Learning to Communicate

I have tried to learn how to use my new phone. I'm slowly making progress, but not everything is working as I would like.

Twice, while I was reading to my wife in bed at night, Siri has asked me to repeat my question. I hadn't said Siri, so I don't understand how the app got activated. I say, "I didn't say anything." Once, Siri replied, "My apologies."

I don't know what the phone responded to.

I discovered an application in my phone that tracks my steps. It has several other health related windows, but no sensors for them. I don't want my phone to know what my blood sugar level is, or how much I way. I doubt that any cell phone has a scale built in capable of weighing adults, and even if mine did, I wouldn't use it. So there are a lot of things this phone asks me that I'm just not interested in sharing.

There must be people who put all of that information in their phones. I don't understand why. After all, I expect if I put those things in my phone, my service provider and the phone manufacturer would have access to that information.

I read that Andrew Yang, who is running for president, wants laws to say that personal data belongs to persons, meaning that if Apple or Amazon or Facebook wants to use any data I create, like the words I'm typing, they have to pay me for it. I think I agree with that. Algorithms and their creators should not be able to exploit my data without permission and compensation. That doesn't mean I'll vote for Yang, though. I really wonder if he will be on the ballot by the time my primary comes around.

Maybe, one of these days, I'll ask Liz to walk me through a few more functions of my new phone, as she has had an iPhone for years. I don't know how to use the GPS function yet. I tried yesterday, and got lost.

But I have made a few phone calls, and I can send text messages, so my phone works just fine as a phone. It has a lot to learn about interacting with me as a companion.