My technologically challenged auld fella.

the keen edge

My da's mobile phone went on the blink today, and after leaving it in to shop to be fixed they gave him the loan of a phone to use while he's own one is gone away for repairs.

Now he's in sixties and not slave to the latest technological threads, he probably has only had a mobile for the last 3 or 4 years.

Anyway I'am out in the dining room and every ten minutes or so I hear him answering his 'ringing' phone, but he never seems to receive any answer, hello or any word at all from whoever is trying to call his unfamiliar replacement phone.

After about four or five of these phantom calls, he arrives in to me wondering if I can find out who's trying to call him, he reckons its some 'Alan'.
I go through the call log and cant see any missed, received or rejected call in the last hour. And likewise I cant find any 'Alan' in his contact list. Unable to help I send him away telling him I don't know what's up the phone.

Ten minutes later, I'am out in kitchen and the phone 'rings' again.
Miffed he hands me the phone 'Will you see who's calling that blasted phone!'

I take a look at the screen of the phone and see 'Alarm' is on the display!.
The man had spent the last hour answering the Alarm and its subsequent snooze alarms, thinking the alarm tone was the ringing tone, and 'Alarm' was some fella called 'Alan'!.

Auld fella's hey, what can you do with them.

johngalway

At least your will have a phone. We bought Dad a phone and he not only refused to use it, he drowned it...

... in the glove box of the car...

Now, how water got into the glove box of the car I just didn't ask.

2ygb4cmqetsjhx

I'm 21 and I don't own a phone. People think I am a bit weird.

Lando Griffin

After war over the remote and the mobile phone we have calmed dads evenings by just having one channel tuned on his tv - RTE1, its all he needs to watch.

joewicklow

Clark Spicy Giant wrote: »

I'm 21 and I don't own a phone. People think I am a bit weird.

At least you have the balls not to own one!

Pyr0

joewicklow wrote: »

At least you have the balls not to own one!

Or the friends.

Fizman

Clark Spicy Giant wrote: »

I'm 21 and I don't own a phone. People think I am a bit weird.

I really want to believe you, but at the same time someone today without a phone would be looked at as if they had the dead foetus of their twin brother sticking out of their face.

mojesius

my dad was given a mobile this year for his 60th, he couldn't be arsed setting it up, so I set it up for him. It's been switched off ever since. He hardy ever answered his house phone because he said it was broken, the volume was too low and he couldn't hear it. I called over and adjusted the volume switch on the side, hey presto :rolleyes:

Worst still, he forked out for a pc nearly 10 years ago that's still in its boxes in his spare room. Sometimes, I wonder if it still works. I really doubt if pcs that old are broadband compatible. I don't think he's ever gone on the internet either. He does have a dvd player, which i suppose is a step forward

minister poxbottle

My granny used to bless herself with poteen thinking it was holy water :eek:

Mr Keek

My Dad in his late 50's isn't too bad, he grand with the Phone, Calls Texts, Camera and Alarm.

Gave him an iPod nano and installed iTunes on his PC and again, he's flying it.

He can't for the life of me figure out the DVD player though! As it's set though the HDMI it doesn't change the channel automatically so he can't figure out how to get it on screen! In fact he's not good with remote controls full stop, and his eye sight is perfect. Just too many of them!

veryangryman

My dad got his first mobile. It would ring and hed pick up - i mean literally pick up...as in, not hit the answer button

Another auld fella i hear used to cellotape a list of his contact numbers to the back of the phone..

Ah bless

bonzodog2

My granny used to think it was dangerous to leave a light fitting with no bulb in it, cos the electricity would leak out.

yoshytoshy

My oul lad plays drums with the keyboard when his computer doesn't act instantly.
His laptop is missing a few keys at this stage.

Bloody COMPUTERS!

Ms. Captain M

Not just my Da then! He drove over his and tried to hold it together with masking tape. He had it all taped over the ear piece, and was then wondering for weeks why he couldn't hear anyone properly

the keen edge

veryangryman wrote: »

My dad got his first mobile. It would ring and hed pick up - i mean literally pick up...as in, not hit the answer button

Another auld fella i hear used to cellotape a list of his contact numbers to the back of the phone..

Ah bless

Ha.
My dad, see OP, had his own number cellotaped to the back of his first phone!

bmw535d

my dad once picked up the sky remote,dialed in a full number, put it to his ear,waited a few secs, then said ,wtf is wrong with this thing looking at it with a big frown. then realized what he was at.

Sir Gallagher

My Nanny has a mobile and once went into the shop looking to buy credit, when they asked her what credit she wanted, she wasn't quite sure so she asked for "nokia credit".

