Poll: What type of device do you mostly use to logon to CTN?

[Glenn MacGrady]

I am interested as administrator in the type of devices being successfully used to logon and access this site, and whether there are any problems in doing so with any of these devices under our new Xenforo platform since August 31. I am also just personally curious as to what the distribution of devices is.

For the poll, choose the device you mostly use to access CTN, but you can then discuss other devices you also use.

I have mostly used a Windows laptop (Lenovo Thinkpad) the entire time I have been a member. I have also accessed the site with two different Chromebooks and two different Android phones. I have had no problems with any of these devices logging on and using the site under Xenforo.

My eight year old 15" Thinkpad bit the dust last week. Since I have used IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads for more than 20 years, I got another new and expensive Thinkpad 14" ultrabook model two days ago. All sorts of power, but the screen is too dim and the color profile is awful. It's likely being returned after I take delivery on a 15" Thinkpad X1 with a supposedly better screen.

 

[Erica]

iPad. An old one.

I’ll use the windows desktop if I’m going to type much. I also have a thinkpad, but it’s getting too hard for me to read the small screen.

 

[Gerald]

All-In-One. Checked the Windows desktop choice.
G.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

All-In-One.

Gerald, what kind of device does this refer to?

 

[Woodpuppy]

iPhone only. The old iPad mini’s battery is toast, but it does have bigger text….

I spend enough time on a PC at work, I don’t even own one. And giggle is the devil, though the apple’s core is rotting too. Pardon me while I go outside to shout at clouds….

 

[Gerald]

Glenn said:
Gerald, what kind of device does this refer to?

In the simplest terms, it's a computer that combines all desktop components in one enclosed unit, instead of having a separate computer tower from the display monitor.

 

[stevet]

99% iPad (it just does everything so well), some Mac desktop. I oversee the Apple division of the Hilton Head Computer Club and we have seen a dramatic increase in mobile devices for internet connection over the last few years. Of our 900 members about half now list mobile devices as the primary connected device.

 

[BWCA66]

I use my windows laptop the most but also use my windows desktop and android phone without any issues (anymore - thanks by the way for getting this all up and running on the new site)

 

[Loon]

100% laptop Windows w/o issues.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

we have seen a dramatic increase in mobile devices for internet connection over the last few years. Of our 900 members about half now list mobile devices as the primary connected device.

I believe this phenomenon is significantly responsible for the recognized decline and death of serious discussion and information forums on the internet, especially in this age of short comment/reaction internet environments such as Facebook and Twitter.

While one can easily read trip reports, build threads and serious discussions on a phone, and can certainly look at pictures, I think it would take extraordinary perseverance to compose and edit those kinds of posts on a traditional discussion forum using the tiny virtual keyboards of a phone.

In short, I believe the increasing use of phones for internet access will inevitably decrease the creation of detailed content on traditional discussion forums. And without new content to read, many traditional discussion and information sites will continue to wither and disappear. Hopefully, niche hobby/activity sites such as this one can continue to flourish.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I believe this phenomenon is significantly responsible for the recognized decline and death of serious discussion and information forums on the internet, especially in this age of short comment/reaction internet environments such as Facebook and Twitter.

While one can easily read trip reports, build threads and serious discussions on a phone, and can certainly look at pictures, I think it would take extraordinary perseverance to compose and edit those kinds of posts on a traditional discussion forum using the tiny virtual keyboards of a phone.

In short, I believe the increasing use of phones for internet access will inevitably decrease the creation of detailed content on traditional discussion forums. And without new content to read, many traditional discussion and information sites will continue to wither and disappear. Hopefully, niche hobby/activity sites such as this one can continue to flourish.

Glenn,

I tend to agree. When I make short postings, like this one, i use my ipad, as I am now. For all of my detailed trip reports, with multiple images, however, I use my imac. I would very likely not make lengthy, detailed trip reports if confined to my ipad.

 

[recped]

Glen; Is there not some form of analytics integrated into Xenforo? (just checked, they recommend integrating Google)

Even using Google Analytics you should be able to access detailed data on platform, device, browser, geographical location, entry/exit pages, time on site etc.)

Survey is fine (I'm a dinosaur, all desktop. all the time) but it's likely going to be a very small sample of actual users (maybe a good sample of the truly active users).

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Glen; Is there not some form of analytics integrated into Xenforo? (just checked, they recommend integrating Google)

Yes, I have analytics and could also use Google's, but I post polls primarily to provide information for everyone and hopefully to promote some discussion of the topic.

 

[stevet]

I’m not advocating, just observing.
Phones are problematic for thoughtful, detailed discussion but you can use a keyboard with tablets. Frankly I dictate 60% of the time and that does require some forethought. People are on the move (covid not withstanding) and desktops don’t fit pockets. Folks want to be connected wherever they are and mobile devices allow it.
People who want to converse in a meaningful way will find a device that fits their needs and desires, be it phone, tablet, or desktop.
I recently heard a story about someone who actually wrote words on paper with a pen and mailed it….shocking! (It might even have been in cursive—something no one under 40 can even read anymore).

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I’m 74, which is way over 40. I grew up with cursive being the primary way to put pen to paper. There have been times recently, when I had to google how to make a cursive letter. Getting old is not good.

 

[billconner]

I recently heard a story about someone who actually wrote words on paper with a pen and mailed it….shocking! (It might even have been in cursive—something no one under 40 can even read anymore).

A while back I read of someone writing a fill length novel on a phone.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

One benefit of phones to this particular forum is that paddlers could post and put up pictures while they are on a canoe trip in places where there's a cell signal. Maybe someone has done that already—I don't recall. Folks do that from basketball arenas on the women's basketball forums I frequent.

 

[Woodpuppy]

I learned cursive, then attended an Episcopal school for 7th and 8th grade. There we used wide-nib fountain pens to write in italics. All the time. Now I write in a damaged encryption chicken scratch; if I want it to be legible I’ve got to go all block lettering, and I’ve been asked if I were a draftsman.

It is frustrating to type a long trip report on a phone. Over on BCUSA, there is some sort of glitch where when I use a hard return to separate a paragraph it deletes the last correction I’ve made. As small as a spelling correction or even a whole paragraph I added in above. Glad that doesn’t happen here… Tablet would be better, but a real keyboard would be best.

 

[Chip]

Most of the time I am reading the forum, it is on the iPad. That is the reason I post much less frequently than I formerly did. It's tolerable to peck out text on the iPad, but it is an inhibition. If on the iPad I see a post and want to reply, I think "I'll wait until I'm at a keyboard," and then often never post that reply.

Internet forums were and still are an incredible information resource. I still find good content on forums, most of it from around 2014. For the last five years, forums have just dried up. I believe the prevalence of small devices is a big reason for it. Also, people spend a lot of time posting one- and two-liners to social media. Between the the trend of people, mostly younger, who do everything internet on their phones, and the proliferation of texts and tweets, there's just not that many people willing to spend the time to thoughtfully write.

Everywhere you look, you see people with their faces buried in their phones. You need to have a few years on you to remember when it wasn't that way. Oh, I'm starting to rant.

So, I do most of my CT reading on the iPad, but when I actually want to log on and post, it's usually on a lap-top.

 

[stevet]

Bluetooth keyboards will pair with pads or phones but dictation is faster. Yes you sometimes need to do corrections but to me that still takes less time.
Always been a bit reticent to take my phone canoeing due to the replacement cost but now with the nearly waterproof iphones and pouches that can float I would do it. Plus the new cameras in phones are quite good.