Gadgets at the table?

[John the Monkey]

We used to visit relatives when I was a boy (I'm a girl now to save someone the bother) and all I had available was gazing into space, a sudden flu attack or mass murder: any gadget that distracted me from that tedium would have made me a techie in a jiffie.

Personally, I think a couple of things are at play in this thread. One is the fear of the new, which I was trying to point out jocularly with those 18th & 19th century jeremiads about the novel. You can also find it in Susan Greenfield's evidence free warnings about the effects of this sort of interaction on developing brains.

The second, which I think you touch on, is the lifeline this sort of communication offers to people who find social situations difficult, or who simply don't like the things most other people like. As an awkward youngster who didn't particularly like football, or cars, most of my youth was spent awkwardly trying to find people who liked the same bits of Peel's festive 50 that I did. If you're that person today, those communities are ready made, accessible through a piece of technology that you have with you all the time. You can even read those racy novels the authors I quoted denounced (or the improving works they favoured) any time, anywhere via Project Gutenberg using it.

Of course, there's a balance to be struck, and in that, the advance of virtual communities, communication and their enabling technologies is exactly like anything else.

 

[tyred]

[QUOTE 3360627, member: 259"]Talking of gadgets at dinner tables, has anyone got one of those incredibly useful electric cruet sets that shine a light on your dinner as you season it at the mere touch of a button? [/QUOTE]

No but where can I get one?

 

[tyred]

I'm going to patent a dinner plate with built in email and SMS facilities

 

[John the Monkey]

I'm going to patent a dinner plate with built in email and SMS facilities

If it instagrams the underside of your meal, I reckon you're on to a winner.

 

[nickyboy]

I'm going to patent a dinner plate with built in email and SMS facilities

You're showing your age Grandad. Nobody emails or SMS's these days. Snapchat's where it's at baby....so you're plate needs a camera and wifi access and you're away

 

[Dan B]

The second, which I think you touch on, is the lifeline this sort of communication offers to people who find social situations difficult, or who simply don't like the things most other people like. As an awkward youngster who didn't particularly like football, or cars, most of my youth was spent awkwardly trying to find people who liked the same bits of Peel's festive 50 that I did.

Quite. I note that most of the posts have been "the rules in our house are ..." or "I do not allow ...", very few "our kids look forward to mealtime conversation and would rather talk to us anyway than play with their phones"

 

[Crackle]

[QUOTE 3361071, member: 259"]Not from that lot, I think I've chucked them all, but there are others. Here's the Foxsat pauper's DVR control:

View attachment 60782

And the Apple TV which "just works" when the dog hasn't chewed the edge .
View attachment 60783

And the base of the electric piano.
View attachment 60784 [/QUOTE]
I think I know what breed it is

 

[Aperitif]

If it instagrams the underside of your meal, I reckon you're on to a winner.

You're showing your age Grandad. Nobody emails or SMS's these days. Snapchat's where it's at baby....so you're plate needs a camera and wifi access and you're away

Snackchat?
I like the duo mills, Mort. I have the Bodum version - a 'seasonal' gift a few years ago. Still going strong. About as tech as my dinner will ever get.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

@Moderators - Where's my post from this morning gone, surely it didn't get deleted?

 

[Aperitif]

@Moderators - Where's my post from this morning gone, surely it didn't get deleted?

Thanks, Mods

There's no-one in this world who wants a portable plywood video viewing device at their dinner table, thank you..."iPly" - goodness me, whatever next?

 

[tyred]

It's just such bad manners and not something I would do.

Anyone have any good tips for getting bits of Yorkshire Pudding from my laptop keyboard?

 

[ColinJ]

Anyone have any good tips for getting bits of Yorkshire Pudding from my laptop keyboard?

And while you are at it ... my laptop melted the fragments of last night's chocolate bar onto my clothes. What's the best way of removing that?

 

[Gravity Aided]

And while you are at it ... my laptop melted the fragments of last night's chocolate bar onto my clothes. What's the best way of removing that?

Scrape any chocolate off with a knife.
Put it in a bowl with dish soap and water.
then pre-treat, and wash in cold water.
The cold water wash will keep the stain from setting.