Monday, June 28, 2010

Wii not so fit



It's funny how some bits of technology we get along with and some we don't.

For instance I love my PC, netbook and get along ok with my mobile phone, but the e-reader I bought recently I ended up selling because I didn't like it.

The same thing's happened with my Wii console and Wii Fit thingy. I was drawn to the shiny, white set-up, lured by the promise of toned thighs and sculpted thingummies from the comfort of my living room, until I tried it and was told - rather rudely - that my fitness age was 85. Just because I couldn't get the hang of balancing on one leg during the initial assessment.

To be fair, once I'd stopped sulking I did give it a go, but to be honest it made me feel silly. I'd rather be out walking the dog than bobbing up and down on a board in front of a screen wondering if the postman's going to walk past the window and catch me at it. Again. It's now gone to someone - hopefully - more appreciative.

My mum adores her mobile phone, and is far more adept than me at texting, but wouldn't know one end of a computer from the other, while my mother-in-law is in love with her swanky new laptop, emailing long lost rellies in Australia day and night, but her ancient mobile sits unused and unloved at the bottom of her handbag.

My daughter loves her iPod, but has a lukewarm relationship with the computer and is very old-fashioned about networking sites like Facebook, claiming she'd rather talk to friends in person. In person? I have no idea what she means.

Lovely husband is even more prehistoric. He absolutely refuses to trade in his video collection for DVDs and regularly BUYS cassettes off e-bay, insisting they're more hard-wearing than CDs. Bless him. He wouldn't know what to do with an mp3 player.

I'm currently resisting the pull of the i-Pad. I don't need it, I can't afford it, I wouldn't even know what to do with it and would probably sell it within a fortnight.

But it's just so ... shiny. Maybe I was a jackdaw in a previous life?

21 comments:

DAB said...

I HATE technology! The new intergrated washer dryer, won't spin! The fridge freezer is having a complex, it thinks it's an oven! Getting itself (and me) hot under the collar. Repair men booked! Oh, I like calculators makes adding up easy peasy. The other half wants to buy a record player! Methinks not! Tommox

Francine Howarth said...

Hi Karen,

Yeah, well, my mobile phone lurks at bottom of handbag and used only in emergencies like flat tyre/breakdown - "AA please respond ASAP!"

I've had a mobile since they first hit the UK and long since outgrown the the damn intrusive, unsociable thing that it is. In fact, mine became a complete pain in the arse - always going off when shopping, driving, and in the bath and all because I forgot to switch it off! It got so bad that it became like a stalker, always there waiting to pounce on me. In the end I switched it off once and for all time, I hated it that much!

I've had Internet connection since it first hit the UK and techy-savvy through various Internet mediums, but Wii and iPad don't stand an earthly chance in this house. They're gadgets that will soon be superceded by newer more updated gadgets, smaller neater gadgetry and e-book readers will soon be as small as a mobile phones and will need magnifying glasses to be able to read them. Nah, gadgets are gimmicks and prone to death by design - lifespan with inbuilt destruct mechanism so that a new one is needed after a year or two's use!

best
F

Jayne said...

I am SO impressed with your daughter, completely the right attitude with Facebook (she says, on a blog. Ahem.)

I am good with computers, mobiles, and digi cameras, but hopeless with microwaves. I also have a mental block with calculators, but that is probably a hang over from school, thinking I'd never make it out of Maths alive.

Colette McCormick said...

am regularly mocked for my mobile. It makes/receives calls and texts and that's it but what more do I want a phone to do?
I do love my lap top but no-one in the house knows how to programme the video.

Chris Stovell said...

Any news??? She says, ducking. I want a lovely new iPad too... do you think they will let us test drive a couple?

Amanda said...

Ooh, I was younger than you on the Wii - I was a mere 79!

Jan Jones said...

I adore my PC, netbook and mobile and am trying really hard to resist an iPhone.

But MP3 players? I'd rather have real CDs that I can choose and physically insert into the player.

Aren't we all odd in different ways?

Jenny Beattie said...

Love the picture.

My computer expert friend, Andrew, says phones have got so complicated we're all dumbing down with them!

Denise said...

I love a good gadget, but have been scared away from some of the them purely because of the time they'd absorb. I think I'd love a Wii fit but when would I use it?

