Three technology lessons learned this weekend. First, the Apple Watch is more fragile than I thought it was. I dropped it onto the tile in our bathroom, and the face shattered. Applecare was something I had gotten for the watch, (but not the iPhone) so I got everything fixed for a much lower price than I would have had I not been prepared. I don’t do Applecare for my phone, because the phone insurance is a much lower cost and a better deal. The lesson was in modifying where I took my watch off going forward so that it wouldn’t end up being dropped. Funny how sometimes the only way you realize a problem is when something gets damaged or unusable!
My second lesson learned was that no matter how much or how little you think people here, they always hear more or less than you think. In the case of my situation, it heard less. It can be jarring to realize what you are saying isn’t heard. I am focusing on improving communication now. But I hadn’t worried about it until I realized it this weekend. Sometimes we want to believe that we are heard. It is important to verify that you were heard.
The last technology situation that came up this weekend was the update to the Trident OpenROV ROV. An ROV is a remotely operated vehicle; In the case of drones, you can use your phone or tablets, to pilot the drone. You can also use a controller if one is paired with your drone. With an ROV you have to use the ether. Wireless or WIFI signals do not travel far underwater. Less than a foot in some cases (metallic content of the water) but not more than 5 feet the rest of the time. To explore deeper water than the swimming pool, you have to have a tether. Normally your tether is attached to a spool so you can allow it to play out slowly as the device goes underwater. We have a 150-foot tether. So far we haven’t gone lower than 4 feet, but once we wander out further towards the bay, we may end up deeper. My lesson learned was the time to download and install the update for the Trident device. It was a critical update, as it allows the Trident to take 1080p (near HD) quality video. I thought it would be a five-minute update. It was not when we took off for the boat; it was still updating. We used always to say when you estimate time, double it. I should have followed that rule!
Well, next time!!!
-
Question of
Have you ever dropped your phone?
-
Yes
-
-
Question of
Did the screen crack?
-
Yes
-
-
Question of
Have you ever replaced your screen?
-
Yes
-
-
Question of
Do you have insurance on your phone?
-
Yes
-
-
Question of
Does your carrier offer insurance?
-
Yes
-
My 1st 2 smart phones went into the washing machine but that was a few years ago…I now have one smart samsung phone but I mainly use my iPhone.
Im not on the iPhone all day like a lot of people but it is handy so people can reach me when Im not home or I can take a photo if I don’t have my cameras with me
I never saw the point of an iWatch….but I may have missed something there,,,I have been thinking of getting a drone that takes photos but we have to be careful where we fly it and how high.
A photo drone is fun to use! the iwatch is for people that get a lot of notifications.
It’s really great that you got your Apple Watch fixed for a low price. Dropped my phone 3 times, fortunately, from a small height, so it wasn’t damaged.
Thanks! I have dropped my phone 1 time in more than 20 years of owning a smartphone. Right on the sidewalk and cracked the screen!
it seems to me that if they’re offering insurance on their devices, they have less incentive to make their product more durable…
I would agree if it were apple. The phone company offers insurance in response to users complaints about the cost of repairing phones.
It is an interesting market!
sorry, when you said apple insurance I took it to mean insurance BY not FOR
it wasn’t clear on my side, insurance for a phone 🙂
you said what you meant, it just wasn’t clear. I could’ve parsed it the other way, but that didn’t even occur to me
Clarity of communication is always a two-way street.
I own half of the directionality!
indeed you do. let’s go dutch on this one…
I have never dropped my phone. This brings me back when my late husband dropped his phone into a tub of water. We thought that was the end of the phone. But that phone was a dinosaur that did not want to give up. He opened up the phone and out dripped water then stuck it under the radiator and low and behold it dried out and got working again. The best story I ever heard was a little girl who told me she wanted a new phone but her parents gave her one of theirs to use. So she would throw it against the pavement every day so it would break and she would get a new one and that phone cracked but never broke.
you can also embed the phone in a bowl of rice. Electronics are amazingly resilient.
My phone has already fallen. Fortunately, I have it in a protective covering so it did not damage.
Having a protective case helps a ton!!!
Thankfully have never dropped my phone. I do have insurance.
I wonder if the correlation between insurance and not dropping the phone has ever been tested.
I could only answer yes that I have dropped my phone but it was closed. What? Oh yes, it is a 3G flip phone that I purchased for $10 several years ago.
The availability to film in Hi-Def with a ROV underwater sounds pretty amazing. Wow. Jacques Cousteau would be pleased.
You win my reference of the day award! What a blast from the past!
Sorry, I just looked at the quiz, for some reason it didn’t have the correct Yes/No answers!
Seriously the ability of a technology to allow people to see and explore under the surface of our waters is quite powerful. He devoted his life to showing people what they had little chance to ever see.
Another blast that I skipped was along the lines of doubling upload times. The early computer projects were so often over budget and past deadline by the time the manuals and user reports were written that documentation often suffered. We used to imitate the opening of “The Prisoner” and say, “You want documentation? Well, you won’t get it!”.
sadly I remember those days. We used to follow behind Andersen Consulting and the other five big firms. We would see their thud factor architectures. Thud factor meant it was so heavy if you dropped it made a thud!
Never replace the screen but complete smartphone
yeah it can be bad sometimes!
I have already fallen to the ground; I only have a cover-up in a cover that easily flares up such falls … so far it has not happened before to smash glass
I have a case for my phone, I don’t have one for my watch!