“Like the game?” I asked, furrowing my brow to fain actual contemplation of the topic. My seventeen year old daughter shook her head and my eleven year old, through laughter, squealed out, “What are you talking about?”
“X’s and O’s. You try and get three in a row.”
“Not Tic-Tac-Toe, Dad! Tik-Tok. It’s a social media app that…”
My elder daughter didn’t actually stop talking. I just zoned out once I heard it was a social media app she was going to describe. I looked her in the eyes and politely nodded. When she gestured to my phone sitting on the table I looked at the black, shiny, rectangle as if I understood what she was talking about.
Technology changes fast. The little programs, games and idiosyncrasies that we use to entertain ourselves tend to come and go. Some stay and grow. Much of it I have no use for. Oh, I’ve subscribed to some time traps. The big ones; Facegram, InstaChat and Snapbook (or something like that). They started as entertaining then I began noticing how they became…annoying. I continue to try and keep up with them to some extent as my children use them. By “some extent” I mean only when my wife tells me one of the kids posted something. Then I just ask to see it on her phone.
For as many apps as exist, very few are actually appealing to me. Apps that allow me to connect to my banks and credit cards are useful. I like apps that let me see what’s going on in my house via wireless cameras or allow me to lower the heating set point. I say “lower” and not “change”, because I have young daughters. Then there are the hunting apps. Now, I’m not one to readily introduce technology into my outdoor hunting and fishing. I’m still not real happy that my Woolrich jacket implements that fancy new insulation – Thinsulate. As for all this crazy camo garb, well… I still wear my Woolrich and a pair jeans regardless of what I’m hunting. However, when I was introduced to a hunting app – like one of those sci-fi movies where the hero goes speeding through a wormhole of light, I came screaming into 21st century hunting, slamming right into a herd of technology.
This particular hunting app had all sorts of features. There was a function to overlay property boarders on a satellite image and identify the parcel owner. I determined Jack, the guy who owned the property neighboring where I hunt, did not posses this particular app. Before someone turned him on to this technology, I made sure to relocate the tree stand I had apparently placed several yards…maybe hundred yards…onto his property. Honest mistake.
I used the ability to place waypoints and marked the locations of my trap placements. I think the coyotes had found this function too. They used the app to avoid each and every trap. Next year I’ll set the waypoints in the wrong locations. That’ll teach ‘em.
Several hunters can use the app to coordinate their hunting plan across a piece of property. A couple of us do this on our lease. It’s helpful to know where the others are. With all that camo they wear, I can never find them. They should get Woolrich jackets. I did notice the app doesn’t have a camera function built into it. I guess they need to have something they can add later, in version 14.87. So when it comes time to document your harvest, leaving the hunting app to access the camera is required.
Phil was in our hunting group last season. Phil is a pretty active guy on social media always posting things here and there. So, when he harvested that nice twelve-point he was all excited about getting pictures with it. Handing me his phone, he sat down on the tailgate of his truck. He positions the bucks head just so in his lap, then sits up and smiles at me. Speaking through the tight lips of his smile he starts commanding me to take the picture. His phone is different than mine. I fumble through the screens, trying to locate the picture taker. He continues to shout directions at me, which are difficult to understand due to his contracted lips. “How do I take a picture of you? Where’s the picture app?” I ask trying to make sense of the little app icons on his phone. He responds, but it’s hard to understand. Looking up at him, still in his pose with the buck, I furrow my brow, “What?” He responds again. I look back down at the screen on his phone, confused, and ask… “Like the game?”