Sprint and T Mobil merged or what ever, So had to get new phone which I was happy with my old flip phone.
Was informed my phone was out dated and had to be replaced.
I am a old guy kinda set in my ways.
So received new phone, no instructions,only on web.
Darn thing you need a Doctors Degree to work it.
Go thru all the B S to send photos just a piece of crap.
Contacted Company, they tell me any 5 year old can use it.
Told them all I wanted was to use my old phone, did not make a scene left store even more upset.
Guess I am stuck with it, unless I can find a Company that will let me keep my old phone.
Feel better just letting people know what a piece of shit that phone is.

Chances are your old phone was 3g, which won't work. Guess you could get a Jitter Bug

Get a teenager and pay him a few bucks. They will have you up and running in no time. Make a list of what you use your phone for and do that first and foremost.

Did they make you buy a new phone, or gave you a replacement free of charge? My dad is facing a similar situation with TMobile.

The phone isn't a piece of shit. It just isn't the phone you want.

ZSMICHAEL is right. Anyone under 30 can teach you what you need to know in an hour or so. And I bet you'll like some of the new capabilities.

I don't know what to suggest if you want to keep the old one. At some point, it will be actually unable to be used, so maybe now is the time.

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Sprint and T Mobil merged or what ever, So had to get new phone which I was happy with my old flip phone.

T-Mobile bought Sprint. (Somebody was going to. Sprint was failing.)

That's not what required your old phone be replaced. What necessitated it was...

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Was informed my phone was out dated and had to be replaced.

This ^^^^^

Your old flip phone was no doubt on the 3G (3rd Generation) cellular network. They're turning 3G networks off to make way for new technology.

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
I am a old guy kinda set in my ways.

I'm an old-ish guy, and tended to dislike change even before I was an old-ish guy, so I understand. But the fact is you either have to move with changes in technology or get run over by them.

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
So received new phone, no instructions,only on web.

So use the web? Or have you no Internet access or something with which to access it?

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Darn thing you need a Doctors Degree to work it.

One step at a time, my friend, one step at a time. First learn how to use it as a phone. Worry about all the modern, high-tech, whiz-bang stuff later

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Go thru all the B S to send photos just a piece of crap.

Maybe it's a piece of crap and maybe it's not. I think the problem here is you're completely unfamiliar with it. And, yes: They are complicated, compared to a flip phone.

The flip phone was complicated compared to an old rotary dial phone, which was complicated compared to just picking up the receiver and "Mabel, please connect me to Joe's Hardware."

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Guess I am stuck with it, unless I can find a Company that will let me keep my old phone.

Ain't gonna happen.

quote:

Originally posted by schrack:
Feel better just letting people know what a piece of shit that phone is.

While I can certainly sympathize with the joy of venting, I'm guessing you still want a usable phone.

Perhaps find a young whipper-snapper to help you through it, or ask us here on SF. I'm sure there will be plenty here that can guide you to, if not phone nirvana, at least phone tolerance

I'm an owners manual kind of guy.

But now a days, the aim is to make things "INTUITIVE."

To figure out how you want to do whatever it is you want to do with your phone, you have to think how would a brainless liberal do whatever it is you want to do with your phone.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I'm an owners manual kind of guy.

Being an Official Old Guy, I like dead tree owner's manuals, too. But I read them once, then tend to misplace them.

So what I do now is hunt-down the owner's manuals on-line, download them (in PDF), and store them in a well-known place on our home network server.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I'm an owners manual kind of guy.

Being an Official Old Guy, I like dead tree owner's manuals, too. But I read them once, then tend to misplace them.

So what I do now is hunt-down the owner's manuals on-line, download them (in PDF), and store them in a well-known place on our home network server.

Yep. I download or scan into pdf files. I store them in a folder that's backed up and I also print them to OneNote and attach a copy of the pdf file to the same note so that I can read it on any device I have OneNote.

I heard the same from an old fella at work (70+) when he was burdened with a new iPhone.
Then he started asking questions of us “young fellas”. Before long he was texting and sending emails. Then he found out he could view his security cameras remotely.

He retired several months ago and we still get text messages (complete with gifs) on a regular basis.

Give it time. The only constant, is change.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:


To figure out how you want to do whatever it is you want to do with your phone, you have to think how would a brainless liberal do whatever it is you want to do with your phone.

Yay, politics in a thread about phones!

My 77 year old tech illiterate mother-in-law got her first smart phone a number of years ago. It was a basic Samsung J7 (or something like that). Just a few months ago, I upgraded her to an iPhone.

Her carrier is consumer cellular. They are geared towards old people specifically, and their website features some of the best short, phone-specific instructional videos I have ever seen, also geared towards old people.

I don’t believe that they’re behind any account walls, so you might pop over there and see if you can find their instructional videos for your particular phone.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:


To figure out how you want to do whatever it is you want to do with your phone, you have to think how would a brainless liberal do whatever it is you want to do with your phone.

Yay, politics in a thread about phones!

I wasn't making a political statement. It's actual advice on how technical designers think how intuition works. You don't know the profile of the average Silicon Valley worker and their ideal end user???

I am an old school guy, too.
I am with Verizon.

Current phone: An Alcatel flip phone on 4G network.

PC

Had to get new phone it did not cost, sent me the first, could not send photos to my email, second one ICCH.
Did get my computer smart daughter and grand daughter to help, just got me more confused.
I can send my fish photos to my email, otherwise can do basics, but this phone you can get on internet and all that shit.
Went from simple to high blood pressure.

^^^^^^^^^
I needed a good laugh.

I can sympathize with the OP, even though my experience is slightly different. I had smartphones for almost 12 years before I switched to a basic "dumb" phone two years ago, a Sonim XP5 on the LTE/4G network. I just simply got tired and really annoyed with the smartphone experience. I only need voice calling, texting, and taking an occasional low-res photo (I have a dedicated camera for real photos) to text to people. I have no data or wi fi on my phone.

But it sounds like you want email access, either thru data or wi fi, something my phone is not wired for, nor do I want it. I don't know if you have a smartphone or a newer flip phone, you did not indicate that. If you only require voice and text, the current flip phones are great for that.

quote:

Had to get new phone it did not cost, sent me the first, could not send photos to my email, second one ICCH.
Did get my computer smart daughter and grand daughter to help, just got me more confused.
I can send my fish photos to my email, otherwise can do basics, but this phone you can get on internet and all that shit.
Went from simple to high blood pressure

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Learn one task at a time and go from there. Remember it took time to learn how to clean and fire your guns.

This thread demonstrates what I mentioned in another thread a while back.

If you don't keep up with technology, you'll get run over. It's much easier to learn a little here and there on a continuous basis than it is to go 5 years or so learning nothing, and then trying to jump in and learn it all at once.