Ha! It took me until last year to get my folks to even switch over to watching DVDs instead of the VCR (but now they've got one of those fancy combo DVD/VCR players...YeHa). Between your dad w/ Apple, and SilverSurfer (Ken Cooper) with his Linux dad......I feel I have failed as a Techno-Geek son. Guess that's what I get for moving a long distance from the folks when I went to college.
@JavaDog: I feel the same way. My parents are still rather luddite compared to me. I keep buying them newfangled stuff, like a DVD recorder to use instead of a VCR, a portable photo printer so they can print out digital pictures from their camera without a computer (since they don't use one), etc. But none of it really gets used. And I can't easily troubleshoot for them since I live 4 hours away.
I guess the only really techie thing I bought them recently that they actually use is their iPod shuffles (my bro bought one, and I bought one), but they haven't been updated with music since we gave them last Christmas, I think. :P
Yeah, I bought them a nice photo printer (with color display and card reader, etc.) a year ago. My mom used to fill up the storage card on their digital camera and then go buy another one instead of off loading it or printing out.
Guess what? Nothing has changed. She still fills up storage cards. Now they just waif for me to come over so she can ask ME to print off the photos on THEIR printer. When she DOES ever take the time to try, the photos are always printed out on the backs of already used plain printer paper instead of photo paper.
In their defense, at least my 65+ year old parents bike (as in Goldwing) all over the US now that the kids are gone. At least they didn't go the route of the mobile home. Best I can do it take the SUV and go camping somewhere :)
Atma: on the iPhone thing, it might be WiFi related. For example, with my Nokia 6086 , if I'm getting fringe WiFi signal for an SSID that is programmed into it (e.g., I'm on the floor of our office that doesn't have WiFi APs installed yet, and it's just barely picking up the signal from one of our other floors), it heats up like it was trying to melt ice and will kill the battery in little more than an hour (when normal battery life is a few days). I've had this happen a couple times with the N800 as well, though it has a much more sensitive WiFi antenna and actually works picking up the signal between floors, so it's never really been an issue with the N800.
I presume your father has good signal for his own WiFi at home. But has he added any of the SSIDs like linksys or netgear that people so "helpfully" suggest people add to get 'free' WiFi when out and about? (I really wish people would stop making this moronic suggestion, but I digress.) If so, maybe it's trying to attach to a neighbor's SSID which has poor signal and is causing it to drive the WiFi harder than it needs to. Or perhaps there is something afoul with the WiFi chip/antenna in his iPhone.
You might try disabling WiFi on it and see if the problem abates itself. If so, then you at least have something to trouble-shoot further. If not, well then it's something else.
Silpol: problem with the antenna in the sense that a defective antenna may cause the WiFi driver to jack up the transmit power erroneously due to its perceived view of very low incoming signal...
@JavaDog: yeah, I don't even think my mom should've bought the digicam she has. She doesn't take enough pics to warrant needing one. Plus last Christmas she still reverted back to her film P&S (which I am kind of okay with, since I've been doing quite a bit of film photography myself).
@CAW: the odd thing about the wifi was that it happened yesterday while my parents were driving to visit ... but it was all highway for a few hours and unlikely that any wifi would have been even remotely in range. Today... well my house is very well covered.
Everyone -- get on the geek tech support train! I bought my dad the iPhone and converted him to mac a decade or so ago... Though I do plenty of tech support calls... was on with my brother-in-law today about troubleshooting their wireless network (while driving to the Apple Store actually).
I love the look of awe I get from family members when I solve their tech related problems. Although, some days it is hard to get work done because of the line of coworkers with computer problems.
16 comments so far
What'cha looking to buy Jonathan? Curious 'cause I'm planning new purchases but probably post-Leopard.
2 years, 1 month ago by mochant
His iphone is draining too quickly ... Getting it checked at the genius bar
2 years, 1 month ago by atmasphere
3G here :) I have become obsessed with 3G!
2 years, 1 month ago by atmasphere
Hope they figure it out. So far our 3 iPhones are behaving well (knock on aluminum and glass).