Thinfin

My old pair have one of those 'alarm clock radios' (like a prize from Larry Gracens Generation Game :pac:) for listening to 'Radio Eireann'. Every feckin night at midnight the alarm goes off coz they keep pushing the 'off' switch too far over so its set to alarm. They have a load of other radios they could use but they like this one. Sure isnt it grand they can get the news at midnight on radio eireann (in case anything happened since the 9 o clock news or the late bulletin on rte1):P

NoHornJan

What kind of technology will the kids of the next generation be slagging their parents about?

randylonghorn

My fella has a really old one that doesn't lock the keypad automatically, and ofc he never does it either.

So I regularly get calls from him with no-one at the other end because he throws it on the sofa and then sits on it ... :rolleyes:

Supercell

NoHornJan wrote: »

What kind of technology will the kids of the next generation be slagging their parents about?

If it starts with an i , then i'll find some alterior use for it and a crazy cackle. Those fugging iPad ads drive me crazy, what is.. STFU already

Cormac2791

the keen edge wrote: »

Ha.
My dad, see OP, had his own number cellotaped to the back of his first phone!

many do this...no??

sinjin_smythe

ah sure we'll all be retards with technology someday, just you wait and see.

K-9

Reminds me of a barman I know. Would have been in his fifties and got a pay as you go phone. Started arguing with the computer voice when he dialed up to check his credit.

MiciG91

My granny who's about 80 wanted to see her realatives in america so i set up skype..Not realising they could hear her she says their after getting awful old looking and the look on my poor aunts face

Mackman

My Dad's the opposite, he loves technology, to the point where everything is rediculously complicated, much to my mam's frustration.

I had to reorganise the TV set up one time, (including sky, sattelite, HDD recorder, DVD/HDD recorder, Video, surround sound) for her so she could watch RTE.

Trying to listen to his stereo is worse, he has an Amp, twin tape deck, CD deck, DAT tape deck, radio, LP, a sattelite radio thingy and he has the computer sound going through it too, i can never listen to anything on his computer :rolleyes:

IM0

awwww..

yuloni

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Mimikyu

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caroj

I bought my OAP neighbour a mobile last year and she was afraid to leave it switched on because she though it would use her credit. It took me a while to convince her she'd only use credit if she made a call!

She also got mail box service from Eircom for her landline, so I had to set it up for her and show her how to check any messages left. She kept going on about this 'box' and I had no idea what she was on about. Eventually, I figured it was the mail 'box'. She though she would actually receive some sort of physical/tangible box as Eircom sales had being talking about getting the mail BOX. LOL. Poor Peg! I should'nt laugh, in 40 years time, I'll probably be the same and the young groovy kid's will be laughing at me :eek:

silvervixen84

My dad can use his phone alright, it's just the whole "mobile" concept he can't seem to grasp.

I've tried to ring him numerous times when he's left the house to go shopping/visit someone, only to hear the phone ringing down in his room. :mad:

seamus

My parents are well able to do this stuff, they just can't be bothered doing it when they can get one of their sons to do it for them.

When my mum is on her laptop and skype pops up saying, "seamus is online", she always clicks it, rings me and then the conversation goes;

Me: "Howya"
Her: "What do you want?"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Her: "You rang me, it came up and said you were online"
Me: :rolleyes:

My wife also has a good story of a time when her granny was babysitting them, when eircom had the eircom voicemail service that would automatically ring you and play a recorded message telling you that you had a new message.

When her parents arrived home, the granny said, "A man kept ringing the phone. He was awfully polite and well-spoken, but every time I asked him who was calling he would rudely just hang up the phone"

partyatmygaff

Must be lucky. My Dad loves his technology

starlit

my mam is usually good with technology when i teach her how to use technology stuff. then again she has done the likes of using the phone as a remote to change a channel! :eek:

caroj

My mother is running up her eircom bill due to her insistance of only being able to text us from the landline. I've told her a million times to text from the mobile and if she tops up by €20.00/month she can avail of free texts. She also has this thing where she'll only EVER switch on her mobile if she's going somewhere. When she gets home, she'll switch it of "coz it's wasting the battery" .

Both my parents also have the problem of not being able to use the phone without their reading specs, which causes great them huge problems as they can't see the numbers or screen My father, only the other day, saw an advert for a Port Laoise based company who sell the very old models of Nokia, which are just basic make a call/receive a call phones, and he wanted to get one so he wouldn't have to bother bringing his reading glasses everywhere with him. At €139.00, Mam told him in no uncertain terms : NO

kylith

My mam's pretty good with the oul' technology, but my dad's not. He can make and recieve calls on his mobile, but has no idea what texts are, and I don't think he's ever even sat in front of the PC. He's delighted with his telly set up though; he's got it set up in the most convoluted way that no-one but him can turn it on. He loves being able to give us the 'ye think ye're so great with your internets' bit.