Smart Phone: An Answer for the Internet-Challenged

NRL News
Page 13
June 2009
Volume 36
Issue 6

“Smart Phone”: An Answer for the Internet-Challenged
By Patrick McGee

Do you know what an “A to Z Guidebook” is? How about Fodor’s Travel Guide? Did you grow up with Life magazine or the Encyclopedia Britannica? If you answered yes to any of those, you are my target audience for this article. (Just so you know I grew up with the 1962 version of Encyclopedia Britannica.)

With the election of pro-abortion President Barack Obama, our Movement and our issue is constantly in the news. How can you keep up with all urgent pro-life information—and respond to requests for action—if you don’t have, or want, a computer? My suggestion—what’s called the “Smart Phone”—came out of my own personal experience with my mother.

For the past five years my mom has struggled with the best way to stay in touch with her grandchildren. She has discussed e-mail multiple times but does not want the computer-related issues that go along with it.

Issues, such as learning how to use the computer, computer maintenance, viruses, malware (that’s the bad guys trying to damage your computer), and too many Internet access options, all have her convinced that the benefit of a computer is not worth her time or frustration. She does not want to be bothered with the learning curve.

In addition, Mom is 74 and lives in a somewhat rural area. There are access options but they are very limited.

During a recent self-imposed media break, I performed my own impromptu survey on how my friends obtain their news. Mom is the talk-radio queen. Another friend spends one hour each morning reading six or seven blogs and Google alerts (news clippings you setup for yourself based on keywords you define) and scans MSN, all while listening to the Fox News channel.

Another reads the Express newspaper (a condensed version of the Washington Post) while commuting and then reads his company’s news clippings. I asked many others. The results showed that people use multiple resources—paper, TV, and the Internet. Hold that thought.

I remember reading an article two years ago that mentioned that only 14% of Japanese high school graduates knew how to use a computer. I was shocked. How can this be? Because in Japan, they all use cell phones. So do I. But in August 2008, I purchased my first “smart phone.”

This is a phone that not only can make and receive calls and text messages, but also provides for data transmission. Yes, there is an additional fee for this data access. Data access means the Internet, but, again, a computer is not required.

Smart phones can do many things. I could browse the web, use e-mail, and write. They remind me of the new line of mini-laptops. Good deal.

After several months of just enjoying my smart phone as though it was an ordinary cell phone, albeit with improved contact and e-mail features, I decided to take a page from the teenagers in Japan. I dug in and started exploiting the data access side of this phone.

For the past three weeks I decided to receive my news only from my smart phone. Of course, to make sure I am not missing anything, I discuss the current events with my kids and pro-life happenings with our communications director. (The NRL media director’s source is everything: print, TV, and internet.) Success! I am not missing anything current-event wise, plus I have a new reason for dialogue with my kids.

How do I get this news on my cell phone? I utilize twitter, Facebook, hotmail, gmail, and an Internet browser. NRL sends our alerts and Today’s News and Views through twitter, RSS feed, and e-mail, so I am able to receive our information in any of those forms based on my choosing. Or I can go to the NRLC web site—www.nrlc.org.

I also synch my work calendar from Outlook, so I notify myself about things I am supposed to be doing. Today, for example, my phone notified me that monthly reports are due to the controller and that I was to have an NRL News article for Dave Andrusko.

Back to my mother.

Remember the problem. I have a 74-year-old mom who does not want to deal with the whole computer business and Internet access setup. Meanwhile, using her old cell phone, Mom presently can text and send pictures to her grandkids.

So I don’t believe the next step—from cell phone and texting to smart cell phone use—is too large a jump. This smart phone concept will be her ticket to accessing the Internet but without needing to have a computer.

She will be able to interact with the kids on Facebook, twitter, e-mail, texting, and keep current with NRLC. Mom takes action per NRL’s asking. Now she will enhance her efforts electronically with a smart phone.

Are there downsides to this solution? Sure, as there is with anything. Mom won’t be able to synch the phone with a computer—that means, no easy phone backups on her contacts, and music, etc. Phone updates might be trickier to perform, but remember the phone connects to the Internet.

Reading the screen at first is a challenge, but you get used to it. You can expand the text and pictures on the smart phone screen; you just have to scroll left to right while reading. A smart phone may not be the be-all end-all, but in situations like my mother’s it is, as the Brits say, “spot on.” There are many smart phones to choose from. I suggest talking to friends and getting demonstrations from retail clerks.