📙 Part 2: Describe a technological product you own that you feel is difficult to use

This episode's vocabulary

Be no/without rhyme or reason (idiom) -

Authority (noun) - an expert on a subject.

User interface (noun) - the way in which the information on a computer, phone, etc. and instructions on how to use it are arranged on the screen and shown to the user.

Icon (noun) - a small picture or symbol on a computer screen that you point to and click on (= press) with a mouse to give the computer an instruction.

Accustomed to something (collocation) - familiar with something.

Mains (noun) - the system of pipes or wires that carry water or electricity into a house, or the pipes that carry sewage away from a house.

To sneak (verb) - to go somewhere secretly, or to take someone or something somewhere secretly.

Teething problems (noun) - problems connected with a new product, or problems at the beginning of a process or activity.

Setup (noun) - all the equipment or machines necessary for a particular purpose.

To go cold turkey (idiom) - stop doing or using something unexpectedly and completely.

Remotely (adverb) - from a distance.

To persevere (verb) - continue making an effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time.

Questions and Answers

M: So tell us your story.

R: There's not much rhyme or reason to this, I'm afraid. I just struggle with change when it comes to technology. It's the same when I update my phone or change microphones. It just takes me ages to get used to it. In the case of my laptop, the screen and the keyboard are smaller and the user interface is slightly different, so all of the icons aren't, well, where I'm accustomed to finding them. Admittedly, it is faster than the old one in terms of processing power and the battery isn't completely useless, so it doesn't rely on mains power, making it more portable. But all of this has been cancelled out by the time it takes me to set everything up and get it ready, I'm sure it'll improve in time, but at the moment it can be a bit frustrating at times. So much so in fact that, like I said, I sneak back to my old one. Just for the sake of comfort, to be honest with you. And despite these teething problems, though, I'm still glad I have it. And I'm sure I'll be working away on it just fine when I'm better with finding everything and switching from the old setup to the new one. Now I think about it, I probably should and could go cold turkey and just use the new one all the time. If I didn't have it, I'd be in real trouble when it comes to working remotely. Recently I went on holiday to Cyprus and I couldn't carry my laptop around, connected to the mains all the time. So having this new one definitely helps. And I think that's reason enough to persevere with trying to become more accustomed to it.

M: And have you talked to your friends about this problem?

R: I'm not sure they'd be interested, to be honest.

Discussion

M: Hey, Rory story. Thank you, Rory, for your interesting story! So, yes, dear listener, describe a technological product. So what could it be? A technological product? A phone, a computer. What? A microwave?

R: A microwave.

M: What? What could it be?

R: I think most people struggle whenever their phone gets updated or... It's phones, usually. Because everybody's got a phone. A laptop?

M: Maybe headphones? Can headphones be difficult to use?

R: I don't know. I think headphones are pretty intuitive, aren't they? You just put them on and hook them up to the device. Hook up is phrasal verb, by the way.

M: Oh, boy. All right. So, dear listener, pretty much your smartphone, okay? A technological product. And Rory, you also talked about what?

R: What did I talk about?

M: My new laptop. And you started it off with I'm more used to it now, but I still struggle.

R: Yes.

M: With my new laptop. So struggle, I find it difficult to use, I struggle with it. And you used I still struggle to get to grips with my new laptop.

R: Yes. So if I'm more used to it now, it means I'm more accustomed to it than I was. But yeah, I still struggle. It's difficult to get to grips with. Which means it's like to completely understand how something works or how something happens.

M: Yeah. Or I can't get to grips with my new smartphone, so I still have difficulties with it. You can say I can't get used to using my new laptop or I'm not used to my new smartphone, right? I struggle with my new smartphone. I struggle or I am struggling. I'm still struggling with my new laptop. And then I got it last year. I got it last week, yesterday. And, dear listener, you can imagine things. Like, imagine that you got a new smartphone. If you are an Apple person, imagine that you have an Android now or vice versa. Yeah? So this would be a nice story.

R: I have an android and I get no end of grief about it.

M: So my old laptop was falling to bits. It was falling to bits.

R: It was. It was literally falling to bits. As in it was so old and so overly used that it was just coming apart. And I actually have pieces of my laptop. Well, I've tidied up my apartment the other day. But I kept finding bits of it. So there you go. Like the part of it fell off. The battery had to be removed. It was a nightmare. It is a nightmare. It's held together by tape.

M: And you said that I revert back to it.

R: I do. I go back to my old laptop. Or rather, I go... I revert back to the beaten-up one and it is beaten up. Because there's a massive crack along the bottom where I had to tear out the battery. And I'm not speaking euphemistically here. I literally had to tear the back of my laptop and pull the battery out.

M: Wow.

R: To get it to work. I don't understand how it still operates, but there you go.

M: Dear listener, a good strategy to start this monologue is just to say that I just struggle with change. I struggle with change when it comes to technology. So this question is about a technological product. So I struggle with technology, right? I struggle with new technology. And I'm going to tell you about a new laptop or a new smartphone. And, Rory, you said that there is not much rhyme or reason to this.

R: Yeah. It just means it's not... It doesn't make sense.

M: Is it an idiom?

R: Yes, let's say that. And that just means it doesn't make sense. I just don't like change for some reason that I can't explain.

M: Yeah. For some reason I struggle with change, I find change difficult. So you can also say there is not much rhyme or reason to this, but I still struggle with change when it comes to technology. So change with technology. Technological change.

R: To be honest, let's face facts. I struggle with change in general, really. Anyone who works with me knows that. Any time something changes, I absolutely hate it.

