My dad doesnt have a smartphone

but sometimes he needs to remember to do something:

He is clearly the Malvern Hills version of Flavor Flav.

Oh my Dad beats that hands down!
Proper old-school luddite.

I saw him unpacking from a holiday once (couple of years ago maybe) and out of his big rucksack, he pulled out a Walkman and a pile of tapes. Then a pile of paperbacks.

It was quite sweet really, I didn’t have the heart to tell him that a 2cm x 2cm iPod held more tracks than he could listen to in half a lifetime and a Kindle could hold 2000 books.

It reminds me a little bit of the story (don’t know whether it is true or not but highly plausible) about Nasa spending millions of dollars on developing the space pen so astronauts could write in space whereas the Russians (ok pedants – the Soviets) took pencils.

If it works it works – why go overkill?..

He does know non-smartphones have alarms and whatnot on them, right? 😛

Ditto wristwatches.

It reminds me a little bit of the story (don’t know whether it is true or not but highly plausible) about Nasa spending millions of dollars on developing the space pen so astronauts could write in space whereas the Russians (ok pedants – the Soviets) took pencils.

It’s not true.

Imagine snapping the ‘lead’ off your pencil in zero-G and watching it go pinging off around the capsule… Graphite is a conductor, so once it pings into a circuit board or something, it could cause all sorts of problems.

My father-in-law is over to stay at the moment and didn’t have my new mobile number so I gave him it. Instead of adding it to the contacts list in his phone he wrote it on the piece of paper that he keeps tucked away in the battery compartment with everyones contact details on.

The suspense is killing me!

Bloke i work with does exactly the same.. hangs a timer round his neck to remind him to do something in 30mins etc.

If it works, why change?

My father-in-law is over to stay at the moment and didn’t have my new mobile number so I gave him it. Instead of adding it to the contacts list in his phone he wrote it on the piece of paper that he keeps tucked away in the battery compartment with everyones contact details on.

Brilliant!

He’d forgotten why he set it anyway or say “What the hell is that noise?”

If it works, why change?

And if it doesn’t work, you get a loud alarm going off while you think “Shit, what was it I was supposed to remember?!”

//imagines Countdown music as time approaches zero//

Graphite is a conductor, so once it pings into a circuit board or something, it could cause all sorts of problems.

They could use wax crayons instead. Is there a Russian equivalent of Crayola?

😯

I dunno – I’m imagining him walking into an airport wearing it and the whole place getting closed down!! 🙂

Rachel

Although I recognise the usefulness of Kindle, compact size with loads of material and good for ladies to secretly read “50 Shades…” whilst commuting, it’s just not the same as reading a real, honest-to-goodness book with real pages that you turn.

I’ve no use for “smart” phones either – a phone that texts is all I need.

I’m not a Dad though – as far as I know – and as for needing an alarm to remind me to do things? Well, there was that thing the other day that, um, was… hang on…

miketually, thanks for that, I always thought it had an ‘urban legend’ feel about it.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

Although I recognise the usefulness of Kindle, compact size with loads of material and good for ladies to secretly read “50 Shades…” whilst commuting, it’s just not the same as reading a real, honest-to-goodness book with real pages that you turn.

Actually a kindle is better, it is more ergonomic and easier, a book is it’s contents not the method of delivery.

It was a bomb, and the Iron Man get to him in time 🙁

Stoner – Member

It was a bomb,

That’s what I said, and look what happened.

Jamie – updates please 😯

*must try harder*

Best lol in ages Jamie, thanks 🙂

Did he remember?

I love mechanical egg timers. I like setting them all to slightly different times in a shop and then wandering off sharp-ish.

Actually a kindle is better, it is more ergonomic and easier, a book is it’s contents not the method of delivery.

Kindle is good and bad.
Don’t like the fact that you can’t flick through a kindle to find a particular section of a book and the ‘% remaining’ indicator stuff is no way as nice as ‘page XX’ IMO.
I use a Kindle for novels, but can’t imagine using it for factual books.
I find a Kindle without a ‘book style’ case harder to hold and read, so mine has ended up being put in a ‘book cover’ style case to make it easier to hold while reading.

😆

Word up?

That was by Cameo. Does Stoner Senior sport a codpiece?

Kindle is a lot easier to handle if it’s a huge book, of course, regardless of cover.

Jamie – 😀

I’ve lost track of how many internets you’ve won now. You must nearly have a set?

It reminds me a little bit of the story (don’t know whether it is true or not but highly plausible) about Nasa spending millions of dollars on developing the space pen so astronauts could write in space whereas the Russians (ok pedants – the Soviets) took pencils.

Not true, the pens already existed, NASA just took advantage of having the technology available at the appropriate time.
Oh, and genuine LOL at Jamie!

Phah, neat Jamie 😆

I love mechanical egg timers. I like setting them all to slightly different times in a shop and then wandering off sharp-ish.

I’m glad that I’m not the only one who does this 🙂

Alternative:

a Kindle could hold 2000 books.

But paperbacks don’t depend on being charged and don’t break if dropped on on a hard surface. Can you pass on a Kindle book to someone else after you have read it or pick them up for a quid in charity shops?

I often read 2000 books, like all the time

How do you fold the corner of the kindle over to save your page? Bust the last one trying!

Jamie, awesome stuff!

Jamie I thank you.

excellent work. I shall show Stoner Sr when he’s finished oiling his bath-chair wheels and winding the gramaphone.

You *can* pass a Kindle book on but would possibly be breaking Amazon’s T&C’s in doing so…

But paperbacks don’t depend on being charged and don’t break if dropped on on a hard surface. Can you pass on a Kindle book to someone else after you have read it or pick them up for a quid in charity shops?

They get just as soggy when dropped in the loo, though.
Plus, just think how much your baggage allowance suffers trying to take several 600 page novels on holiday.
I never pass on books after I’ve read them, because I’m going to want to read them again, and I never go hunting for cheap books in charity shops; most of the stuff I’ve found in second-hand shops I’ve already read, if it’s something I’m interested in.
Although, I have managed to find hardcover versions of favourite paperbacks through on-line dealers, but that’s different.