Web User - UK (2019-09-18)

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Air your views, write to us [email protected] 18 Sept - 1 Oct 2019 73

see posts inmyFacebook and Nextdoor
news feedswarning of people inmyarea
who have allegedlycommitted crimes.
These often include the accused’s name
andeven a photo, with noreal evidence
that they are guilty.
As Barry says, social media now
provides an onlineextension of
NeighbourhoodWatch, but
it can also leadto innocent
people being harassed and
attackedfor no goodreason.
I know that local police
forces are already
overstretched, but they
would dowell to keep aneye
on these groups,to stop vigilante witch
hunts developing out ofcontrol.
S Robeson, via email

Stop being paranoid about
smart speakers
I don’t understand all the fuss about
smart speakersrecording ourvoices.
Any data analysedby humanworkers is
shared anonymously, so it’s not likeyou
can be identified, andyou’re not goingto
get pointed and laughedat in thestreet
for asking Alexa stupid questions.
I thinkvoice assistants are one of the
cleverest tech innovations of the lastfew
years, but they’restill not perfect, which
is whycompanies arestudying users’
anonymousvoice datato improvetheir
accuracy. These things process millions
of requests a day, so the chances ofyou
being personally identified areextremely
slim.Stop being so paranoid!
Simon Hanson, via email

Chromebooks aren’t meant
to last forever
What’s the big deal about Chromebooks
havingexpiration dates (Needto Know,
Issue 483)? No piece of hardware lasts
forever, especially not laptops, which are
used much more intensively than, say,
printers or scanners. Ireplacemylaptop
every fiveyears, so the ‘revelation’ that
Chromebooks onlyreceive updates for
6.5years is hardly a shocking one.
Chromebooks are designedto be
low-spec and lightweight, and they’re
clearly not meantfor lif e.
They’re not that
expensive, either, so
buying afaster new one
when the timecomes
isn’t much of a wrench.
Alan H Grant, via email

D

O YOU THINK SMARTPHONES

SHOULD BEBANNED FROM

SCHOOLS (bit.ly/schools484)?

Phones should befor talkingto

people (mum and dad) and

contacting emergency services.

Smartphones have takenover

people’s lives and most of us can’t

survive more than 10 minutes without

messing with them. Children shouldn’t

be exposedto such addictive devices

whilst being educated or they will

never learn anything.Pointless!

Lance Parkington

Yes. Kids should have them generally

but they should beconfiscated at the

start of the lesson or school day. Most

companieswon’t letyou useyour

phone whenyou are supposedto be

working.This would be good practice.

Gavin Green

I think they should bekept in lockers

during the school day, but allowed

goingto and from school, so parents

cankeep intouch.

Martin Phillp

It’s amazingto me, as I approachmy

seventh decade, that the first thingwe

do with all the brillianttechnology

that hascome ourwayover the last

50 years isto decide it’s goingto ruin

the kids.

Richard Morgan

Mobile phones are okay, but

smartphones – no.Personally,I

wouldn’t allow kids under 16 anything

other than a basic talk-and-text

phone.

Paul Grim

It’s a toughie.You can’t ban them

outright because the kids’ll always

find awayto conceal them. Also, the

parents might insist on their child

taking a phoneto keep intouchfor

the end-of-day pick-up. If theycould

make classrooms signal-proof, that’d

fix it.

Ady Colclough@AdyC76

I can’t believe this iseven being asked.

Children areat schoolto focus on

their education and learning, and not

their social media and other

distractions.

DarenBavister

W

ILLYOU USE THE BBC’S

NEWVOICE ASSISTA NT,

BEEB (bit.ly/beeb484)?

Not likely, it mightrecord audio of

whatyou watch on TV, and the BBC

can then use thatto prosecute

licence-feeevaders.

DeanStockton

No, the BBC is tryingto be all things

to all people and quality is suffering as

a result. It’s timeto ditch the TV

licence, which is a tax on the British

public, and make the BBCstand on its

own merits – if it has any left.

GlennFaulkner

All thistechnology is designedto do

is spy on people and brainwash and

manipulate them. If anyone buys me

anything like thisfor Christmas then

it’s goingstraight into a bucket of

water! Afew people I know have

mostly given upwatching TV, and

when they do, theywatch recorded

stuff so they can skip through the

subliminalcorporate commercials.

Maybe the BBC are now clutchingat

straws because a lot of people are

doing this and they are no longer

relevant?

Liz FLambeth

Notreally.Even if itcovered all TV

services, I am happyto keep usinga

remotecontrol as most TV is easily

accessible already andvoicecontrol

isn’treally much of a time-saver.

Rich Grove

So the BBC can afford this, but they’re

takingawayfree TV licencesfor the

over 75s?

Rob Presho

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