M: Yeah, yeah, me too, Rory.

R: Oh, I thought you were going to say, yeah, yeah, you do.

M: No, I think it's natural to be a little bit afraid of change. Because like new things... Yeah, we might feel uncomfortable. Yeah. So it's the same when I update my phone. So when you update this technological device, it could be more difficult to use. Because these new things pop up. It takes me ages to get to used to it. Again, this expression to get used to something or to get used to doing something. So I am getting used to using this new device, smartphone or it takes me a long time to get used to it, right? It takes me a long time to be comfortable with it, to make it my habit. It takes me ages to get used to it. And then Rory used some precise words. The screen, the keyboard are smaller in this laptop, yeah? The user interface is different in the laptop. Icons. All of the icons are different. And then a synonym you used. I'm accustomed to doing something. Is it the same as I'm used to?

R: Well, accustomed is more formal than used to, but yes. And there is this confusion over the difference between be used to, get used to and just used to. Unless you're Russian, in which case it's like three different structures to describe the same thing. Yes. Well done, Russians! Good job. And probably every other language in the world. So what? Used to to describe regular past actions. To be used to means to be accustomed to something, like it's not a problem for you anymore. And to get used to is to do with the process of becoming accustomed.

M: For example, dear listener, getting up early, okay? So I used to get up very early at university to go to classes. So when I was at university, I got up very early, I used to get up very early. But now I don't, okay? Because I don't have any university. And I don't have to get up early. I'm not Rory who gets up at 5:30 in the morning.

R: I don't anymore. I get up at half seven like a normal... No, I don't. I get up at 7:00 o'clock. I have evolved.

M: Oh, look at you. So Rory used to get up at 5:30 am. But not anymore, you see? Used to. So I used to get up early in the morning. Now I'm used to getting up late, okay? It's my habit now. I'm used to getting up late. So I get up late. Pretty much every day after 10 am. So I'm used to getting up late, it's my habit. Before it becomes your habit, dear listener, you get used to something. It's a process, right? Or it could also be a fact. Like, now I got used to getting up late. Then you talked about the battery. So the battery of your smartphone isn't completely useless. So it's good, yeah?

R: It's not... Well, the battery in my new laptop isn't completely useless. It's more than useful, actually, because it's there. My actual laptop does not have a... My old laptop does not have a battery.

M: And the battery is more portable. So you can carry it around, it's small.

R: Well, the laptop as a whole is more portable.

M: Mhm, okay.

R: Yeah. Because if it has a battery then I can carry it around. If it doesn't have a battery, then it's just connected to the mains. The mains, by the way, is like when you plug something into your wall. That's the main source of electricity in the house. The mains.

M: So Rory has to set everything up. So get everything ready on his new laptop. And this could be frustrating. So this kind of like... You know, it annoys you that you have to do things and you have to open the programs and make the laptop ready to work. So it could be frustrating. Then you used a phrasal verb, I sneak back to my old one. So I sneak back to my old laptop.

R: Yes. But it's because it's easy... I'm not proud of that fact. I mean, the only sneaking I'm doing is from myself. Like, if you sneak, then it just means that you do it and you're trying to avoid getting caught. But the only person who can see is me. If I didn't tell people that, then they wouldn't know. But I feel it inside me. I need to make this change from the old to the new.

M: Yeah. For the sake of comfort. Yeah, just to be more comfortable with this old piece of technology, Rory comes back, gets back to his old laptop, which is half broken.

R: Well, it's not... It's not half broken. It still works.

M: Ah, it still works.

R: It just cannot be carried around with the same ease as a regular laptop, that's all.

M: Despite these teething problems. So teething problems. Wow. What are they?

R: Like the teething problems are problems you have initially when you start using something. But teething in general is when you... Well, like when you have a newborn child and their teeth are not fully developed, they don't... And they start coming through the gums. So that's, it causes a great deal of discomfort usually for children and they cry a lot. So that's what teething problems means. When you buy something and the problems you have at first while you're getting used to it.

M: And how else can I use this in a sentence about this technological product?

R: Not just any technological products. Like when I bought my new phone, I had a lot of teething problems with it because the user interface is completely different.

M: Yeah. So when I bought my new smartphone, I had a lot of teething problems, yeah?

R: Before I got used to it.

M: Or I'm still getting used to it, yeah? I'm still making this my habit. I'm glad I have it, despite all the difficulties, yeah? I'll be working away on it, yeah? So I'll be using it in the future, I'll be working away. To work away is a phrasal verb. So which means like I'll be working on it, using it. I'm sure I'll switch from the old setup to the new one, right? So if you talk about your phone or your laptop. So to switch from the old setup to the new one.

R: But that's just a way of describing how things are.

M: And then Rory used an idiom. To go cold turkey. Mm. I should probably go cold turkey.

R: But that just means I should probably just give up the old laptop and focus on... Well, no, it doesn't mean that. It means I should give up the thing that I'm using and move on completely and just forget about it. So if you go cold turkey when you decide to stop smoking, it just means you stop smoking completely. No efforts made to like wind down or to reduce over time. Just stop and move on to the next step.

M: Yeah. And then the conditional sentence. The second conditional. If I didn't have it, I'd be in real trouble when it comes to working remotely. So to work remotely, to work online, yeah? If I didn't have my new laptop, I would be in real trouble. Sweet. Thank you very much for listening, dear listener! And we'll come back to you in a new episode speaking part three. Where we talk about technology in general.

R: Technology! Bye!

M: Bye!

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