I'm guessing your eyesight is better than mine and your fingers must be faster on the buttons 👍😉
Desktop or laptop for me, Arnold. Bigger pics and writing.
When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
When you’re strange, no one remembers your name Arnold, …..😉
Pat
@harmonyards posted:When you’re strange, no one remembers your name Arnold, …..😉
Pat
And what if you're strange at Cheers where everybody knows your name??
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:So, it seems to me that the above responses show that very few people are like me and primarily use the smartphone for their Forum activity. Do I have that right?
I use my phone quite often for the forum. Once you learn all of the navigation and tricks of using the mobile version of the website, it's not too bad. The only downside for me is the autocorrect on my phone never gets anything right.
@harmonyards posted:When you’re strange, no one remembers your name Arnold, …..😉
Pat
Hilarious!
@H1000 posted:And what if you're strange at Cheers where everybody knows your name??
Hilarious again!
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors... I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
Arnold, You certainly Light Everyone's Fire with each of your postings!
@Bruce Brown posted:Arnold, You certainly Light Everyone's Fire with each of your postings!
Hilarious again and brilliant.
Looks like there are many fans of The Doors on the Forum. Unfortunately, they never did a train song. But, Johnny Cash sure did, another amazing singer. They loved my rendition of Folsom Prison Blues at Trainstock on Saturday but, although I was introduced as the Man in Black (I was wearing a black shirt), I concede I ain't no Johnny Cash. On the other hand, no one is.
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
People are strange, but you, @Arnold D. Cribari, have a knack for starting interesting threads. Sometimes I wonder if you're an AI robot mining our data. ;-)
I use a laptop, either by itself, or in a desktop setup, where it is at head-level and with an external, wireless keyboard and mouse*. I also use my our iMac in the train room.
* Just under $30 for the pair and remarkably lightweight and durable. We have three pairs that are almost four years old. Some have seen repeated, accidental drops onto hard surfaces. The keyboard can be paired to iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and devices with Windows or Mac OS.
Almost always, I use my laptop. I usually check the Forum in the morning with my cup of coffee, and then that's typically all my Forum activity for the rest of the day.
Personally, I do not like using my phone for viewing photos or for posting. But, I have posted some photos to the Forum when using my phone. I would say that I prefer to use the laptop, but am not going to shoot myself in the foot over it.
I always check the forum while on my laptop. I enjoy the larger size of the photo as viewed from my laptop. Occasionally I view from my iPad and have posted videos from my I pad.
I do take videos and photos using my iPhone but never tune into the forum from my phone.
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
That’s one of my favorite Doors songs too Arnold.
Curt
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
Hopefully you are also in the ever so small 1.8% minority of attorneys. Seems I read somewhere "that 98.2% of lawyers give all the rest of 'em a bad name"
Laptop. It's easy to read and type.
Arnold, thanks for an enlightening topic once again. The replies are many and varied!
I'm firmly in the no-phone camp. Fat fingers and dry skin don't bode well for anything touch-screen related. When I'm in the woods this time of year, I occasionally have to wipe my phone across my drippy nose just to answer it!!
As for the Forum, I'm in pretty good shape all around. I hate moving things so I have a 3-season desktop on Win 10 in my screen house. A winter desktop on Win11 (which I detest) and big monitors on each for viewing D size blueprints. I have an old 13" MacBook by the couch. Nice keys. It's my fav. I have a newer touch-bar MacBook on the nightstand....which I hate. The iPad fits nice in the tractor, and with the Apple Pencil, is easy to check here or post a reply regardless of the afore mentioned fingers or dry skin. I have an old laptop on XP that I only use for Saab stuff and older drafting programs that I don't want updated.....never the Internet.
I start by reading alerts, then cross over to new topics. That is actually where I think I have learned the most....by reading of the trials and tribulations of others like myself, followed, of course, by the phenomenal answers that are put up by the many wonderfully talented persons on this site that take the time to help others!! Thanks to all who participate, and thanks again to Arnold!
Bob
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:When of my favorite songs is People Are Strange by The Doors.
That I, once again, am among those who are the exceptions to the rule regarding the Forum does not surprise me because I tend to be among the strangest of the strange. LOL, Arnold
Arnold that song is a pretty good one I to like it a lot. The only thing strange about you is the crazy thought provoking forum topics you come up with. Keep up the great work and strange thought provoking topics.
