What do Dads want for Father’s Day? First, let me tell you what we don’t want. Socks, ties and golf tees. What we really want is a clear calendar with the option to fill it (or not) with whatever we please. Understanding that’s likely not an option for today’s Dad, I’ve polled all of the Dads at Diligex and created The Father’s Day Tech Gift Ideas list.
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Wireless Earbuds
My first pair of bluetooth earbuds were circa 2000, Sony Ericsson if I recall correctly. The sound quality was terrible, battery life was even worse and there weren’t really ‘wireless’ anyway (the CPU/controls/battery dangled from a neck lanyard). My brother-in-law has been talking up his pair of jay-birds for a few years now, but having a not-so-great experience in the past, I’ve been putting them off. While on our winter family vacation, he hooked his jaybirds up to my SmartWatch and I did my morning run sans phone in hand. Beautifully streaming music without wires and without a phone. I was sold. Since then, I’ve been demo’ing various bluetooth earbuds, looking for perfection in fit and function. I’m a iPhone/Apple Watch user, so the AirPods would be a logical choice, but they just don’t fit my ears. Not to mention the $150 price tag… I’ve finally settled on a generic brand sold on Amazon. The brand I got is called the ‘Enacfire’, but these can be found under various brand names, colors and cases. They’re tiny – like barely noticeable. They fit with swap-able silicon inserts. Sound is amazing. The microphone even works well. I have yet to discharge the battery fully.
Sonos One
While we’re on the topic of music/audio, let’s touch on in-home audio. Specifically speakers.
Are you this household? In the living room, you have an Onkyo/Sony/Yamaha receiver with Bose 501’s connected by speaker wire. You plug your iPad into the receiver with an analog cable. When you entertain, you crank up the volume and/or drag speakers and stretch speaker wire into other rooms. If so, kudos to you and mad respect for keeping it retro real. However, there is a better way. Enter Sonos.
Aside from all the very cool functionality of the Sonos system, unlimited content choices, integrations, etc… Sonos makes one hell of a speaker! The audio quality is top notch and seriously challenges your retro cool setup. Consider it for audio quality alone. Pair it with a smartphone or [see below] Echo Dot, and ask yourself why you waited so long.
https://www.sonos.com/en-us/shop/one.html
Echo Dot
We’ve talked about Alexa before, putting it up against other popular smart speakers. In my opinion though, the Echo Dot stands alone. Sure, it’s powered by Alexa, but its actual value-add is purely as what I’ll call a ‘command taker’. Tell it do do something within its power and it does it. Here are a few of my go-to commands:
- Alexa, good morning = Turn on kitchen counter light, play WNYC through kitchen Sonos
- Alexa, good night = turn off all downstairs lights
- Alexa, put <item> on my shopping list = adds <item> to a todoist list that I share with my wife
- Alexa, order <item> = orders the frequently purchased <item> from your Amazon order history
- Alexa, play <station, artist, mood, playlist> on <room> Sonos = plays audio on Sonos device is location of your choosing
- Alexa, remind <child’s name> to brush their teeth everyday weekday at 7:45AM = one less thing to remeber on busy school day mornings
- Alexa, what is <thing that my kid just asked me about that I’m too tired to articulate or lookup> = just awesome
I could go on and on… At $25 – 50 (depending on Amazon’s promos) it’s a no brainer.
Smart Bulbs
My primary duties as a father: Provide my children with love, safety, food, shelter, confidence and an education.
My secondary duties as a father: close doors and turn off lights.
Pair up smart bulbs with a smartphone or [see above] Echo Dot and you gain 5-10 min per week in time savings and $godknowshowmuch.00 in electricity savings.
Wireless Inspection Camera
This tool has been on my want list for a long time, but I never seem to pull the trigger. I only think about it when I need it, and when I do, I kick myself for not ordering the last time I needed it. Also called ‘endoscopes’ or ‘borescope’, these inspection cameras go where no iPhone flashlight or camera can go. Inside walls, down drains, underneath vehicles – the applications are endless.
Wireless Beard Trimmer w/ built in vacuum
The title pretty much says it all. No more stern looks from the wife whenever you take out the beard clippers. No more untangling wires. No more lugging the vacuum to the bathroom. No more bad attempts at a quick cleanup with a damp hand towel that hangs near the sink. All Dad’s have been there.
Check out the Philips Norelco Vacuum Beard Trimmer. Look good, less mess, happy spouse = winner.
So there you have it. Any of these father’s day tech gift ideas are bound to score you some extra points with your Dad (or Grandpa, or Husband or Father in Law) this Father’s Day. Just encourage them to wait until next week to hook them up / configure them 🙂