The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Back to school time looms. As a teacher, I see the end of my summer holidays approaching, but as a parent, I see some structure for my kids. Back to school time often means this is the time of year when parents hit the malls with their kids. In fact, following the Christmas season, this time of year is the one where the most money is spent on new electronics and technology. As part of that back to school spree, more and more homes are including technology purchases of some kind. IÕve had a few parents approach me in the least two weeks that IÕve actually been at home about buying new laptops and other gadgets for their kids. Back to school this year really sees no Ògotta have it gadgetsÓ hit the market, but there are a few things parents are going to want to think about. The first thing with all technology purchases meant to be for your kids and their school work is actually checking with the school about whatÕs allowed and whatÕs not. DonÕt blow hundreds of dollars on new laptops, cell phones or iPods only to find out later that your child cannot take them to school or use them in the classroom. Many buildings unfortunately have fairly restrictive policies in place about these gadgets so check first. After that, sit down and have an honest conversation with your child about what they actually might be able to use their new gadgets for. I know a lot of parents who have been convinced by their child that they need a new laptop, only to find a few months later that they are only using them to watch movies from YouTube or to go on MSN with their friends. The laptop market this year is one place where you might actually catch a break when it comes to buying a gadget. The last year has seen massive growth in the Ultra Mobile Personal Computing (UMPC) market. UMPC machines are the small computers such as the Asus eee pc that you can often buy for only a few hundred dollars. While Asus started the trend, Fujitsu, HTC, Hewlett Packard (and soon Dell) have expanded into it. You can purchase many of these computers with either a Windows or a Linux operating system and with a whole host of software pre-installed. IÕve played with many of them and for 90 per cent of what you will ever need a computer for, they are definitely worth the price. The only thing to watch out for is the hard drive space. Many of them are quite small and you may need to purchase a flash drive for extra storage. iPods compared to any other mp3 player are still the thing to buy, but if you purchase an ipod touch, you actually get a good internet capable device as well, that you can hook to an e-mail address, surf with, watch videos online, etc. While small, they definitely are useable although I wouldnÕt want one to be my main way to connect to the web. Another thing to consider this year if you are buying a new mp3 player of any kind is how the new Canadian copyright laws that may be coming in the fall will effect where and how you get your music. While services like Limewire have been in a grey area as far as Canadian laws have been concerned for the last few years, if the new laws pass through parliament, they will definitely fall to the wrong side and you will be held liable from the music labels. IÕve also changed my thinking lately when it comes to digital cameras. I used to think that we should all just buy a good mid range camera that shoots both video and still pictures. But now there are many good and cheap cameras on the market that you can spend very little on and get fair results. For example, IÕve been really impressed with the new Flip video cameras. For about $150, you can buy these one button video devices that will sync with any computer that has a USB port. No tapes are involved and the machine can store about an hourÕs worth of video. While you wonÕt be shooting in TV quality, if you mostly watch your productions on your computer, or place them online, these machines are perfect. So if you look at what you need and want to buy, you might actually get out of the store cheaper this year than you would have last year. Make sure all of the products you buy meet your needs, but overall, this year there are some great deals to be found. ([email protected]) Tech Notes runs Mondays.