2 years, 1 month ago by mochant
Same here but his has drained out and gotten really hot over the last two days with minimal usage
2 years, 1 month ago by atmasphere
Of course they found nothing :) have to wait it out on this one
2 years, 1 month ago by atmasphere
Ha! It took me until last year to get my folks to even switch over to watching DVDs instead of the VCR (but now they've got one of those fancy combo DVD/VCR players...YeHa). Between your dad w/ Apple, and SilverSurfer (Ken Cooper) with his Linux dad......I feel I have failed as a Techno-Geek son. Guess that's what I get for moving a long distance from the folks when I went to college.
2 years, 1 month ago by JavaDog
@JavaDog: I feel the same way. My parents are still rather luddite compared to me. I keep buying them newfangled stuff, like a DVD recorder to use instead of a VCR, a portable photo printer so they can print out digital pictures from their camera without a computer (since they don't use one), etc. But none of it really gets used. And I can't easily troubleshoot for them since I live 4 hours away.
I guess the only really techie thing I bought them recently that they actually use is their iPod shuffles (my bro bought one, and I bought one), but they haven't been updated with music since we gave them last Christmas, I think. :P
2 years, 1 month ago by jezlyn
Yeah, I bought them a nice photo printer (with color display and card reader, etc.) a year ago. My mom used to fill up the storage card on their digital camera and then go buy another one instead of off loading it or printing out.
Guess what? Nothing has changed. She still fills up storage cards. Now they just waif for me to come over so she can ask ME to print off the photos on THEIR printer. When she DOES ever take the time to try, the photos are always printed out on the backs of already used plain printer paper instead of photo paper.
In their defense, at least my 65+ year old parents bike (as in Goldwing) all over the US now that the kids are gone. At least they didn't go the route of the mobile home. Best I can do it take the SUV and go camping somewhere :)
2 years, 1 month ago by JavaDog
Atma: on the iPhone thing, it might be WiFi related. For example, with my Nokia 6086 , if I'm getting fringe WiFi signal for an SSID that is programmed into it (e.g., I'm on the floor of our office that doesn't have WiFi APs installed yet, and it's just barely picking up the signal from one of our other floors), it heats up like it was trying to melt ice and will kill the battery in little more than an hour (when normal battery life is a few days). I've had this happen a couple times with the N800 as well, though it has a much more sensitive WiFi antenna and actually works picking up the signal between floors, so it's never really been an issue with the N800.
I presume your father has good signal for his own WiFi at home. But has he added any of the SSIDs like linksys or netgear that people so "helpfully" suggest people add to get 'free' WiFi when out and about? (I really wish people would stop making this moronic suggestion, but I digress.) If so, maybe it's trying to attach to a neighbor's SSID which has poor signal and is causing it to drive the WiFi harder than it needs to. Or perhaps there is something afoul with the WiFi chip/antenna in his iPhone.
You might try disabling WiFi on it and see if the problem abates itself. If so, then you at least have something to trouble-shoot further. If not, well then it's something else.
2 years, 1 month ago by CAW
@caw it is not exactly antenna, but there is power control in WiFi you are right ;)
2 years, 1 month ago by silpol
Silpol: problem with the antenna in the sense that a defective antenna may cause the WiFi driver to jack up the transmit power erroneously due to its perceived view of very low incoming signal...
2 years, 1 month ago by CAW
@JavaDog: yeah, I don't even think my mom should've bought the digicam she has. She doesn't take enough pics to warrant needing one. Plus last Christmas she still reverted back to her film P&S (which I am kind of okay with, since I've been doing quite a bit of film photography myself).
2 years, 1 month ago by jezlyn
@CAW: the odd thing about the wifi was that it happened yesterday while my parents were driving to visit ... but it was all highway for a few hours and unlikely that any wifi would have been even remotely in range. Today... well my house is very well covered.
Everyone -- get on the geek tech support train! I bought my dad the iPhone and converted him to mac a decade or so ago... Though I do plenty of tech support calls... was on with my brother-in-law today about troubleshooting their wireless network (while driving to the Apple Store actually).
2 years, 1 month ago by atmasphere
I love the look of awe I get from family members when I solve their tech related problems. Although, some days it is hard to get work done because of the line of coworkers with computer problems.
2 years, 1 month ago by Jthousand
I often wondered what it would be like to do it for a living
2 years, 1 month ago by Jthousand