Who
knew that the iPhone was going to be so much fun? Oh yes –I knew iPhones and
the like were fun for the youngsters, but neither Mike nor I realized his would
finally become the indispensable cell phone. With her unmistakably feminine voice and
compliant nature, she’s every man’s dream girl. Well – not quite. She’s really
good with mental tasks but doesn’t cook or chore around the house -- or do anything physical, for
that matter.
Not
only is she compliant, but she can be shaped to meet so many needs. Mike has always
kept a lengthy list of contacts, and he transferred these from his computer to
the hand-held unit. Next, he learned to use voice commands when making calls.
“Call
my son Murray Warnock,” Mike says authoritatively.
Pause.
“I
didn’t know Murray Warnock is a family member,” replies the iPhone to my
astonishment. “Do you want me to remember that Murray Warnock is your son?” (Hey! I've known -- and remembered -- that Murray is Mike's son from the very beginning of our relationship.)
“Yes!”
replies Mike.
Another
pause. Then “she” made the call.
“Call
K-Mart,” commands Mike.
Pause.
“I don’t see K-Mart in your contacts. Do you want me to search for the store
nearest your location?”
“Yes,”
says Mike.
“There are two listing for K-Mart at 1815 - 21st Street, Lewiston. Do you want me to call the pharmacy or the store?”
"The store," says Mike
"Calling K-Mart," she obeys. She's better at obedience than I am. I'd tell him to look up that number and make the call himself! I guess I can be replaced!
She
now remembers all Mike’s appointments – provided he tells her about them, of
course – and I admit that that’s more than I want to do. She helped him review
the state capitals and now she’s teaching him the countries and capitals of the
world. Occasionally she plays games with him. He reads books on her screen
while streaming radio. She collects his email messages. We can even use her as
a GPS, though I’m sure a real GPS is better. She accompanies us to the grocery store where Mike uses her to scan bar codes on products for nutrition info. He hardly ever forgets to
take her with him, so we can catch him on his cell most anywhere and if not,
she will take a message. That in itself is amazing.
She
even accompanies us to bed and waits quietly until the hour when he can’t sleep Then he reads from her screen
and/or listens to music or learns geography – much less disturbing to me than
tossing and turning. Before arising in the morning, he checks the weather.
I
think of my mother, who made notes to herself on scratch paper. “Do you want me
to get your notes for you?” I once asked her as we were leaving the house.
“No,”
she replied with some force, “I don’t need to carry my brains around in my
pocket.” Obviously she had thought about her dependence on those notes and was
making the effort to remember. I wonder what she’d think about the iPhone. KW
5 comments:
Sounds like Mike found just the right phone for himself. Fun! And is the other woman "Siri", the voice I've heard in ads? These new phones really are amazing. (But I think they'd be wasted on me.)
Hmmmm -- I don't watch ads, so I had to research Siri online. I didn't know "the other woman" has a name.
Mike has done a great job of learning to use his new phone. I could use a lesson or two on my iPad.
Good blog! Very funny--I can totally picture Dad talking to his phone. We always use our phones instead of the Garmin now. It's just as good if not better. With the phone you don't have to download current maps and it seems faster than Garmin.
It's a good thing Mike no longer has the Southern accent of his youth. I've proven that Siri is not bi-lingual.
I figure when we go on our trip we'll need one bag just to carry our electronics. Now that I have the iPad, I'll leave the laptop behind.
"Bi-lingual." How funny, Richard. A co-worker once asked me where Mike is from. "I knew it wasn't here," she said. And sometimes Siri doesn't understand him. "I don't know what you mean," she'll say.
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