Tale of an old-school outdoorsman and new technology

As practitioners in the outdoor sports, we use all kinds of modern technology. GPS is an amazing tool for navigation whether on land or water. Hunters have trail cameras to see what sorts and sizes of animals are in the area. Anglers have underwater cameras to do the same with fish and depth/fish finders to aid in running their boat or finding fish. The list goes on.

I have the equipment mentioned and more and have either used or plan to use them in the future. I am about as far as you can get from being a “techie” but I have figured out how to do at least the basics with a lot of this new outdoor gear. It’s the inside gear that is driving me nuts!

In the last couple of months, I’ve been forced to step far outside my comfort zone in dealing with “new technology.” What I’m about to reveal will be laughable to some while others (I trust) can relate through similar experiences.

About three months ago, MTA abandoned the cell phone world. Both my wife and I were happy customers completely satisfied with our vintage flip phones. When we were notified of MTA’s business decision, we stopped in to find out our options. While we had the freedom to move anywhere, we chose to simply shift our business over to Verizon, the company MTA was “suggesting.”

So far, no big deal. The hitch came when we were told Verizon’s service didn’t support flip phones. Now we were forced to move into the 21th century and get smart phones. I decided on a mid-range phone and agreed to a plan. One problem, from my point of view, is that no owner’s manual was supplied with the phone – everything is “online.”

I’m old school and, while I have learned to work off a computer screen, I still prefer having a hardcopy in my hands to study and mark up as needed. To date, I do know how to make and receive phone calls and take pictures (sort of). I would like to learn to use the GPS function, but that will come with time (I hope).

Wait, this is just the beginning!

In the same time frame, my computers, both the desktop and the laptop, started acting up. In addition, support for my computers’ operating systems was dropped by Microsoft. I couldn’t afford to replace both computers so I decided to buy a good laptop and use it for everything. When you buy a new PC computer now, it comes with the Windows 10 operating system.

You can imagine my “culture shock” in jumping from the old Vista operating system to Windows 10. It’s like moving from a Model A Ford to a Ferrari sports car! Again, no operating manual to reference! To get the computer running the way I wanted, I’ve had to turn over remote control to adjust settings or make changes to the system or to import my files to, in order of connection: MTA, Carbonite, the Geek Squad, and Dell Technical Services. The bummer at this point is that the computer still is not “right.”

I found out my internet line speed was quite slow when it took Carbonite about 20 hours to download my backed-up files to the new computer. MTA told me they didn’t currently offer the line speed I was using (about 2-mgs download). The slowest they are now offering runs 10-mgs download speed. I made an appointment for the service technician to come out and make the physical upgrades to the phone system at my house.

After upgrading most of the equipment in the outside phone box, running a new line to the inside plug-in box and replacing the modem, the technician tested the system and got the full 10-mgs speed on his laptop computer. He used the same brand as my new laptop. The acid test came when I cycled my computer in to test.

I could not get anything greater than a 5-mg download speed!

After three hours on the phone with both the Geek Squad and Dell Technical Services, it appears the only way to correct this download speed deficiency in my computer is to go in and reconfigure the network card, if I remember correctly. Remember, I’m not a “techie.” To do this requires essentially wiping the computer and doing a major system overhaul. And, of course, it will cost well over $100 to do.

Wonder why I’m frustrated? More later.