Mobile Dad

Mornings are always hard. Kids making beds, taking showers and just getting ready is a routine we enjoy stretching out when the weekends arrive.  Though weekdays demand that we stay on track, nuggets of casual and interesting conversation still flutters in the mist of chaos.

As my daughter ate her morning breakfast, she ask me to tell her some more about the iPad. After telling her my feelings of how Apple missed a great opportunity, she asked me something intriguing.

“We have Apple computers at school, will I get to use this iPad there too?”

I put my spoon down and thought for a second, did I miss the point of why Apple created the iPad? continue reading…

This morning, my son and daughter were both excited.  It will be a half day at school, which mean they will have a bit of free time to play before evening duties kick in.  The other thing that made my son jump for joy was the fact that he would be out of school in time for the official announcement on Apple’s latest product, the strangely named iPad.  I had to break my son’s spirit a bit as I will not be home to pick him up at the time of the announcement, however he will get a different bedtime story tonight. A story filled with confusion and lost opportunities. continue reading…

Silence fills the dojang.  Students line up in front of Master Chris.

“Cha-ryut. Kukki ae Dae-ha-yo. Kyung-net,” calls out the class senior (today it is my son).  Everyone comes to attention and bow to the flags of Korea and the US.

“Cha-ryut. Sabum-Nim kae.  Kyung-net,” as everyone bows to the master.

As  the students sit taking in deep breaths, I look around at parents that are either watching their child with pride or with heads down banging away on some device, just like me.  Those with their heads down, have young children keeping themselves entertained.  What do you think was keeping the attention of the younger siblings? Books? Coloring? No, the children were texting or watching Youtube on either their own iPhone or their parents.  Some as young as three are already connected to web media. What does that say about us?

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Today I ran, seriously, ran from person to person at work as I scrambled to make printers, websites, digital repositories all sing in techno harmony (interestingly enough, I ran at lunch to help burn off excess energy, go figure).  As I moved from person to person, I took notes, jot down ideas and dictated conversations on my trusted graphing paper notebook.  The sad thing is, the damn thing is falling apart.  Pages are pulled and folded, order is only known by me.  The notebook would represent chaos to anyone else, but it is my safe haven for my thoughts, work and doodles when I am stuck.  I trusted my security blanket until today. Today I ached for a slate.

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It has been awhile since I posted anything of meaning on this blog and that started to bother me.  It was not like I stop tracking technology, I am doing that more so than ever before, yet I find that I am too busy to relay what I discovered on the web to this space.  Since the holidays, I have been kept busy with home projects, or moving my family from point A to point B, C and D.  Then it hit me.  My life revolves around my family.

I race home everyday to be an important part of my family’s life.  I surround myself with first and fourth grade homework.  I whisper encouragement to my son as he move from his back stance in karate.  I cover the hands of my kiddos as they practice their piano lessons.  When my lovely wife takes my daughter to her gymnastics practice while my son does his homework, I do what a man who survived this long without any meaningful cooking experience can do to help prepare a meal with some nutritional value.  And when it is all over, I fall into bed with my wife as we giggle and laugh about the craziness that just ended.

So where do technology fit in all of this?  Well for me it has to fit in my pants pocket or over my shoulder.  It has to able to update me quickly about what is going on beyond my vision and definitely light.  I guess that is why I love mobile tech more so than just technology in general.  This is where this blog will shift slightly.  The focus will still be on mobile tech but updates will revolve around my activities with my family.

What mobile tech do I have now?  Well the iPhone is a big player as well as my netbook.  I would love to incorporate a tablet, but that will depend on a vendor that can produce a device that is close to a paper notebook with web access!  Until then, I will use what I have to keep this blog alive.  What’s the plan for tomorrow?  Piano and updates on Apple’s plan on Wednesday announcement!  The kids are in bed as my wife and I watch in frustration as the Vikings give away a game they should have locked up against the Saints.  Good night blogsphere.  Talk to you tomorrow.