I guess I should post this as: "Star Trek is here!" Or at least some of the technology is. Or maybe I should post this as: "How to amaze someone under thirty!"
For I did that too.
And with what?
A cell phone. And not even a new one. A refurbished model that was out of date seven years ago...but is brand new to me.
So Kathy and I both get our Smartphones (iPhones) from our Daughter's when they upgrade. So Kathy has a iPhone 6S, and I...well, I had a iPhone 8. But it died. So I had to get a new one. When I checked the prices...well, I am not spending well North of a thousand bucks...for a flipping phone. Wait, I didn't mean flip phone...those can be all over the map - price wise. I just didn't want to swear in a post. LOL
So I went to Amazon (who doesn't anymore?). I found a refurbished iPhone 12 for $200 bucks. It has way more bells and whistles than I need. It is some five years behind the newest iPhone Seventeen...but it is in my price range (barely).
So we go to the AT&T Store to do whatever they do- to make all the stuff from my old phone show up on my "new" phone.
So first he takes out this little weird looking paper clip thing, and pulls out a tiny little slide in drawer on my phone, Never even knew it was there. He takes out what he called a "Sim" card. Opens the hidden compartment on my new phone, and slides the "Sim" Card in it. Then he turns it on.
I say:
"Wow. So now everything from my old phone is on this new phone?"
He laughs.
"No, Sir. The SIM card just connects with your AT&T account so you can get Service. Now we have to take all your APPs, and Photos and put them on the new phone. And to do that, he just held his phone, over my new phone, and they didn't even touch. And all the stuff magically entered my phone.
I was stunned. Turned out ...so was he.
"Uh...Sir...you only have two Apps on your phone that didn't come with the Factory Settings."
"Oh, yeah. I had to get Runkeeper to track my walks. And that location tracking thing, so I can tell where my Wife and Kids are with their phones. "
He stares at me.
"So you don't have any other Apps?"
"No. I wouldn't have those two if I didn't walk, or my Wife hadn't show me how to track her traveling by knowing where her phone is."
He scratched his head.
"So...like...well...what do you use your phone ...for?"
"Well, a phone. I call people. They call me. The Kids text me. Oh, and I do take pictures with it."
He stares at me. Calls over some of the other Techies. They all look at my old phone and what got transferred to my new phone.
"No Apps? Just like from the Factory? Holy Cow."
"Well, he does have two he added."
They all laugh.
"Two? I have two hundred on my phone."
They all nodded. Apparently they all do.
"You know, sir, you are kinda like a guy that buys a Ferrari because you like the radio."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean a Ferrari is a beast. It can do all sorts of things, and it is fast. But you would let it sit in your driveway and listen to the radio."
"No, I wouldn't. I don't think."
He laughed again.
"Well with all the things that phone (pointing to my new one) can do, you are doing the equivalent of the Ferrari ...letting all that horsepower under the hood, and the braking technology sit ...unused. "
Then I laughed.
I got it.
But to me, a Phone is for, well, talking to people. I do love that I can take pictures. But even texting is hard on me. The kids say my texts read like emails, and my emails read like essays. LOL
So I stuck with my two apps. Which he transferred by holding the phones close to each other. Just electrons zipping through the air carrying my information from the old phone to the new phone.
Star Trek level stuff to someone like me.
Live long and Prosper !