@endless tracks posted:Arnold, thanks for an enlightening topic once again. The replies are many and varied!
I'm firmly in the no-phone camp. Fat fingers and dry skin don't bode well for anything touch-screen related. When I'm in the woods this time of year, I occasionally have to wipe my phone across my drippy nose just to answer it!!
As for the Forum, I'm in pretty good shape all around. I hate moving things so I have a 3-season desktop on Win 10 in my screen house. A winter desktop on Win11 (which I detest) and big monitors on each for viewing D size blueprints. I have an old 13" MacBook by the couch. Nice keys. It's my fav. I have a newer touch-bar MacBook on the nightstand....which I hate. The iPad fits nice in the tractor, and with the Apple Pencil, is easy to check here or post a reply regardless of the afore mentioned fingers or dry skin. I have an old laptop on XP that I only use for Saab stuff and older drafting programs that I don't want updated.....never the Internet.
I start by reading alerts, then cross over to new topics. That is actually where I think I have learned the most....by reading of the trials and tribulations of others like myself, followed, of course, by the phenomenal answers that are put up by the many wonderfully talented persons on this site that take the time to help others!! Thanks to all who participate, and thanks again to Arnold!
Bob
Bob out in the woods I would ignore the phone and when I am on the tractor the only thing I have is the phone for the music in my Bose canceling hearing protection.
I think it's good to consider the pros and cons of one's options for reviewing, and contributing to, the Forum. Now we have that information in writing.
@Arnold D. Cribari posted:So, it seems to me that the above responses show that very few people are like me and primarily use the smartphone for their Forum activity. Do I have that right?
There IS one great use for a smartphone as far as the Forum and the magazine is concerned (at least in my opinion): the built-in camera function. The cameras in contemporary smartphones are--for many if not most model photography purposes--equal to or better than a sophisticated and far more expensive and bulky digital camera. I would estimate that about 80-85% or more of the layout photos you see in the magazine are taken with a smartphone. Even that estimate might be conservative. Smartphone cameras are great for photographing a layout because they often provide great depth of focus; light correction appropriate for the source; color balance; and are small, light, and easy to use down at track level, where the resulting images tend to be far more dramatic.
@RJT posted:Bob out in the woods I would ignore the phone and when I am on the tractor the only thing I have is the phone for the music in my Bose canceling hearing protection.
Ah, yes Rick!! But I worked from home for about 10 years before Covid. Nice days, (many days actually) I skipped out to the woods and did my catch up on emails, etc. at night. My largest customer for 40 years was a world-wide defense contractor. If they sent me something, I would respond 24/7. The iPad in the tractor with the mobile hotspot enabled me to be in the sugar house or out in the woods fluffing off and still do well for my company and my customers. Love the Bose headphones, too!!
@Allan Miller posted:There IS one great use for a smartphone as far as the Forum and the magazine is concerned (at least in my opinion): the built-in camera function. The cameras in contemporary smartphones are--for many if not most model photography purposes--equal to or better than a sophisticated and far more expensive and bulky digital camera. I would estimate that about 80-85% or more of the layout photos you see in the magazine are taken with a smartphone.
Without a doubt!
I've tried using my SLR to take layout photos and have found that it makes things difficult, compared to the iPhone camera. I have a mini tripod for the iPhone, but train vibration is transmitted through the blue foam, when shooting run-by scenes. So now I also have a bean bag.
@Allan Miller posted:There IS one great use for a smartphone as far as the Forum and the magazine is concerned (at least in my opinion): the built-in camera function. The cameras in contemporary smartphones are--for many if not most model photography purposes--equal to or better than a sophisticated and far more expensive and bulky digital camera.
Folks, Allan is spot-on! The new iPhones have amazing cameras, and combined with loads of storage, I can find no reason to lug around anything else. For comparison, I've attached (4) photos of the same (2) subjects taken a month apart in Bellows Fall, Vermont. The first two were using an 3 year old Apple SE, which I thought was decent for the times. The second two are using a brand new (2023) iPhone 14 Pro.
