By Sandra Quinn
‘Put away your phone’ – ‘Do you ever get off that thing?’ ‘I am sick at looking at screens’ ‘ You are all zombies with your smart phones, tablets and gaming devices’ ‘Do people even talk to each other face-to-face anymore?’ – these are just some of the phrases that might be thrown at you over the Christmas period if you are one of those people, let’s face it most of us are, who are going to be glued to some sort of device while on holidays.
While older people or those not into technology seem to view these things as intrusions into the family dynamic and the devil’s handy work, they can actually improve your Christmas experience and Horizon Globex have compiled a short list of how to make technology work for you and not against you this Christmas.
When the house gets crowded and everything becomes a little overwhelming, use your device for some quiet time and make sure you have the good noise cancelling earphones packed.
Use the Wii or Xbox to engage in some fun family games that don’t involve sitting around a table – at our house, playing the karaoke on Wii Sing is a big favourite and everyone lets their hair down and gets really into it.
Use a smart speaker or a Wifi or bluetooth speaker to play out the Christmas music and have it blasting around the house to add some ambience.
Invest in a good smart plug, which you can hook up to things in the house and then you can control things like your CCTV, washing machine, TV, heating and lights all through your phone and an app – great peace of mind if you’ll be away and want to make it seem like the house is in use and occupied.
Finally, there are a few things technology can’t do, so you’ll have to go old school for the drinks, the good ‘ole Irish craic and the merriment.
From all of us in Horizon Globex, have a great Christmas, check out our Globex Call app in the Play Store and Apple Store to call friends, family and loved ones in other countries, stay safe, be nice to the family and don’t cause any family feuds and enjoy the time off.