How to get help

SMUG meeting, June 21, 2022

Meeting notes by Kathleen Charters

The Tuesday, June 21, meeting was all about getting help. Getting help is one of the main reasons people join computer user groups: they have a computer, smartphone, or smartwatch, and want to do more with it. Or they tried doing something and ran into a dead end. Or they know how to do something but have this nagging feeling that there is a better way to do it.

Once upon a time, computers came with extensive printed documentation. Microsoft Office for Macintosh 4.2, released in 1994, came with an entire box of documentation that weighed more than some Macintosh computers. After years of use, many users still had shrink-wrapped copies of the thick, printed manuals. The users never read the manuals, never used the built-in documentation, and never learned much about the programs, either.

Today, users can get advice (good and bad) from blogs, YouTube, online help forums, consultants, and documentation built into the operating system and applications. There are a wealth of sources, but — how do you distinguish good help from bad?

We also talked about Apple’s keynote offered at WWDC22 (World Wide Developers Conference 2022). Apple introduced some new products and gave previews of forthcoming versions of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS.

Q&A

Apple World Wide Developers Conference Keynote highlights: introduced M2 versions of MacBook laptops, no M2 MacMini; iOS updates for devices to increase collaboration between devices; multiple open windows on M1 iPads akin to what can do on the Mac; iPad is not a laptop but flexible; did not announce dates for releases – available later this year (reflects complex OS in time of disruption and evolutionary nature of collaboration); naming new OS for Mac “Ventura”; developer conference not aimed at consumers but 20M registered developers; Keynote aimed at mid-range techie or developer, anyone can learn something, visual presentations of how things will work; lecture on how to code this includes visuals; in-person 20,000 at last conference, virtual conference has 10,000,000+ per session, reflects democratizing process of technology

Photos end up in the cloud if set to synch; Photos App on Mac or iPhone has access; cache a limited number on the iPhone up to 5GB for free but can purchase more space; Mac has access to everything, helps to know when the photo was taken, meta tags help to find things; can type in a category and Photos will go find photos with that image; good guesses based on generic terms; can add metadata and will find like-type photos, face feature in Photos is powerful; can look by location if use iPhone with location services turned on; note – photos with regular camera may not know location

Wireless for charging? Expect some cables in the future since wired charging is more efficient then induction charging by 60%; radiant energy a problem; a microwave is a Faraday Cage to protect people from radiation; healthcare concerns with iPhone – super magnets and pacemaker not a good combination – may reprogram the pacemaker so do not carry phone in shirt pocket if have a pacemaker

iPhone 8 shows on Bluetooth when I have iPhone XS; when I lose connection with Bluetooth, and creates a new connection and uses a new name to distinguish

iPhone 13 camera quality vs iPhone 12 camera – Lawrence can tell the difference in quality; iPhone 13 super wide angle lens, FaceTime camera follows face as person moves; video makes a difference; new capability and camera improvements with each new generation

Plant identification, if you take a photo of a plant, is built into Photos

Business meeting

President – Sabrina

Welcome to the new participant

The library will be open for meetings after remodeling in 2 years

Consider alternative spaces

2 presentations best in-person: diagnostics, basic computer literacy

Quarterly in-person meetings at different churches

First Security Bank may be available on Saturdays

Treasurer – Annalee’s

After Zoom $63 expenditure Balance is $1,609.60

How to get Help with Apple devices

New York Times and Washington Post articles on how to help someone while both talking on the phone – this is difficult to do

Get help from younger relatives

Help is built into macOS and iOS, in the Menu bar, context sensitive, table of contents – may be on the machine or may be online (need Internet connection)

Describing what needs help with –

What kind of device do you have? To identify, go to Apple menu, select About this Mac for basic information, select System Report – will see what hardware is available, network, software, installed applications in alphabetical order with version and how obtained, can sort by kind (e.g., 32-bit, Apple silicon, Intel, universal, etc.)

Apple may ask you to send them the system profile – type of machine, operating system, serial number

Support tells if covered by Apple+, can get topics for help.

macOS Help – Application-specific Help (e.g., Pages); Help in Terminal, e.g.,

man ls

provides a manual for the ls (list) command. For example,

ls -al

shows a listing of all files in a directory, including invisible files, along with file permissions, the owner of the file, and the date it was last touched

iBooks Help – Apple iBookstore is a source of free books, e.g., Apple Watch User’s Guide, works on any Apple device, and is searchable, as well as books for purchase

Strait Mac Website discussion board – search existing topics, add new topic, ask questions, share the information with everyone, others can add to the conversation; a collective knowledge base

Printed documentation – for example, Apple Watch documentation a thin sheet of paper; people not using the printed documentation; manuals not used by most people; Take Control Books a good resource with a large selection of topics, well-written; they keep the information current, a series of illustrated steps; multiple formats available; example: Find My and Air Tags; can use Find My and CarPlay to find car

Quick Start Guides by Peachpit Press were good, then Pearson Publications bought this and did not update, more print-oriented than electronic, check publication dates

Questions/Comments

Discount code for Take Control books in the Discussion Forum

Use of AirTag to find a car? Cars are a Faraday cage, so do not get electrocuted. Air Tag has trouble getting through the metal, so not as accurate as CarPlay; the phone connected by Bluetooth can be used to establish location

Notification when using SMUG Discussion Board – set up when you get on the Board

M2 iMac not discussed; M2 Mac mini not discussed during World Wide Developers Conference; perceived increase in speed; trade-off processing power for ease of use

Apple is cautious about timelines

Dell is 8 months late in release

Google’s new phone is late in release

Searching for Help

Do not be overly specific and do be accurate (watch out for autocorrect unintended changes)

Terminology matters

Online help forums are not moderated and subject to trolls, may get bad advice, out-of-date advice, and check the dates information was posted

Apple Genius Bar is a good source – Apple Stores located at Alderwood Mall, University Village, Tacoma Mall, Southcenter Mall, Bellevue; Support things Apple currently sells; help is of good quality; do not talk down to people, explain what they are going to do before they do it

Consultant – may not have expertise, just claims to, may suggest things that are dangerous, do not give them a password – type in your own

The MacTrader owner is doing work; see the Website for contact information

Possible to get bad advice from books, forums, and consultants

Next month, potential topics

Basic photo editing

Clearing out downloads

System Services – basics

.PDFs in Books – how to sort and delete

Save to Files – how to find, organize

Clipboard

Apple TV – basics

Comments and Questions

Community Service classes in-person quarterly – computer literacy in September; maintenance of equipment; accessibility features; diagnostics

Next Door reformatted the post so it does not require a subject

E-mail common mistakes: no subject, forgetting to attach an attachment, use of cc: and bcc:

Discussion of StarLink and speed – download (faster) vs upload (slower) speed

Limited options on the Olympic Peninsula

The casino has a tower for 5G service

Wireless Broadband 5G in big cities may come here eventually

Next month

General Housekeeping: cleaning out downloads, files