TWQ (The Weekend Question) looks at those gadgets that you have always found it difficult (or impossible) to master.
What gadgets did you have trouble coping with so that you never used it as well as you could have, or gave up in the trying?
My answer is:
Five years ago, I bought my first digital camera, an Olympus. It was a compact (which I never like. SLRs are better). It came with a very small basic instruction book. The main instructions were on a computer disc. The only way to learn was to read the 200 pages that were on the screen! My annoyance with this made me give it back to the shop where they swapped it for an SLR film camera. I now have this, plus a more user-friendly SLR digital.
Now it's over to you...
27 comments:
Hmmm... Interesting question. I usually master most gadgets but I have a Sony Clio somewhere which I don't use much. Most of it's funtionality is fine but the function where it recognises you handwriting when using the stylish is a pain to use so I simply don't!
Michele sent me over to say hi BTW!
One of my last cell phones was quite annoying in that I could figure out the basic functions but could never master the ones that were supposed to be the really good ones without having to go back and read and reread the instructions over and over.
On the other hand, I've never had a problem programming a VCR of any sort!
I've always been pretty good with gadgets but the Emergency Repair Droid on my ship the Danger Sled can be a huge pain sometimes.
Hi Capt. Picard! You always ask the best questions. Hmmm...I'm certain I have many kitchen gadgets that I have given up on. Alas, I'm not much of a cook. Sigh.
Michele sent me. Hope you're having a great day!
I don't buy a gadget unless I'm willing to spend time on learning it. As a result, I don't have many gadgets beyond the basics.
There *are* some gadgets that I have that are not used to their full potential because I don't want to learn all the functions: cell phone, cordless phone, digital tv.
1. vacuum cleaner
2. window washing thingy
3. toilet brush
4. dust rag
5. broom
6. dish rag
that's about it. i do iron pretty good! ha ha ha ha ha
smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxxo
Without bragging, I can say none! I can master most complicated gadgets. I do not have look at the manuals again. I even check out the circuits of most. I suppose I inherited it from my dad. My 3 brothers are engineers. However, I am the one who explains certain stuff to them.
*grin*
BTW, thanks for directing me here!
Hi Jean-Luc! I have always had issues with pencils. I mean, like, ever since elementary school. You constantly have to sharpen them. They break relatively easily. Easy to lose. They're yellow and the erasers taste funny. And they DISAPPEAR as you use them! That's SO wrong!!!
BTW, Michele sent me to say HI!
Electrical garden gadgets (mowers, strimmers and similar).
They don't have the oomph of petrol based equivalents and jam or surrender too easily as well as having horrible cables to drape and be careful not to cut.
And to your point about digital cameras, the thing I hate with some compacts is the rediculous shutter lag. Say "cheese" and hold that thought for quite a while.
It's not a gadget, but Photoshop has always been am mystery to me...I want to create beautiful images like everyone else, but I'm brain dead when it comes to figuring it out.
Hi from Michele's!
I'm pretty much Miss Gadget, so I usually have no problems with them or can figure out easily how they work. What I do have a problem with is office copy/printer/fax machines - the all in one type. I have been known to kick the damn thing at the office when trying to print on letterhead paper I put in tray 3 and never comes out right!
Captain: The new wave of "cool gadgets" here in the USA is to purchase 1980 Vintage cameras and so like an idiot, I purchased a Canon manually operated camera. Having to deal as you did, with aperture settings and light meters led me to sell the damn thing at a loss. I now own a snazzy Canon digital with a microchip! And life has gone from the Cave-dwelling to the sunlight--as they say (of course we all know who 'they' are) ;)!
Palm Pilot. Did I just date myself?
I think a carpet sweeper comes to mind, nobody uses them any more, and hair curlers, as I prefer my hair straight.
Do self-help books come in this category?! I go insane when I see one!
LOL!
Michele sent me here today!
Some lovely gadgets I hadn't thought of seems to have got the better of you. I wouldn't have thought as a pencil as a gadget, but Sue has had trouble!
We all have trouble with somethinbg. User friendly they are not!
I used to work for a radio ststion that had these old time reel tapes instead of cassetts I never got the hang of it, and could break it just by looking at it.
Palm Pilot, believe it or not. I received one from my father, who had gotten it free with a computer purchase. I tried using it as my day planner, and it was so quirky trying to sync up, and I couldn't quickly see what was happening (those little dots in the calendar field just weren't cutting it for me), I abandoned it and went back to my handwritten day planner, which I love.
Michele sent me.
There's two actually. Both at work. A real-time PCR machine and an LCM (laser capture microdissection) machine. I've fortunately found others of their ilk that are easier to use but I have to go to other buildings on campus to use them so it's less convenient. Like in your example, Jean-Luc, it's all about a good user interface.
Michele sent me over.
Lets just say there are a lot of those Seen On TV gadgets around our house. So many of them just don't work at all. :(
The crock pot. Damn complicated piece of equipment. LOL
I always get to these questions rather late unfortunately, and it is one of my favorite parts of your blog, Captain P. I have to say I am with you in the camera department. I have a Canon EOS Elan II. It has so many features it could probably make me tea and fly me to the moon on Wednesdays. I got bored after reading a few dozen pages of the handbook. ;-) I mainly stick to either the easiest auto setting or the manual settings.
I have a digital camera, but I just do the basics with it, and haven't bothered to learn all the advanced stuff.
I'm never good with any gadget! I'm just an idiot when it comes to electronics or anything IT. hehe.... I would rather read blogs than read an instruction manual.
I have an Olympus digital camera which I just point and shoot, occasionally using the enlarge button and sometimes switch the picture scene (night, day, with lighting, candlelight...etc what you call that?) :D
My daughter would tell you my unmastered "gadget" would be our range/oven because I haven't used it enough to figure out all the buttons.
May I please add that the main reason I don't get to use it much is that I'm driving her (and her brothers) all over the place when I should be cooking (said with a tired smile)?
I've gone thru several digital cameras before settling (happily) for my Sony cybershot.
Michele says have a great weekend!
~S
Post a Comment