R U Social?

Back in the day,  when I was growing up in Groton, CT, to be “social” meant something other than what I think it means today.  Correct me if I’m wrong but here’s what I think: back in the day being social meant that you had a certain number of friends or people who you would actually hang out with in person, socialize with, do things with, etc.  Today being “social” means having a certain number of social media “friends” or “followers” that “like” you and that you communicate online with, having a certain number of social media accounts,  spending more time with your mobile devices then with each other, and posting photos about what you are doing while you are doing it and sending the “pix” online to your “followers” even before you are finished doing it.  I have my hand up as I’m guilty of it (see my blog post: An Apple a Day).  For instance, at home I am never too far away from my iPhone, my iPad or my MacBook Pro – clearly I’m an Apple fan – but it’s exhausting and sometimes I just want to retreat to a quiet place where there is no WI-FI or so-called “friends” to “follow” me…

techies

I’m not a “social media butterfly” i.e., someone who is always connected to social media sites, constantly giving updates, but rarely socialize with any of these “friends” or “followers” in real life.  I connect with people in “real life” as well as on-line, hence where the exhaustion sets in.   So this weekend I am taking a break, un-plugging, un-wiring and getting back to basics.  Life without the internet.  Let’s see how long I last…wish me luck!

Zombies

An Apple a day…

2  mornings ago my Apple iPhone died and I could not revive it.  I pressed and pressed and pressed the on/off button on top of it for super looooooong periods of time but it would not come back to me.  I was devastated.  I started “jones-ing,”  getting all twitchy and stuff and feeling like I was disconnected from the world.  Even though I still had my iPad, it just wasn’t the same as I could not make phone calls from my iPad…the funny thing is that I seldom use the phone on my iPhone, opting instead to send emails and texts as it’s more convenient.  Nevertheless, the first place I went that morning was the Apple Retail Store in New Haven, CT.  I arrived at about 830am and could immediately see through the glass doors that only one person, a staff worker, was inside.  I looked at her, she looked at me, I looked at her again and she pointed to the sign on the door which posted their hours.  They did not open the doors until 10am.  Can you imagine!  Unbelievable!  But then I remembered that they held some of their training sessions between 8am and 10am (I actually attended a training session there once along with my News 8 sales team and managers).

Apple store

At any rate I was still highly annoyed so I decided I would just go in to work and not come back there until lunch time.  Work provided me with some relief as I have my laptop computer, my iPad Air and my land line just in case anyone needed to get in touch with me…

techies

The morning flew by and at lunch time I drove back to the Apple Retail Store, dead phone in tow.  As luck would have it, I walked in and did not see the usual throng of folks in line, waiting to be assigned by the ‘concierge”  to an Apple Retail Specialist. There was only one lady in front of me and she was clearly annoyed.  Apparently she had gotten to the store over an hour ago (without an appointment) and was told to come back in an hour and she would be seen.  So when she came back, the concierge told her that there were now  just 7 people in front of her waiting to be helped!  By the way, making an appointment online is crucial before going to the Apple Retail Store if you have a major problem.  I had a feeling my phone problem was not major.  I explained to the concierge how my phone had died and could not be revived and he immediately pressed his finger on the top button and Voila– the apple logo came up!   I gave him a big hug (psyche!) actually I thanked him and left the store with a huuuuuge grin on my face.  My iPhone was back and I was, once again, back in business!