New Technology & Parenting – Slackers Inc.

We went to the Calgary Baby Show this weekend and I must say I was horribly dissapointed.  Knowing that the show was held at the Roundup Center (which is huge) made us think that it would be a relatively large event, and the promotional materials promised “New technologies” and “latest baby innovations” so when we showed up and paid the $10 per person to enter and saw only a fraction of the vendors that would fit in the space (over 1/2 the space was just…empty), and NO new technology of any type it was very disappointing.  In fact, we were so unsatisfied leaving that we went to Babies-R-Us and had a much better time checking things out there.

Afterwards we looked online and it appears that the vendors were charged over $2000 for a booth there.  The foot traffic there was light to moderate, but I can’t imagine too many vendors made their money back with the small crowd we saw.  With about 35 vendors at $2000 each plus $10 per person for entrance, I’d speculate that the only ones satisfied with the event were the organizers, counting their large stacks of profts for an event poorly done.

Despite it being September, there’s pretty much a month left to find baby halloween costumes if you plan on ordering online and ensuring that your little guy or girl is wearing something unique for this halloween. 

This one on the left cracks me up, it’s got a great set of fonts and the color of the onesie itself is perfect for converting that cute baby fat into a pumpkin-like appearance. 

There are actually a few funny/ironic halloween costumes for babies that I’ve come across – Personally, I’d want my little pumpkin to be the focus at halloween parties but I also realize that halloween gifts are an increasing trend too so I suppose it’s good that there are a few funny ones available. 

Now if I can just find a green hat that looks like a stem I’m set.

A new browser has come out, and as with most things related to Google the fanfare around the browser is coming from the eager technology junkees and not from the big G itself.  It’s only been out a few days, but the early reports are that the speed is the key benefit, with availability of plugins as the main counterpoint.

Just how fast is it though?  Cnet reports that when dealing with Javascript it’s no contest, Chrome (the new Googlebrowser) is an order of magnitude faster than anything else out there including the beloved Firefox and especially the lethargic Internet Explorer.  In other tests, user comments indicate that anywhere from 2 to 5 times the speed is typical.  Sounds great, right?

Two downfalls to Chrome exist currently – first, no Mac support exists.  As Mac users, we’re used to waiting for commercial releases to trickle down but I must say that I’m a bit disappointed given the relationship between Google and Apple.  I understand the business reasons for targeting the highest volume market first, it’s just more of an emotional sting given that many Mac users see Apple and Google as the ‘dream team’ that will change the world, dethroning Microsoft from it’s tyranny over desktops everywhere (Although I’ll admit that MS Media Center is higher on the WAF (wife approval factor) than anything else out there right now).

That may be a bit melodramatic, and I’ll still be able to try Chrome out via Parallels, but testing for speed in an emulated environment is a bit…pointless.  Still, it’s interesting to see Google trying new things to bring the web to it’s next plateau of potential.  Faster browsing means more advertising for Google, but more rich experiences for users and less dependency on local hardware and storage.

The second downfall is a lack of plugins to enhance the browsing experience.  Plugins are a necessary evil – they fill gaps in the core application and allow each part to focus on what it does well, but at the same time amature coders and those unfamiliar with the methodologies used for the core application can cause instability in the application which of course is blamed on the browser and not the plugins.  For this reason, Google may choose to limit the plugin set, however that wouldn’t be very ‘open’ of them either.

Early reports are that Chrome has taken a 3% market share already (2.6% according to clicky) which is huge, but growth will likely slow dramatically after the early adopters have done their testing.

All-in-all, an interesting day on the internets…

Perhaps it’s because I’m going to be a dad soon, but much of my focus lately has been on finding funny or nerdy baby clothes for the upcoming little one.  Sure, there are lots of other items we need to research and purchase like strollers, cribs, playpens and such, but they’re not quite as fun as the perfect onesie.  The first few months are no doubt going to be filled with “awww, let’s see the baby” type moments, but let’s face it – Newborn babies are a bit boring.  They don’t really interact, so that’s why it’s the perfect opportunity to put some hilarious phrases on personalized baby clothes and allow your friends and family to have a laugh while they check out the newborn.

Many of the shops I checked out will do personalized text, but not images and sometimes you really need a picture to get your point across or make the impact you want.  I found a site that will do whatever you want on a onesie or toddler tee, you just checkout with the personalized baby onesies or personalized toddler t-shirts you want and then email the text/design.  They do a great job of designing things if you have something in mind as well, for us “creative, but not so great at photoshop” types.

I still need to figure out what the best car seat is, what gadgets are necessary and which are a waste and a bunch of other things, but the baby should be very well dressed now and I’ll have no problem finding a personalized baby gift for friends in the future…That’s gotta count for something.