BajaNomad

Nomads and communications devices

Osprey - 6-6-2014 at 07:17 AM

Nomad computers, ipads, iphones and cameras.


Many reasons why at my house we are cyber – tech challenged. I have a computer, my wife has a laptop, I have a digital camera. We don’t have money for travel and we really don’t move around much so we have not found a need to buy tablets or smartphones, handhelds.

We use our computers for Email and games and research for my writing and I send stories and articles, photos to friends and family and some Baja things to the Nomad forum.

I got comfortable with the idea that when I start my computer at first light and check the Nomad forum, the members out there in cyberland are sitting at computers, drinking coffee just like me. Now that’s all changing since modern folks are phasing out their cameras in favor of mobile devices, using ipads instead of computers at home, on vacation, at work and on the road.

It means I have to change what I send them to match their devices --- I began to do that ages ago by making a “Reader’s List” of people who said they could receive and read my short stories (so I wouldn’t clutter up the forum with text). Now I’m wondering if I (and others) have to do more to keep up. Your ipads take excellent photos of landscapes but they suck in close ups and low light --- are you in love with these things so much you are leaving your $500 cameras at home? Are you deleting all but the shortest messages from people like me?

What’s the future hold? Will we see $1,000 dollar ipads with same or better flash devices as your pricey digital cameras? Will our devices make all our communications shorter, limiting the kind of information we need, want or have to send and receive?

Some of my friends, readers print out my 6 or 7 pages of text to read the essays, stories on paper while others hardly use their printers at all anymore and delete anything that takes more a minute or two to read.

Give me a helping hand here before I fall even further behind in the micro/macro cyber device races.

bajalearner - 6-6-2014 at 07:28 AM

I'm in the same boat. My son just got an iphone free for a 2 year contract with Verizon. I don't need a wizbang phone or a 2 year contract. Although I know I will have phone service with someone for the next two years so a contract might not be stupid.

I bought this old used laptop for $100 (dllrs )and will probably look for another used one when this one dies.

So to answer your question, I don't know. The only thing I want is a way to call international for free. I think majicjack is for me.

chuckie - 6-6-2014 at 07:28 AM

I'm with you...I don't have a cell phone or landline, and rely on my laptop for communication. Magicjack and email...I have decided I am not going to change much....I also notice the lack of Capital letters, mis spelling and abbreviated words ....annoying but not life threatening.....I guess when the world passes me by, I'll talk to myself.....or....The internet was down for 2 hours yesterday so I talked to my family..they seem like nice people...;D

bajalearner - 6-6-2014 at 07:30 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by chuckie
The internet was down for 2 hours yesterday so I talked to my family..they seem like nice people...;D


hahaha, like the comedian said, "my mamma says she loves me, but she could be lying too" :no:

dwedeking - 6-6-2014 at 07:30 AM

Being a publisher of content at this time can be very difficult, as the capabilities and trends change very fast.

The biggest step I've found is making sure your website is "responsive", which means that it adapts based on the device that is viewing it. This is done with the programming at the time the site is built, so that you only have to enter in the content once with certain constraints and the website itself will handle the conversions. If your using a CMS (content management system) like Wordpress or Joomla it is easy to locate pre-made templates that are responsive. With a CMS system you can usually provide for a "printable version" (either PDF or text only) for the content without having to do any work.

I fancy myself an above average amateur photographer, and while the phone cameras are much better than before, I couldn't see leaving the flexibility of a DSLR for a phone camera.

My order of preference is paper book>digital reading>video, but I think this is just the opposite of the trend in publishing. I do like the ability to carry around a ton of books in digital form I just need to find a better machine to read in the sunlight and the paper book never loses power. It maybe also that getting published in a paper form takes more work, and weeds out the junk. Seems now anyone with a webcam is an "expert" and filling up space online with a video about something. :lol:

I'm really not as old or grumpy as this posting sounds :) (mid 40's)

monoloco - 6-6-2014 at 07:47 AM

I just wish I could get my mother to embrace the digital age. My sister bought her an iPad, and she can get a wifi signal from her neighbors, but she says it's "just too much bother" to set up an email account.:lol:

SFandH - 6-6-2014 at 08:14 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Osprey
Nomad computers, ipads, iphones and cameras.


It means I have to change what I send them to match their devices ---


I read books and newspapers everyday using an eBook reader, currently a Kindle. So folks like me prefer pdf files for material that is not published in the eBook reader's native format.

Udo - 6-6-2014 at 08:25 AM

I would never get rid of my Canon G12 camera. It does most of what I need to photograph, with exception of some long-range zoom.

My iPhone & iPad, do take good average photos, but the flash is not that great past 8 feet.

I my earlier life, one of my jobs was as a professional photographer, and I used to carry around my neck three expensive SLRs, numerous lenses including single focus zooms and varied zooms. I had a fish-eye that was down to 15 mm. On top of that I carried a black and white film camera with it's own array of lenses. I processed my own film, with exception of slides.

The new digital world changed me a lot, and I only had my iPhone camera for a while. Then a pocket camera.

Now I use the G12 most of the time, plus I added a Canon Coolpix waterproof with 1080P HD video for my Kayaking shots.

Now, if I could just have an Infinitum account in our end of BA, I'd be a happy camper. Currently I mooch off-of Shari's wi-fi nearby, and that only gets me two bars on signal strength...and I have an amplified exterior antenna.

susaninlapaz - 6-6-2014 at 08:43 AM

Quote:
she's your mother--that means you are supposed to communicate with her how she likes, not how you like. at least, that's how my mom explained it to me!

quote]Originally posted by monoloco
I just wish I could get my mother to embrace the digital age. My sister bought her an iPad, and she can get a wifi signal from her neighbors, but she says it's "just too much bother" to set up an email account.:lol:

Ateo - 6-6-2014 at 08:47 AM

I got rid of my digital camera when I bought an iPhone. But I'm not taking pro photos or anything.

I can only imagine the technology getting better and better, eventually being no different side by side to a regular camera.

If you want to reach the most amount of people you need to send whatever you have out to the world in a platform that works for most people. What that is I have no idea.

Print is dying. I've received about 8 Surfers Journals in the mail and haven't even opened them yet. Been busy I guess. Spend most time reading online these days.

Podcasts are the future! Radio is dying.