Friday Five ~ technology

This Friday Five comes from Jan @ RevGalBlogPals, who writes:

"Although you won't know this, I am pre-posting this ten days ahead of schedule, because my husband and I are going to be in Washington State during his spring break (from teaching at a local community college).  His parents have very recently moved into a senior living facility.  We will be staying at their home, which will not have some of the furniture and supplies like we are used to.  What I am dreading is no computer, tv or telephone, which also means no wifi connection.  This is showing my dependence upon these technologies.  For this Friday Five, let us explore our use of and desire for such items."

1.  What types of technologies, like cell phones, computers, tvs, etc., do you routinely use?  How frequently?

I have a new cell phone with a touch screen so sensitive that I always seem to do things like disconnect a call I'm trying to answer by touching something wrong when I pick it up.  I haven't yet figured out how to get online with it, though it has the capability.  I have a big desktop computer, but the most used bit of technology is my laptop.  I get online two or three times a day to check email, see what's happening on Facebook, and post on my blogs — a book blog, a word blog, a blog for book discussions, a banned books blog, an environmental blog on greening the blue planet, a Bible study blog, and several more.

Oh, yeah, televisions — I have a small all-in-one TV that plays cassette tapes and another small all-in-one set (belonging to my roommate) that plays DVDs.  We use these for the out-dated technological stuff we still have, especially when teaching a class — like the Bible study I'm teaching this year.  However, we choose not to have cable and thus don't watch TV unless there's something special enough that we view it on our laptops.  I spend my discretionary time reading, not viewing — and I read "real" books rather than eBooks, using paper rather than another screen.

2.  What social media and/or games do you like to play?  How often?  On which device do you occupy yourself?  Which method of social media do you prefer?

I'm on Facebook, though I have spent long months at a time away from it since I joined at the urging of a friend in 2009.  I like clicking through the posters and finding sayings like this from Chief Seattle.  "All things share the same breath — the beast, the tree, the man; the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports."  Occasionally, I also like to play games like Jewel Quest, on my laptop.  I never play games on Facebook or on my cellphone.

3.  Do you separate online activities between home and work?  Or is it all the same everywhere?

Since I'm retired, it's all the same for me.

4.  Do you have a smart (or I-) phone?

Nope.  This phone is smart enough for me, once I learn how to get online with it.  I may one day do more on it than on my laptop, like while on a trip.  But for now, I'm happy using my laptop.

5.  What do you wish you had — or do not have — in relation to these devices?

I'm the taller woman at the back of this group of us last Saturday.

I'm not sure I want anything different right now.  Someone handed me an iPad at a party last weekend and asked me to take a photo.  He sent me copies of the photos from that devise later, which were not nearly as sharp as the ones I get from my cellphone camera.  And unlike my smaller phone, his iPad was awkward to hold and use.

Bonus:  What is the difference between your attitude towards these means of technology and a generation older or younger than you?

I know it's the younger generation which is supposed to be more into these technological innovations, but I — at 72 — am more into everything (except texting) than my children are — and all three are 50-ish.  I guess most of my grandchildren text and probably use these technologies, but they don't text me.  On the other hand, I haven't seen much of older folks not wanting to learn.  I have taught older friends (like one who is 87) to blog and post photos, and I keep learning new technologies.  Knowing something about HTML is helpful when I want to play around with the layout of my blogs.  It also helps when I need to clean up a problem with an imported bit of text, or embed a video, or choose the best placement of a photo.

So what about you?  What do you use, and what do you desire to have?