Tag Archives: Learning Smartphones

5 years of “What Does This Button Do?”

Have you watched any of our weekly YouTube shows? We’ve been making them for 5 years now, and we feel like we’re just getting started. We call it “What Does This Button Do?” to indicate that we try to keep it at a beginner’s level. That’s a pretty long title though, so we call it The Button Show for short. We keep a listing of all episodes on our website which you can access with the URL – TheButtonShow.com

Do you think your smartphone is smarter than you? Do you have questions about your Android, iPhone, or other personal technology? How do you learn about these amazing devices?

Lifelong Learning

These shows are intended to be taken like a regular class, 45 minutes each week. You can watch live and be able to ask questions, or you can watch the recording any time. The bulk of the 45 minute show is devoted to a Beginner’s Lesson on a particular topic, but there’s more. We start each episode with a quick tip and we usually have an App of the week as well. We always finish with review questions to sum up the teaching in the Beginner’s Lesson. We name each episode after the topic of the Beginner’s Lesson. For example:

  • 124. First Four Buttons to Learn on your Smartphone
  • 125. Google Photos_ What’s New
  • 139. Widgets
  • 149. Internet and Battery when you’re Off-Grid
  • 161.Remember your Travels-photos, maps, Blog
  • 163.Emergency-how your phone can help
  • 165. Sharing Photos w Google Photos

We demonstrate on several devices. iPhones, Android phones, Chromebooks, Web … we don’t just talk, we show you what we’re talking about.

It’s Free

All episodes are recorded on YouTube and you can watch them for free. If you are a premium member of GeeksOnTour.com, you get an extra benefit in the form of written Show Notes. The notes are like little ebooks, with complete instructions plus timeline links to go directly to the video at the places where the topic is being demonstrated, plus links to further videos and other resources on the topic.

If you watched our 5 year anniversary episode (169) live, we gave you a link to all 168 show notes in .pdf format. If you are a premium member you can still get them. The link to all 168 .pdf files is included in the show notes for episode 169.

Keep Pushing those Buttons!

Technology isn’t going to slow down any time soon. Keep trying new things and know that Chris and Jim from Geeks on Tour are here to help. Tune in every week. Whether we’re live with a new episode, or you watch a previous episode, you’ll learn something. We always do!

The Button Show, 100 Episodes … with Notes!

imageImagine that your local community college offered a free course for anyone interested. You don’t even have to register, you just show up every week to learn more about the current state of personal technology; smartphones, tablets, computers, and the Web. You love your smartphone but sometimes it seems to outsmart you and you want to learn more, so you start attending the class. Now imagine that you don’t even need to go to the community college, you can take the class in the comfort of your own home, sitting in front of your computer or your Smart TV!

Welcome to “What Does This Button Do?” aka The Button Show

If you like technology and you like to learn, you’ll love our show! It’s a weekly educational show on YouTube by Geeks on Tour. We usually go about 45 minutes. Past topics include “What is the Home Button?”, “What are Location Services?”, “Facebook Tips”, “How to Keep my Battery Charged”, “Navigating with Google Maps”, and “Google Photos FAQs.” The show is usually just Jim and me (Chris) but we sometimes have guests as well. We use multi-media to teach our lessons. We do some discussing of topics, but there’s a lot more than chit-chat. We usually have a PowerPoint slideshow to explain concepts and go over important points, and we always have live demonstrations using both Apple iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad and Android devices like Samsung phones, or Nexus tablets. Sharing our computer screen, we also demonstrate features on the web.

Even though we’ve produced 100 episodes, we’ve just begun! We keep learning new things, getting new devices, and there is constant change!

Show Notes

imageWhat if you don’t want to watch the whole show? Or, what if you watched a show a few weeks ago and just need to remember one thing? We’ve taken your class notes for you! Here’s a sample: Show Notes from Episode 93 in .pdf format. Every section of the notes includes a time link. Clicking that takes you to the YouTube video at the point where that section begins.

Three ways to get the show notes:

  1. Become a member and you get all of them. If you are a Geeks On Tour member, you can visit the Weekly show page and there is a link to every show with notes.
  2. $.99 per episode at TheButtonShow.com. If you are not a member, we are starting to make the .pdf versions available for $.99.
  3. All 100 .pdf show notes are on our Learning Library USB Drive for $49. It also includes all our tutorial videos and eBooks.

How to Watch

  1. Live (Sundays at 2pm Eastern) on our Youtube channel
  2. Anytime on TheButtonShow.com

If you Subscribe to our YouTube Channel (and click the little bell for notifications) you will receive notice whenever we are going live. Usually that is every Sunday at 2pm. If you watch live, you can leave comments/questions in the chat window and we may answer during the show. We also sometimes invite viewers to jump into the live stream after we stop broadcasting for further discussion.

On Wednesday, we post the show on TheButtonShow.com, complete with show notes. The show notes are a benefit of membership. If you are a Geeks on Tour member, you have access to all the show notes.

TheButtonShow.com
buttonshow

 

What’s with the Propeller Hats?

If it’s not fun, it’s not worth it! We try not to take ourselves too seriously. I can get a bit too “teachy” sometimes and Jim can get too “techie.” The hats are meant to remind us to have fun.

Propeller-Head is another word for Geek!

These beanies have been our signature since we were married nearly 20 years ago!

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