I always loved going over to my friend’s house because his parents were very tech-savvy (oh what I would have given to have grown up in a household where my parents actually paid attention to technology).
They were the type of people to pick up the latest gadgets and gizmos not because they had a ton of money to spend but because they understood all the benefits that came along with the tech.
I know you may not understand every bit of technology that’s coming out and that’s perfectly okay because it is mind-boggling at times, but what I want to do with this post is give you a guide on becoming those “cool tech parents”.
The First Thing You’ll Need…
…is high-speed broadband.
Now I know that it’s not available in all locations (especially if you’re in rural areas) but the cost for high-speed Internet is well worth the investment if it’s there:
- Faster speeds = faster access to content
- Bundled services = easier-to-manage finances
- DVR & online login = never miss your favorite shows
You probably already know that this is a necessity due to how interconnected we are due to our computers, phones, tablets, and other net-ready devices.
Setting Up the Ultimate System
From my experience, there are really three main items to get setup if you want to create the ultimate system and they are:
- Amazon Prime
- Netflix
- Steam
The first two, Amazon Prime & Netflix, you’ve heard of and rightly so because they are excellent for entertainment and come with a lot value. Through Prime & Netflix, you have access to thousands of movies, music, audiobooks, and a whole lot more if you really dig into them.
In terms of family entertainment, they are perfect (each has filters so you can easily find content for your children no matter the age).
- Also read; 6 Best Wearable Tech in Movies
At the bottom of our three-point list is a service called Steam which is a program & marketplace for PC games. Throughout the year Steam holds many holiday sales where you can find games up to 90% off at times so take your typical video gamer child, get them an account on steam, and you’ll save hundreds.
Outside of those services you may want to invest in a set-top box such as a Roku, AppleTV, or Amazon Fire TV which is a simple device that houses these services and can be connected to the TV.
Bringing It altogether
Once you’ve got your high-speed Internet, streaming services, and video games setup you can now proudly claim your place as those “cool tech parents” in the neighborhood.
The value really steps up, though, once you realize that all this tech can bring the family together:
- There are many cooking shows available you and the family could watch and then later do for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
- Documentaries and other educational shows are a great replacement for the normal dribble that you may get stuck within the mid-day when the kids have school off
- Gaming with your kids can be a whole lot of fun and it also teaches them great skills like effective communication, hand-eye coordination, teamwork, and can even inspire them to learn beneficial skills like coding (or hardware tinkering) that many professions seek
- The multitude of devices that can run these services lets everyone in the household do their own thing and you, as a parent, can keep parental locks for the younger ones so you never need to worry about them accessing mature content
In terms of being a great role model I would say the parents that are tech-savvy are the ones I always looked up to because technology, as a whole, is very inspiring because it’s a big shaper of our World.
It’s great to get together, pop a bag of popcorn, and all watch a movie like we all did in older times when we had to go out and rent movies. The tech helps the family bond plus you get to be the cool tech parents, remember?
