Newsletter Sign Up
Regular work+family updates for
HR and diversity professionals.
My Family Care asks Dennis: There are apps on the market for just about anything - from shopping comparison to storytelling - but what apps are really useful for your families? How do you use them and which ones do your children use?
I am the "tech dad"
Before I give my take on the question of apps, I thought I'd give things some context.
With over 23 years in the digital industry - going all the way back to the days of interactive CD-Roms, Netscape Navigator and the start of the web as we know it - I guess I fit into the category of "tech dad". That should give you some idea of how long I've been around.
Now, I don't mind the label of "tech dad", but over the years it has become an increasing inconvenience as family and friends always think I can "make it work" or "know how to fix it". Ironically, such questions are rarely from the younger generation - including my kids - but I'm usually greeted by someone I've not seen for a while with "Can you have a look at this...".
I promise it never takes the five minutes they say it will. Anyhow, I digress.
BC - Before Children
I have two boys - 11 and 6 which means I have been in the tech industry twice as long as I've been a parent. Thinking back to the months before the birth of my first son, I remember having it all planned out. I thought computer games and consoles were going to be the main problem to contend with when it came to playing games. Everyone knew mobile phones were going to be big, but no one imagined they would be so popular for games. Not unless you worked at Apple!
At the beginning, I had formulated a rough plan that I would implement through the years as my kids got older, to manage how much TV they watched a day, how much 'game time' they would have, when they would get their first phone, etc.
You know, the stuff you think about as a first time parent. Well, you do as a tech dad anyway.
AD - After Delivery
Fast forward to today. I can say my plan has worked out pretty much on the whole, albeit with a few major hiccups along the way. By age two and a half, I had bought my eldest his first DSi after convincing myself that it would help him with his coordination and handwriting skills. He only had Mario Kart, Brain Training and Maths Training and, not knowing any better about the world of games, he was happy.
Like all kids, it's all about playing the same games their friends are playing and seeing how much 'game time' they can get away with on the phone or iPad. To be fair, I'd say my kids are pretty sensible and know where the line is drawn - but they do push the boundaries from time to time. At that point, I usually read them the riot act which includes a week of no tech access. It has worked pretty successfully so far but, now they can recite the rules back to me, I think I may need a new strategy.
Fun and games
When it comes to specific apps, I remember everyone, including mom, going through the Angry Birds phase. With two phones and two tablets in the house, it meant I couldn't really say no to the kids when I was playing Angry Birds and they wanted to play too. Then Candy Crush came along and it felt like deja vu - everyone playing the same game instead of having 'family time'.
We were able to break that cycle by playing Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit instead, which makes for great family night entertainment when you connect the iPad to the TV. And when you throw in the occasional challenge on the ageing Wii with Just Dance or Michael Jackson - where I still hold the high score - it's actually a lot of fun for everyone.
No tech week
The few major hiccups I eluded to before were caused by The Sims and Minecraft. I remembered reaching a point where several readings of the riot act had only short term effects and the kids would still spend every spare minute playing either game. The only course of action was to silently delete both games and wait for them to ask what happened. Was that a testament to how good those games were or was it me over thinking that they were going to develop some kind of addiction to playing games?
Either way, the following week of no tech meant they were able to build fantastic creations from the boxes of Lego they had accumulated over the years.
It's not all about games
I have not come across any really useful 'family apps' as yet, but my wife and I use Wunderlist regularly to share various lists of things that are synchronised across our devices. Thankfully, it has not been used for the shopping list.
For my 11 year old, I've slowly started to convince him to use apps like Khan Academy to help support the things he's learning at school. It has taken a lot of repetition but he has finally started to understand technology is not all about games, and that there is probably an app for just about anything out there.
As for my 6 year old, the battle is getting the balance right between family time, school work, creative play and the latest game craze - Geometry Dash.
Family apps?
As for a final thought, I have noticed Apple does not have a 'Family' category in the App Store, and I wonder if the addition of such a category would spark the creation of some great apps.
Dennis Hing, Tech Dad of two
