The Computer, The House and You

Advanced home computing

With a forlorn feeling in my heart and burning sensation in my hip pocket I stand in the precipice of a life changing decision staring at my ageing laptop computer. In its infancy it was an impressive unit that brought a swelling sense of pride to my manliness, once home and out of the box six years ago. No more clunky computer, it offered portability and wireless technology. Albeit it took a few years for me to understand I didn't need a cord to connect to the internet. The hours we spent together colluding against a more sensible way to spend my time filled its computer processing heart and the technological side of my soul with joy.

Alas, its time is nigh and I must start thinking of my families future. That is, of course, if I can figure out how to rescue my families past memories stored solely in this machines dementia possessed brain.

The big question is what type of computer and where to put it?

At the time of its purchase the laptop was the athletic and sensual alternative solution to the more bulky desktop computer. It did away with the separate and immobile big box CPU. There was a sacrifice on size, and cost, with the smaller monitor requiring a more intimate craning of the neck and the price being some 25% more expensive. But if you weren't a computer wizard or gaming crazynaut then the laptop cumputing power was a viable alternative to its muscle headed no-neck desktop brother. And this provided me with a most advantageous attribute: lack of clutter.

With 3 young children running rampant through the house, old enough to have a zillion online logins but young enough to require an adult lock on the internet, the family computer has been placed in the most central and visible locations in the household. Its compact nature has made it easier to situate out in the open in the main room astride a simple desk and chair without the blasphemy of cords and boxes. This setup has served us well for its visibility of the kids adventures and centrality for quick checks on the web without disappearing from society in a dark cavern of innocent 'surfing'. Its also a belief held by my wife that a laptop is temporary and easy to relocate when necessary. The truth is that it never moves and its plugged in. Its still fixed to the wall through a power cord, and its also connected to the printer. In addition, the other gadgets such as webcam, mouse, USB connections to our phones all have a home in the desk drawer.

The market has moved on from this heathen form of technology and I'm wondering how my home could be improved from a different perspective of need and use. So I first look at our needs and wants:

NEED

quality children programming

We have a range of needs to keep all of us entertained and happy under one roof. We need the internet. We need a place to store photos, videos and other files. We need places to play games, watch videos, play music. We also need to use different these things at the same time. Kids playing playstation while someones writing emails. Someone's watching a dvd while someone else is playing Moshi monsters, while the musics on. And so on. We also need to adapt to the kids getting older.

USE
The primary use our computer has at present is the internet and secondly as storage for photos, videos and other files. Occasionally we print things, and rarely ever do we scan anything. Separately we've a TV in a different room with an increasing range of gaming consoles, cable tv box, and dvd player. Separate again to that is an iPod dock for music. And as a back up there's another portable dvd player meant for long range travel but more frequently used to keep the kids in one place at dinner. And of course we've got our individual smart phones and camera. All of these in someway (except for the music, printer and scanner) are connected back to the central modem. As explained above, everything lives on ground floor and generally stays in its one location. The TV is the central focus of the TV room, with everything else arranged around it. Whereas the computer is in the living room sitting handsomely off to the side, but not forgotten.

The operational costs to support this equipment sets us back over $200/mth in bundled packages for internet and cable access, excluding power consumption. Without this access the computer and tv lose their value.

Is there a different way to do this could be more cost effective and improve on space in the house?


OFF THE SHELF
Having immediately discounted non-conventional, custom made computer solutions I've looked through the stores to find things I can purchase off the shelf. From my investigations I can deduce many clever options available, but they require some change of use and convincing in the family that they'll satisfy our needs. My investigations would probably be more in depth if I had the patience to actually speak to any of the 'helpful?' technicians in the many electronic stores pushing their wares, but to be honest there's usually something about their smile that guarantees only their favourite products get sold.

The most obvious transition for us would be to shift to an internet ready Smart TV so I can plug right in and watch free-to-air plus somehow surf the web from my couch. Our current TV is the only real TV that hasn't been discarded on the front lawn for cleanup day in my neighbourhood. Its so heavy if I hung it on the wall I would need the flying buttresses from Notre Dame Cathedral for bracing. However, their doesn't seem to be any decent content available on the web today for free. Why? Why can't I watch pirated movies streaming from the internet for free yet? Are we in the bronze age? Plus the remotes are awkward for web page browsing on a TV. Which means I have to look further for quality entertainment. My telco has an internet option that plugs their on-demand movie content right in to the TV for around $100/mth but something in me says I can do it better. This is where I've seen the AppleTV market take hold. For approximately $130 you can purchase a wireless gadget to plug into your TV. Its functionality immediately let's you connect to your computer photos/videos, Apples TV and movie content store and be controlled by your Ipod/Itouch. This will leave me with child mutiny after they discover the 24hr cartoon channels have disappeared, plus I'll have to face the bills from Apple once these baby geniuses crack my password. But overall it could save us $50-$70/mth on cable TV (most likely to be spent on AppleTV downloads.) I'll also need to reconnect the damn aerial that's been rusting away on our roof for 50yrs now.

Some ugly guy enjoying the internet in bed.

The next transition sounds fun in practice, tablet computers (you know Ipads, Xooms, Kindles). For somewhere between $600-$1000 I can buy me a tablet computer, or I could rip the monitor off the laptop for free. Should I buy one I might as well buy another for the kids because I'm thinking it could replace the laptop. Not only could I browse the web in the toilet, and in bed, but I could also throw on movies for the kids in the car, on the plane, at dinner, at soccer and while they're sleeping. Movies everywhere and mute children! As I write this I'm realising how stupid I am to not have one already and I think I may skip work and jam a wheelbarrow full of cash through the doors at Apple and run away with an Ipad... Or should I go Google? Dammit, which is the smarter choice, who will rule my technology for the next decade? Putting that life changing decision aside, I'll have myself a couple tablet computers in lieu of a laptop. The catch is typing. If I can live with a keyboard on a touch screen, and not sitting separate on a desk somewhere, this all comes together. But if my fingers and applications can't survive with the constraints of a small screen the I may be forced back to a traditional approach.

Suddenly the lounge room desk is empty. But I've also lost my computing power and storage. This may mean I have to go back to the store to fill that gap, too. The difference is now with my portability in hand the laptop is not necessary and I could revert to a cheaper, more permanent desktop computer, to centralise my most important memories and documents. But what do I gain in that? I've bought extra gadgets and still have a permanent intrusion in my lounge room to satisfy the need of a reliable central storage unit with greater processing power. The tablet computers are great for browsing, and powering some applications, while TV is great for group entertainment but neither are good storage devices.

My options to remove the permanence from my lounge seem to be:

A) buy a server for less then $1,000, with no additional keyboard, monitor, etc and hide it in the house with the ability to wirelessly connect through the TV and tablets, or

B) think about cloud computing (i.e. Renting storage space somewhere else) with the same accessibility as if it were at my house.

Either way I've improved the clutter in the lounge and doubled the available computers in the house. Plus I can now show photos and movies on the TV and I've decreased my monthly cost.

problem solved

I feel like a technological champion. I can't wait to play with the new toys, once I convince my wife and gain permission to buy them. Please support my cause with embellished praise.




-BTB