" .... "Walk the Airgun Dogs" ... "58 year old walk the dog" ... "Walk the Dog in Florida" .... "Name your Dog Gary Barnes - then walk it - - - in Florida" ...

And, we've simply come to accept that this is the way it is ... and how it shall be. Turn the TV down during a Commercial - they turn it back up. Yes - this again. Sometimes I have to turn the thing down THREE times during a commercial break. They've figured an algorithym to project how much, and when, 98% of people will turn the sound down. And then they undo it. And - most people just say ... DVR it and don't sweat it. Well - it's just not always possible to know, in advance - when something may be one that you'd care to watch - on your break.

I see too much of the games people play. Rather then just learn them and exploit them ... I call them out and don't use them. Whattaguy! OK ... enough for now. Guess this stuff only bothers Jerry and I? Hummm .... man - I'm missing a great opportunity to have folks UPGRADE.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/30/2013 12:30AM by barnespneumatic.

They say that every technology goes through a curve regarding ease of use. When the gizmo is first invented it typically starts out pretty easy to use, after all, why buy it if it makes your life more difficult? Once everyone's got one of these gizmos, the geniuses in marketing add ever-more "standard" features (to what used to be a simple machine) until it's so hard to use that people just give up on it. At that point the company panics and flogs the engineers until they succeed in making it easy to use again (though of course with all these feature it's WAY more complicated than the first gizmo ever was).

Dishwashers are a perfect example. The first ones had one cycle: clean. Then we got longer cleaning cycles, shorter cycles, extra rinses, sanitizing cycles, energy saving cycles, no heat dry, some heat dry, extra heat dry, extra hot water, cycles for delicate glassware, and probably a cycle just for laundering dirty campaign contribution cash (in Chicago, anyway). My last dishwasher had a control panel with more knobs and buttons than the Apollo lander used to go to the moon, it was ridiculous. Now, with the current model, I just use the automatic cycle and let the machine worry about it, and it works fine.

I wonder how long until we finally get to the "easy" part with phones...never, maybe?

The only cell phone that has not made me want to step on it is the Samsung Galaxy two 4 g. Still have it and do not want to take the chance of replacing it. Wanted the i phone myself but many people i know like it. Have a friend that has one and tell's me you have to jailbreak the phone. I do not know what that mean's but i will ask him.

My phone has been using lots of power at weird times and I have been thinking about replacing it ...until now. It will charge on my night stand and then after disconnecting will be at 15% within a half hour. No rhyme or reason. Used the app killer and it still can go to zero quickly. Is this what LI ion batteries do before they burst into flames? I guess I'll ask Boeing.

My best update occured automatically on a "netbook" that I bought to back up my photos while on vacation. Microsoft updated it without even asking, and when it did it locked it so even Best Buy couldn't fix it. Tech at Microsoft had no clue what to do. I returned it and got this MacBook that now has a full hard drive. Oh No! not another new device in my future. I'm resisting it like the plague.

Kent

Hi Kent,
I can help with this one. Buy some flash drives. They now come in amazing capacity. The last ones Kelly picked up for me were 32 Gigs each - for $20. Amazing. Copy a ton of pics and then delete them from the hard drive. Easily stored and used flash drives. I love em.
My 10 yr old grand daughter was over today. She has the iPhone 4S with Siri. She was demonstrating Siri. Seemed neat. Perhaps helpful (if you aren't asking Siri how old she is, or calling her dumb just to try to make Siri respond).
The 5 is much bigger and the nice geek seemed to think you just HAD to have a monster data plan if you had a 5. I use less then a third of my plan now. That is until something started sucking it up. Nobody at the phone store offered to restore my lost data allowance. Waiting for the overage bill and another go around with them. Perhaps there's an update or upgrade available.
Fun stuff. I miss 1996.
Gary

Can't say that I really miss the cell phones from '96. Before the Motorola MicroTac the best you could do was those big heavy things about the size and weight of a brick. "Rubber ducky" antenna as thick as a pencil that stuck out half a foot, perhaps an hours talk time IF the battery was both brand-new and fully charged.

As frustrating as the new phones are, they're still better than that.

Lot's of frustrating crap out there! At least 3 times a day, I look at the phone and see notification of ...something (the green LED is flashing). It's either a missed call or an email or a text or.... an unwanted communication about an update I don't want or need. Fortunately, I can just "swipe" away the notification, but it's still an annoyance.

That was ME CALLING Jerry!!!

Answer your darned PHONE!!!!



Just swipe it away ..... REALLY ....