You will note the in the second set, you can see stars above the signals. It's not dust on you screen! That was never possible with a lesser smart phone. Also note the streetlight head above the signals in the two photos. The light was off but the difference in pics is astounding. For a more granular analysis, notice the motor joints in the brickwork between the two photos even though the buildings look quite similar.
Although I can't be positive, I'm assuming the weather was similar for all the pics.
Bob
Attachments
Images (4)
It's wonderful to get Allan's input and that of the others about the smartphone cameras and storage.
I'm very pleased with the camera and storage of my smartphone. At the moment I don't remember the specific model. I think it's either a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or a Samsung Galaxy Ultra 22 or something like that. Arnold
Yes, the phone camera is the only camera I have these days. My old digi point&shoot camera is in a closet, probably dead.
For the phone - one thing that I use is Dropbox and/or Google Drive. They upload all my photos quickly and they appear in a folder on my laptop ready to attach & post 👍
I ditched my laptop last year and have been on an iPad Pro M1. Forum is fine on my iPad. My Galaxy Note 20 has one of the best cameras on a phone. Much more software settings than the iPhone. iPhone has a good camera, but has fewer customization features.
Due to hand tremor and small screen my phone is used as a phone and to take pictures. On-line is on my laptop. I've got my Android phone linked to Windows and can download the photos wirelessly.
Given the tremor I also send text messages using the laptop/phone link. I'm just never going to develop that lightning fast two thumbs technique the young use.
It’s like most others, typing on a smartphone is difficult. I have to hold it in one hand and slowly type with the other index finger. I just did this message on the phone, and it seemed to take forever.
I agree, the camera in the iPhone X is great. I save to Dropbox like others.
Now that I'm retired I use the Mac for the most part. When I was working I used the iPhone exclusively. Reason being my laptop was a work one and I wasn't going to be the guy bringing a virus into the company by surfing the internet.
I use the 3 rail Traditional section the most. I also do a lot of searches when doing projects looking for better ways to do things. I check the For Sale section a lot.
I’m pretty old school. I use my old UHF tv converter to access the forum. It’s a bit difficult to write responses turning the dial so much!
I'm a laptop guy and retired so I have time to look at it, rarely use a phone. I'm probably different in that my main interaction is via eMail. You can adjust the forum settings to send an email of every first post in a new thread. So I see every thread that starts (also all for sale and want to buy). If the thread potentially interests me I click on it and go to the forum to subscribe. If not the thread goes away. I also follow a few people so get their posts too. I have a dedicated email address for the forum and I keep the forum email open all the time in one of my two 24" monitors. Works well for me.
Bill
I used to do both desktop/laptop and iPhone. However, during Covid I was laid off after 34 years with the company, and now I really can’t handle sitting down at my desk. I do pretty much everything with the phone.
Desktop at home / phone on the go
@Scrambler81 posted:... and now I really can’t handle sitting down at my desk...
- maybe it's time for a NEW desk 👍
My wife worked from home for a spell during covid and the work kinda left a "stink" on the desk for her and she didn't like it anymore. So we got her a NEW one. 😎 She works from home for a different company now 🤘
Cheers!
I mostly use it on desktop and laptop. I just like the bigger screen. I have posted from my smart phone if I'm at the bar or whatever but overwhelmingly I like it on a computer.
I use the desktop for everything, always have, always will! My phone is strictly a phone and will only use it as such!!! I can't stand these people that are constantly glued to their phones that have no situational awareness of the world around them, just drives me up a wall. Then they give you this look like you're the problem when you call them out for their stupidity of being on the phone constantly!
I prefer to use my MacBook Air laptop but there are times when I am lounging on my Recreation room sofa I use my Smartphone.
@ChiTown Steve posted:Now that I'm retired I use the Mac for the most part. When I was working I used the iPhone exclusively. Reason being my laptop was a work one and I wasn't going to be the guy bringing a virus into the company by surfing the internet.
When I was working, I was more worried about work systems infecting my computer! 
I never use my phone to read forms it is only used as a phone or for texting. I have a laptop that goes with me when I travel. I use it for day-to-day use.
I check in on the OGR forum quire a few times a day, when I am near my computer. I try to mostly use my desktop, with a nice big screen. Sometimes, if I am waiting at a Dr. appointment, I check in with my cell phone. However, the print and the photos are so darn small that I really don't like to do that. I learn something new every day, although I do not post much.
