Technobaby

In my family, we’ve always been what you might call early adopters of technology. When I was born in 1974, well before the home video boom, my father was nearly kicked out of the hospital while attempting to film my birth on his Super 8 movie camera. Apparently, the doctors didn’t take too kindly to his unplugging medical equipment to hook up spotlights.

By the time my own child was born a couple years ago, my dad had graduated to a Sony digital camcorder. And he’s currently coveting our pocket-size Flip.

But it’s my almost 3-y.o. son, Miles, who gives new meaning to the term “early adopter.”

One of his first words was “mote,” as in “remote control.” We have at least five -- three for the TV, one for the stereo, and one for the air conditioner, which he managed to lose, causing us to have to perch precariously on a stool every time we want to turn the AC on or off.

As a baby, his favorite toy was my cell phone. (My apologies to anyone on my speed dial.) He knows the difference between a CD and a DVD, and an iPod and a BlackBerry. Last year his Christmas presents included a Fisher Price digital camera and a bilingual electronic bongo drum.

When I was growing up, we mailed audio cassettes to my grandparents on the other side of the country. Now, my family uses Skype to keep in touch. This takes some getting used to. Just ask my mother, who once answered a Skype call in her underwear. “Um, Mom, you know we can SEE you, right?” I blurted.

To my son, this is a normal form of communication. One time we were playing an educational game on the PBS web site (OK, we were watching the Gummi Bear video on TotLOL.com) when a strange, musical chime began emanating from my lap top. I was still scratching my head when Miles piped up, “Grandpa!” He recognized the Skype ring tone before I did.

Of course, one problem with the glut of technology today is that it breeds the expectation of instant gratification. For a long time, we could not take pictures of Miles, because he’d rush around to the other side of the camera to see himself instantly on the LCD screen.

And thanks to the DVR, “Blues Clues” can be viewed at any time of day or week. However, it also means that my kid thinks you can watch, pause, or rewind any show at any time. “It’s not on right now” means nothing to him.

So you might think that being such a tech-savvy family I’d be all over Facebook and MySpace and LinkedIn and such, right? Wrong. I love technology, but I hate the time suck it can be. I did just sign up for Twitter, though. I figure 140 characters is manageable. We’ll see. I got about 14 new tweets in the time it took me to write this post. Oy.

VIDEO O’ THE WEEK: For the First! Time! Ever! Introducing video on DOANM. Check out Miles’ first time bowling. The tiny bowling shoes were hysterical.

MILESISMS O’ THE WEEK:
“action finger”: the little plastic Spiderman toy Miles just got
“itolya”: something that’s already been established, as in “itolya I don’t like beans!”