Not having a smart phone...

tegan (hug).

I do think that it is a case of 'adapt or die' metaphorically speaking, as far as communication and technology is concerned.

I get very annoyed with my son because he will start a conversation via text instead of just picking up the darn phone and calling me from his home phone!

My daughter on the other hand doesn't even have a landline.

I'd much prefer it if we communicated via the landline when we are all restfully at home, but the younger generation just doesn't seem to think like that at all.

Did you have a good holiday?

Let's not be judgemental about phones. While it may be possible that some phones msy have more technical ability than others we must remember that we, and by extension phones , all have different talents and God loves them all equally. So in the interests of equal opportunities lets have no more reference to smart phones or even "thick as 2 short plank phones " - phones, we love you for what you are.

I don't bother with phone or texts, Tegan. Facebook takes care of all communication with my friends, children and grandchildren. No one can ignore the fact you've just had a holiday if you plaster photos all over fb

...I don't do Facebook either . I'm like Tom in Tom's Midnight Garden when he becomes fainter and fainter to Hatty until she can't see him at all ....[however, I did have a great holiday and met some amazing people, including a German horse breeder who had just been to see Frankel !]

Agree with grannyknot as in 'adapt or die'. Or at least be out in the communication desert. I actually prefer texts cos they are not intrusive and can be answered when convenient. Also do not want to be filtered by the answerphone. All very nice when it gets picked up, but very suspicious when not. I notice I often get filial phone calls when they have a long walk through the car park or similar. But better that than nothing I suppose.
Hope your holiday was lovely Tegan Where did you go?

Newmarket and Ely. Was surrounded by horses; bliss. Horse Heaven.

I have a worry that land lines will become obsolete as our phones don't work in our house and the only way I can get a signal Is to stand in the middle of the road!

I know what you mean Tegan. My DD and myself used to have lovely long chats on the phone. Now we communicate (usually) by text. I hate it and it can be misinterpreted. I don't do Facebook either. When we are on holiday I sometimes wonder if she knows that we've gone!

I get annoyed at hearing via Facebook and my sons partner what they are doing or where. My son is travelling for work, have told him prefer to hear from him, but accept f book is way people communicate now! We only have one or two friends who phone landline it is all text or f book and must admit I am just as bad! Some feel we don't have the time to chat on phone but is wrong really?!

Have to add glad that sons partner takes trouble to communicate regularly albeit f book!

I have got a quite simple - non "smart" phone. Wouldn't be without it for texting (so much more straightforward, and quicker, for saying something to someone) and for finding DD in M and S when she has lost me.

Son is trying to persuade me to buy into a contract with a smart phone. I am putting up a fight. Can't see the point.

Really fed up now. Started playing about with Facebook and found an old schoolfriend who looks absolutely amazing in her photos . Unless I can find a way of airbrushing my photos I'm not going on that .

We have no choice about using a landline, we have a big hill behind us and it blocks mobile phone reception unless I go and walk in the road.

Facebook has caused me grief in the past. I stay well clear. I know it's great for some so just a personal choice.

I just found my son and daughter on Facebook. I feel like a voyeur. Find it a bit strange.

Tegan - I think you should give texting a try. Emails are not welcome when dd/ds are at work but texts are unobtrusive. It does seem the way to go nowadays. As you've mastered posting on Gransnet, you must be able to text!
Purple Daffodil - snap - I too get phone calls when dd/ds walking home from work! One of mine doesn't have a landline and the others don't use theirs. I do like texting and whats app- it's free to send photos on that . Also Skype/facetime is good for communication and seeing the grandchildren.

What I hate are the silent calls on the landline - we get them everyday.

Just a thought - how many of us were in regular contact with our parents by phone when we were young?

True; we weren't. But then again our parents probably weren't giving up a lot of their spare time to childmind so we could go back to work. I have just had a phone call, though, to tell me that there had been a family get together tonight with a family member that had been staying for a few days [which is why I'd been trying to get in touch].

I am uneasy when any of DDs ring me while walking home. A friend heard her DDbeing.mugged on her way back to her flat in London from the tube station. My friend lives near me - 50+ miles from London. Luckily she was able to get through to one of her (boy) flatmates who went out looking for her and found her shocked but otherwise unhurt - of course her iPhone had gone.

My son phoned me one morning having left the hospital after being mugged in Leeds. He said his friends had told him not to phone me sooner as 'your mum will be worried' . I can still remember hearing the church bells ringing in the background and thinking that my little boy was so far from home and I wasn't there for him . In fact most of his calls involved attacks or burglaries. When he was younger he always phoned me to chat as he was walking through Nottingham; trouble is we used to run out of things to talk about...

If you want to keep in contact with your kids you have to learn to text. Most of them have contracts which give so many free texts or phone minutes, so it make sense to use them rather than the landline. FB is good for seeing what they are up to, and can be fun to post your own pictures as well, most teenagers avoid Facebook now as it's mostly oldies with their cat pictures!

I only have a basic phone and have no plans to upgrade to the smart variety. I do think texting is great and a very useful thing to learn to do. I keep in touch with family this way, supplemented with landline calls from time to time, having first checked via text that the other person wants to chat. For the hearing impaired, such as myself, texting can be a godsend.

'Adapt or Die' is so true. Texting is very handy especially for unscheduled changes to plans, school runs, etc.

I've just upgraded my smart phone and love all the new apps and the faster speed. It takes great photos, I can instantly email, text, Bluetooth, them. It tells me where I am and how to get where I need to go. I can barcode scan those annoying items that are unpriced and it will tell me where I can get it cheaper. It's a pocket diary, calculator, compass, newspaper, games module...I could go on and on.

What's not to like?

Aka on my way to a meeting on Monday, there were 4 of us walking along at one point, phones held flat in front of us, following the little blue dot on Google maps. I wisened up, put my phone away, and followed the others. Sure enough, we were all going to the same meeting (it was on a university campus).

Yesterday, another day, another meeting, more blue dot walking. Excepting this time I actually spoke to the person in front of me - "Are you looking for ...?" In the tea break she said "I'm so pleased to have found you looking for this place".

It made me think that smartphones can be quite isolating.

I suppose as with all technology there are advantages and disadvantages. DH and I currently in hopefully companionable iPad silence. I call that an advantage because he isn't lecturing me on the morning news
However I have been told that basic phones are being used in tandem with smartphones by the young now because the battery life is so much longer. I do agree with Aka though. I love my iPhone and its gizmos. Even saved money in a restaurant with friends last year by finding a money off voucher and presenting code to waiter on my phone. Couldn't have done that on my old brick phone