I just signed up so that I could answer this post. I don't know if you've traveled with anything that had a hookup to a TV in the last 10 years, but I have and have collected adapters of all kinds from the effort. Micro HDMI is truly a blessing, depending on who you are visiting. Here is a situation where you might use one.
A few months ago, I went to stay at a relatives apartment out of state to attend a funeral. A few other relatives from all over the country were also staying there. When we were not discussing travel arrangements, estate issues or what we will most about our dearly departed, we entertained ourselves with Netflix. Both my phone and tablet had micro HDMI so all I needed to do was plug the charger in close to the TV and hookup the cable. Luckily they had recently upgraded to their first flat-panel TV and it had an HDMI input. I mention that because I recently retired a flat screen TV that had component as its best input only because it wasn't worth repairing anymore.
If it weren't for that, I may have had to hookup my Netbook to do the job with its VGA port. It runs really slow and hot when streaming video or other processor intense activities. My latest TV has HDMI, component and even composite video, but no VGA or S-video. If they had that TV and I didn't have the tablet or phone with micro HDMI, there would have been plenty of times where we were either all huddled around my little 7 inch screen, watching live TV (commercials, ugh!), staring at each other or going out on the balcony to smoke a lot more cigarettes than they normally would (the few who smoked). Thank goodness their TV needed upgrading because I was seriously considering adding a HDMI-to-VGA adapter to my travel bag so I could at least borrow a computer monitor.
The point is, you me and just about everyone who visits a site like this may have all the technology they need to do what we want/need to do on a daily basis AT HOME. If everyone you know is withing 100 miles of you, congratulations! I sort of envy you. But you soon realize how much you take for granted when you visit people who aren't as up to speed. Next is a story about someone who was
almost there.
Someone I've know for years (and lives close by) got their kids Nook Colors for Christmas and I helped them get them on the parent's account and a few choice apps downloaded. After two months I get an email asking why their Wi-Fi wasn't working anymore. Long story short, they (and I) assumed that Wi-Fi came with their internet connection even though an ISP rep hadn't been in their house since the day it was installed which I am guessing was at least 4 years since the family desktop PC is running Windows XP...and slowly. The Nooks were connected to a neighbor who (i assume) figured out someone else was on their Wi-Fi and finally added a password to it. So now they are looking for a Wi-Fi router because the only thing they had connected to the internet was their family PC, probably direct to the modem. When I visit, we usually just hang out, eat and talk so it never dawned on me to see just how they had internet access.
Now, I'm not putting them or anyone like them down, but experiences like these have taught me a few things:
- If I want my creature comforts, I have to take them with me (sometimes that includes turning your phone into a hotspot).
- More people than not are perfectly happy not having the latest tech. Let them be.
- Do not buy new technology as a gift for people who are either too far behind, or of a certain age. You're just buying yourself a tutoring job.
Took a few tries for that last one to sink in.:-[
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