I'd probably feel the same way about my iphone, except that most of the time I waste with it is at work, which I don't consider a problem! I'd be scared someone would steal my ipad if I got one, too beautiful...

Karen said...

tommo - Technology's great until it goes wrong. Our computer system at the library went wrong recently and we were back to writing everything down on sheets of paper!

francine - I must admit the only piece of technology I've really embraced is the Internet. I did update my mobile recently though - people used to laugh when I got my old one out!

Maybe we'll go full circle one day and go right back to basics :o)

jayne - I'm impressed with her too. I have to go on Facebook when she's not looking :o)

I'm still a bit scared of microwaves, but got good with calculators when I worked in an office - not the scientific stuff though!

colette - Oh yes I'm hopeless at working out dvd players and the like, but strangely my mum is whizz at that sort of thing! I've only recently updated my ancient mobile and have just about got to grips with it.

chris stovell - I love the idea of test driving an iPad (sounds rather like a car!)

Haven't heard anything yet - believe me the minute I do it'll be plastered all over my blog :o) Unless it's bad news ...

amanda - 79?? A mere child! I managed to get it down to 35 but I was bored with it by then :o)

jan jones - I must admit I prefer CDs too, although I've recently taken to playing music through the PC via iTunes while I'm writing!

jj beattie - You know that's not me, right??

I think that's true about the phones - I don't use mine for anything but the odd text. Oh and receiving calls from home asking me to buy crisps on my way back from work!

denise - That's a good point, they're very time consuming. I spent nearly a whole day setting the damn Wii up and then didn't like it. It took me nearly as long to pack it all away again!

Anonymous said...

I'd be happy to get along with a faster broadband connection. It's so slow here that I have to pedal. You've no idea how I suffer for a little look around the blogs!

broken biro said...

I've had a computer for ever - even (briefly) worked on a computer help desk, but am completely foxed by telly/dvd/recorder and have failed repeatedly to work out how to get online on my phone. Have ALWAYS hated phones so social networking has made me more sociable, not less, as I don't go out that much and never phone anyone!! Interesting question.

broken biro said...

I've had a computer for ever - even (briefly) worked on a computer help desk, but am completely foxed by telly/dvd/recorder and have failed repeatedly to work out how to get online on my phone. Have ALWAYS hated phones so social networking has made me more sociable, not less, as I don't go out that much and never phone anyone!! Interesting question.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I'm useless and can barely use my mobile, despite having it four & a half years.

I love my netbook though, so shiny and gorgeous...

My mother texts like a fiend and my daughter is thrilled that her father (a completely hopeless case with technology who can't send an email yet) is getting an Ipad, because, like his Iphone, she'll no doubt end up with it. Good for her.

Anna Scott Graham said...

Good for your daughter! Well done on your mum and mum in law. Fantastic about your hubby and cassettes; I so wish I had a cassette player in my car!

I love my iTouch, can't imagine not having it. Played around with an iPad... Maybe when my eyesight calls for a larger screen... :))) My current dream is the new iPhone for which I have absolutely NO NEED, but loving my iTouch the way I do, it would be ever so nice to have one device for everything.

If only the carrier over here with iPhones wasn't so lame (and the data prices so high)! :)))

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

My mobile is ancient - but I love it and I know how to use it and I can remember the number.

XX

Glynis Peters said...

I love my laptop, it is mine, all mine. My phone belonged to my son, but works. I would love a pink, sexy girly one, but do not need one. I cannot imagine me with an ereader. I played on a Wii and decided to have a tooth pulled instead. LOL

David said...

When I was given an ipod for my 30th birthday, I was really pleased. But I have to admit I never got quite round to carrying it around with me and listening to my music when I was on the move. What's the point, I hear you ask. Well, I tend to have it plugged into my stereo instead and it means that I never have to change DVDs.

Now that's what I call progress!

Jean said...

My mobile was small when I bought it. It's big and old-fashioned (very) now. At least I know how to switch it on and make a phone call on it when necessary. I've never learnt how to text on it.

Fionnuala said...

I've resisted the iPad, bought a wifi fit for xmas and like you, am watching it gather dust. But I LURRRVEE my laptop and blackberry.

Susie Vereker said...

Well, I was just wondering whether I should get a Wii fit thingy. Perhaps I won't. Here's something embarrassing about me instead - I used to tone my hips'n'all to a Rosemary Conley video, lots of Abba tunes.