Technology for seniors

This is the latest of what has become a regular column in the ISBA Senior Lawyer Section Council newsletter. Hopefully you will take a turn in contributing a section on your own “Best Practices” or problems you have in using technology. Please let us know what you need.

Computer Basics Workshop

On Friday, October 18, 2013, our committee has organized a three-hour, hands-on “Computer Basics for Senior Lawyers” workshop at the National-Louis University Computer Lab at 122 South Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Room 4024. To get to that room, take the elevator to Floor 2, change elevators and proceed to Floor 4.

We will cover:

Familiarization with Computer Hardware (Keyboard, Mouse & Menus); BasicTyping/Word Processing (using Microsoft Word programs); Basics of E-mail; Accessing Internet (Using Mozilla Firefox/Internet Explorer).

We have five faculty to assist on the 24 computers. You may also bring your own laptop or iPad.

Please fill out the registration form  and sign up so we know how basic we need to be in small groups. Only $10 for three hours of personal attention.

iOS7

For those of you with Apple devices (iPhone5, iPhone4, iPad2,iPad Mini and 5th generation iPod Touch), you will soon (9/18/13) be getting an update to the Apple Operating System. This new system is a major change from what you are finally getting used to. You will receive notification on your device or by e-mails when it is available for free download. According to Apple, it is “the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007.....and will have a “totally new feel.”

It is far beyond this column (as well as this author) to detail all of the changes, but we thought you might be interested in a few that may be significant to us “seasoned attorney” technology users:

App Updates—they will now be done automatically in the background.

Control Center—With a swipe up and without going to “Settings,” you will be able to turn on wifi and bluetooth, as well as access the Clock, Calculator, Camera and Flashlight functions.

Camera—The new screen has filters that allow effects before and after taking the picture. Once taken, the Photos are automatically (“Smart”) organized into Collections, Moments and by Years.

Notification Center—on one screen (with a swipe down) you see missed calls, new e-mails and reminders, etc.

Multitasking—iOS 7 will also “remember” what apps you use regularly and when (e.g. USA Today News with morning coffee) and will update the content so it will be ready for you. Pressing the Home button twice will let you see what Apps you have open.

Air Drop—allows you to share photos, movies, contacts (anything from an App with a Share feature) with other Apple users in close proximity to you (using bluetooth and wifi) by just selecting the nearby person from the on screen list.

Safari—the changes to the screen and browsing functions make it easier to do searches—closest matches are automatically suggested from the unified smart search field. The new Tab View shows the web pages which are open, to allow easy access or deletion.

iTunes Radio—over 200 genre-based radio stations are now available on your device for free, while allowing you to change the balance between types of songs from which you can create a wish list for later purchase, if you so choose, from the iTunes Store.

The foregoing are only a sampling of the new system, based upon Apple information and summaries from beta users. There are also significant changes to the look of the icons (translucent, utilizing a “layer” look), as well as appearance and ease of use changes to the Weather, Clock, Compass, Calendar, Maps, Reminders, Notes, Newsstand, Stocks, App Store, Passbook and Siri Apps. iWork, iPhoto and iMovie will also be available for your device with the download (free). There is even an iCloud Keychain which can remember log-ins and passwords, etc. for quick access to sites, using 256 bit AES encryption (which I don’t pretend to understand), including a password generator.

We hope to “talk” more with you in future newsletters regarding the specifics of the foregoing new system features, once we download iOS 7 and consult with our grandkids on how to use them!

iPhone 5C & iPhone 5S

iPhone 5C—As predicted, Apple has decided to reach out to a large world market that was not willing/able to pay the cost of the iPhones and announced the iPhone 5C, being released for pre-order on 9/13/13. This is good news for those wanting to start out with a smart phone that does not have all the “bells and whistles,” but is still state of the art (well almost). The iPhone 5C comes in 5 colors with matching cases. It has a plastic one piece seamless design, and comes with two built-in cameras, a flash, video recording (1080p HD), wifi, Bluetooth and runs iOS7 with most of its capabilities. It is even a telephone! You can get the 16GB version for $99 and a two-year cellular contract or the 32GB version for $199. It will do all someone starting out with a smart phone could ever want, and a lot more you won’t use. For phone (including FaceTime), e-mail and internet, along with well over one half million available applications (many of which are free), you really should check it out—your grandkids will love it!

iPhone 5S—Now, for those of you who want actual state of the art and a smart phone that truly “threatens” the PC, the just announced (at the time of this article) iPhone 5S is a must have—at least we think so! At $199—$399 with a two-year cellular contract for the 16GB to the 64GB versions, coupled with the iOS 7 features, all of which it can utilize, you can have the following:

• A7 chip-64 bit (don’t worry about what that means—I don’t know either—but know that it is multiple times faster than the iPhone 5, with better battery consumption).

• M7 Core Motion chip (not sure about that one either, but you will notice the video and graphics effects, including slow motion video).

• Improved cameras with larger pixels (making for better quality photos and videos). The camera takes multiple pictures (in the background) and chooses the best one.

• Two-color flash LEDs that combine for more accurate color low light photos.

• Touch ID fingerprint sensor which allows the phone only to be used by you (or others authorized) and allows truly secure on line purchases without passwords or PINS (encrypted fingerprints are not stored on Apple servers or in iCloud).

• 10 Hour battery life (3G talk time) and 250-hour standby time (3G).

The foregoing list does not begin to describe this new iPhone and we will undoubtedly be giving more information in future articles, once we get our hands on one and attend a grandkid training session or two! ■