We started having kidlets almost 25 years ago and I have to confess that each of them has been a little spoiled with technology.  Being a geek, I have used technology a fair bit from software and laptops to help with home school lessons to game consoles and mobile devices to act as babysitters.

Cydnee watching netflix on the tablet before anyone else woke up

Raimond has been asking for his minecraft server to be put back online and this gave me the opportunity to go through the network with him.  I showed him the difference between a switch and a patch panel and we hooked up a KVM to the two 1-U servers (one running ESXi and one Hyper-V) and then fought with trying to connect another KVM to a desktop and after a fair bit of struggling realized we were having cabling issues.

Now having a kid willing to learn is a real treat.  But he ended up learning more than he bargained for as dad’s office required more lighting and more electrical receptacles (still working on this).  Not having enough power is something we are currently solving with extension cords and by daisy-chaining power bars

Cydnee watches cartoons on dad’s cell phone on a long winter drive home from Calgary

Every kidlet has had his or her favorite technology ranging from laptops and cell phones to game consoles (currently we have several x-box 360s, a wii, wii-u, ps2 and several handheld DS devices).  Every kid loved hanging out with dad when I worked and many had their own keyboard or laptop so they could lay with dad and type.  As I am typing this blog, my 2 year-old daughter is laying on the couch beside me, half-watching my laptop and half-watching a Disney movie at 1:30 in the morning.

As much as technology has helped me over the years, there is one little piece of technology that continues to be a thorn in my side… lights.  I am not referring to the technological wonder that Thomas Edison perfected, I am referring to the little lights on computer towers and power bars that scream for two-year olds to come push them.

Right in the middle of our work downstairs tonight, Cydnee crawled under my desk.  I thought it was cute and pulled my chair up to her to see if she would freak out.  Instead, I found out why she wanted to be under the desk.  There is a wonderful little red light on the power button to the power bar under my desk.  How delightful.  It had been a few years since I dealt with Russel doing the same thing but the memories came flowing back to me as my monitors went black and the sound of server fans died down to nothingness.

So now you understand what I mean when I say ‘technology doesn’t solve all problems’.  Sometimes dumb is better.  I suddenly recalled buying power bars with no lights on the switches for a reason.  Those power bars will be rolled out tomorrow after church (if I can dig them up).  Hopefully with the little red lights no longer shining, Cydnee will go find a Dora book or some building blocks.

Technology isn’t always as helpful as it could be…

The next time you need to buy technology to solve a problem, do not go with the best, fanciest or newest technology for the sake of the technology.  Technology does not solve all problems on its own.  Sometimes we have to think outside the box to help it out.