Category: Blog

With Mother’s Day just around the corner I thought this would be an opportune moment to bring up something I have been mulling over for some time.

No, I am not going to try and sell you the latest gadgets – although in saying that, there are a plethora of wonderful gadgets and gizmos that Mum would love

as a gift.

What I am talking about is giving Mum a techie break. What is a techie break? Well, it goes something like this: over the past 10 years I have been doing my radio and television spots, there are a couple of things that seem to come up time and time again with Mums –

1) They want to know what their kids are up to on the Internet. And I’m not talking cyber safety here, I’m talking about genuine interest in what kids are doing. What interests and hobbies do the kids have online and of those which ones would like to try? They want to be involved with what kids are doing, but by their very nature, computers aren’t conducive to inclusion, which means sometimes Mum gets left behind. So get Mum involved in the kids’ online life on this day.

2) Help Mum with her technology! Kids these days have grown up on a diet of technology. They will never know what it was like NOT to have a DVD player, plasma TVs, mobile phone, iPod, GPS, laptop computer and a whole range of other gear. Kids grow up with this stuff and it’s second nature to them on how stuff works. Not so, for some of our Mum’s. Some they don’t get the best benefits out of their iPods or mobile phones and hate asking for help because the kids are too busy.

So kids, this Sunday, as well as giving Mum breakfast in bed, how about giving her the benefit of your wisdom when it comes to all things tech, and give her a helping hand? I am sure it will be an even better day with you spending some time, showing her how to get more involved in the wonderful world of technology.

For those who managed to get through on air yesterday on the Steve Price Show on 2UE, thanks for questions – it’s one of my favourite parts of the show. For those who didn’t get a chance to get on air, leave a question on the blog! I love getting questions, so don’t hesitate to send one through to me on any problems you are having in the tech space. If I don’t know the answer straight away, I’ll find out for you. If I can’t find the answer quickly, I’m more than happy to bring in the company that makes the product to find a solution. If they can’t do so immediately, then I’m sure they will do research to fix the problem ASAP.

If you want my opinion, I’m more than happy to offer one up. Check out these questions and comments from listeners and blog visitors.

Latest social networking sensation, Twitter, has been in the news lately as everybody signs up to the microblogging site – joining the likes of Facebook, MySpace and Bebo as a popular place to meet friends and send updates on what is happening in your life.

Despite the growth of Twitter (some reports state a 1000 percent increase in some countries in the past few weeks), a recent Neilsen Online study says a massive 60 percent of users hang around for about a month before ditching the service. And I’m one of them.

Why? Well, I can only speak for myself, but I would suggest that some of the reasons I signed up then stopped are similar to why others are dropping off.

For a start, I already have enough ways of connecting to people – whether it be email, land line, mobile phone and on a rare occasion Facebook. Then there is the Twitter service itself – some of the tweets I get are just stuff I don’t need to know. Sure I like my friends, but do I really need to know that at 8.45 on a Monday they went to the local cafe to buy their morning cappuccino? Or that the alarm didn’t go off? Then of course there is fact I have a business to run and a young family, so my time is precious.

I initially began using Twitter because I knew I was going to be asked to explain it and discuss the benefits as a social networking tool. Being in the tech industry, I love this kind of stuff, but now that I have done that and we all know about it the daily benefit of using it is disapearing. There are also just too many social networking sites around and I can do without it. I’m not saying it isn’t useful, because there are too many people who use it. But I think these days, most people are now being more picky about how much interaction they have with people online, and the means by which they do so.

Have you ditched any of the social networks? What are your favourite forms of communicating with friends and family?