15 April 2017

Left to my own devices?

The new computer arrived in a lovely box, nearly two weeks ago.

The new phone was a mothers' day present - it has "dash charging" (very fast!)
and the camera can be turned on quickly: you draw a circle on the dark screen and hey presto, it's a camera -
On the phone, I'm having issues with the "improved" keyboard, especially the autocorrect, and with minor things like being able to answer the phone before it cuts over to voicemail, but that's a matter of getting the In-House Tech Trainer to please patiently explain it again, slowly ... and having a chance to practice.

A major change is the way that photos taken on the phone appear, without downloading, in google photos, on my old computer as well as the new one.

Hurrah no cord needed for downloading: select a photo and use Shift+D to download - it takes a while to open in Photoshop, individually. Downloading a group puts them in a zip file and how to deal with that will take some investigating. Mr Google, when asked in words of few syllables, did not find a comprehensible answer to what I thought I was asking; perhaps the In-House Tech Trainer will be easier to communicate with, if I choose my words carefully and the moment of asking equally carefully.

My new computer is remarkably similar to the one the IHTT has had for some months, and is happy with. My new phone is identical to his. Strange, that? No: "if it works, do it some more" - my thinking is "it's going to be easier to get an explanation from someone who's used the product than to try to look it up and fluff about all the time"; his thinking might well be is along the lines of "this is an easy device to use, she'll be able to figure it out herself". In fact he said, "This is exactly like your old phone, Mum, except this button is on the other side and that button is here and the one that was there is a slider here"; and he also said, "what's really good is you draw a circle and that opens the camera right away" - which makes all the difference to me. Then we were into setting up fingerprint identification (which works about 33.3% of the time for me) and instructions like "just play with it, there's nothing you can break".

But I'm still using the old computer almost entirely - because it has Photoshop and because I still use the camera most of the time, rather than the phone; because I have a routine with downloading and processing the photos; because I have files set up (by month, and for a couple of dozen subjects) for organising the photos. Because the old computer still works (despite fears to the contrary) and it's still sitting on the desk, and I like the feel of the keyboard, and it's my friend ... whereas the new one is an interloper, to be dealt with warily, even though it aims to please and lets you stroke its [smooth, shiny, and rather repulsive] screen. The pen that you point and click, instead of the nice fat red mouse that's on the desk, attaches itself magnetically so as not to get lost. The new computer weighs about the same as my ipad and thus could travel easily ... and fits into my/our not-large backpack -
Hers ... and his ... "if it works, do it some more"
It's "just" a matter of getting used to doing the same old things in a slightly different way on a new device. It hurts at first! In a little while I hope to be wondering why there was a problem. But not just yet.

4 comments:

Charlton Stitcher said...

Good luck!! Changing computer hardware is always a problem ... and updating software even harder. I have no In House Techie and have to wait for one or other of mine to come and stay and then find the right child-free moment to ask the vital questions. I'm just psyching myself up to upgrade my Photoshop Elements ( which I love) to version 15 ready to do an online course. I dread the inevitable couple of weeks getting lost in all the new options and features. Why do the designers make it all so impenetrable?

Sandy said...

Ah yes, this is the key...
"perhaps the In-House Tech Trainer will be easier to communicate with, if I choose my words carefully and the moment of asking equally carefully."

This is the problem even with 2 In-House Technicians. Well, one declares he isn't when he doesn't want to be one, and the other is so busy with everyone and everything else, I am reductant to bother him.
Sandy

Sandy said...

Or reluctant. #-)

irene macwilliam said...

My old computer XP was soooooo slooooooooooow that now with Windows 10 I am charmed.

Also my old software went on which I believe might not have been so with windows 7 or 8. Do not like that I had to buy a stand alone CD DVD writer/reader and that it does not have VGA output socket. However at least there are workarounds.

I really do find more time in my day with this new computer, amazing! Finding how to do things though can sometimes be puzzling. I find books (from library) and the net brilliant. Just had it a few weeks.