Friday, July 30, 2010

iPhone Expert - Dad or Teens?

When I got my new iPhone 4, I had immediate command of the basics. I could make phone calls, trade text messages (including dirty text message jokes), take photos, set my background screen, set an alarm, change my ringtone, check the weather, enlarge the font (age is killing my eyes, what can I say?)... even read Dad’s House single parent blog.

Forget that this was my first smart phone with a touch screen. I was iPhone tech-savvy from the get-go.

Or so I thought.


When my teen son came over to my house, he had a field day with my new iPhone 4. He downloaded games, downloaded apps, rearranged icons, set up a passcode, synced it with my laptop, and loaded my iPhone up with songs – 344, to be exact!

Ok, so my teen son is the iPhone expert. What can I say? He has an iPod touch, and all his friends have mobile gaming devices. They’ve been swapping tips and tricks for Apple products during school lunches for years.

When my teen daughter came over to my house, she went even deeper into the device. She had just returned from Europe where she visited a friend, and she wanted her friend to know she’d gotten back to California safely.


“Are you calling her?” I asked.
“No, she’s still sleeping,” my daughter said. “They’re nine hours ahead.”
“Sending her a text?”
“No, I’m writing to her on Facebook.”

Okay, call me a dinosaur. I barely log into Facebook from my laptop. But from my iPhone? My teen daughter is a mega-expert in my eyes.


The three of us were driving to dinner, for our first meal together since both of them got back from vacation. My son took my iPhone and downloaded yet another game. It was some maze thing where he had to move the iPhone side to side to work some ball from level to level. The damn thing was beeping like CRAZY!!!!

“See that switch on the side?” I asked. “Flip it down.”

Both kids went into meltdown overdrive. “No, that locks the screen!” “No, that will cut the game short.” “No, you don’t know anything about this phone.”

“It’s a mute switch,” I said. “Flip it.”

My son hesitated – after all, I’m an iPhone neophyte. He and his sister are the experts. What the hell did I know? I hadn’t even downloaded apps or loaded music or used Facebook on the iPhone by myself.

“Flip it,” I said.

He flipped it. The screen didn’t lock. The game didn’t quit. The annoying beeps STOPPED.


“Wow,” my son said. “You know something about the iPhone that I didn’t know.”
“Of course I do,” I said. “I’m an iPhone expert.”
“No, you’re not. Tell me something else I don’t know.”
“I will when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now!”

All in good time, Son. All in good time.

13 comments:

Nicki said...

Look at you! So very proud. Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to get that advanced. Way to go, hero!

Debbie said...

ha ha ha!!! Loved this!!! I can see your kids disbelief!!! I am still behind the times and do not have an iphone..I am still figuring out my ipod!..all in time, right? :)

Kat Wilder said...

They just think we're dinosaurs. We actually know a thing or two more than they do. The rest, we fake!

Danielle said...

My 3 year old probably knows more than I do about phones. I am pathetic!

Trooper Thorn said...

I prefer to call the operator to place a call. Sometimes I use the old exchange description too, like "Give me Alpine 3-4744!"

Kristy @Loveandblasphemy said...

As soon as I read the title, I instantly thought - teenager. Definitely. Yup.

Music news said...

In twenty years of dating (ten pre-marriage, and ten post-divorce), I’ve never been stood up on a date. So when a single mom I met on match.com recently left me hanging at a restaurant bar, I didn’t want to believe I was being stood up for the first time in my life.

Web Hosting said...

All Apple need do is add support for OnLive on the AppleTV via an SDK to make an excellent gaming platform. It already has the USB port and WiFi for controllers.

dadshouse said...

Those last two comments are spam. The Music News one copy/pasted the intro to one of my Dad's House posts. Why are spammers to pathetic?

Dan Pearce said...

Haha, love it. My kid is three and he does thing on my iPhone that I can't do. I finally got him his own iPod touch and you wouldn't believe how he cruises around on that thing. It's crazy that he'll never know a world with no iPods.

Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing

TentCamper said...

I know nothing of iPhones!!! I text and call with my phone...I have to leave all that other stuff to the teens.

web designing jacksonville said...

I neeed help i have posted alot of questions about the iphone but im still not sure i need to talk to an expert or specialist so where can i talk to one ?

web designing jacksonville said...

um well i know alot about them and i got all my knolegde from the internet, look up the phones on youtube (phonedog is a good review maker on there) and the company site or places like cnet

Related Posts with Thumbnails