The time of year is upon us again: turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and the presence of family and friends as a reason to give thanks for our good fortune. Yet, if there’s one thing that most people try not to think about on Thanksgiving, it would be technology. But that happens to be our favorite topic here at 208Geek. The truth is that technology can make your holiday planning easier and bring people together. Check out some of our favorite ways to use technology for your Thanksgiving plans.
Lighting Design
One of the most important aspects of any event is the lighting. It’s the best tool for creating a nice holiday ambiance and is easy to control using Phillips Smart Hue light bulbs.
These wireless smart lights allow you to go from warm white exposure to a holiday-inspired design for dancing, singing, and conversing.
Party Planning
If you host a large Thanksgiving get-together, it takes even more coordination and planning. To make this easier for you, many party planning apps feature helpful reminders, automated email invitations, and step-by-step, interactive mixology videos. These apps are great for every stage of planning.
Prepping the Kitchen
Kitchen and smart home automation tools are perhaps one of the best applications for worry-free Thanksgiving hosting. Today, many kitchen appliances connect with various on-demand applications to help monitor and provide feedback as your dishes are cooking.
For instance, some small kitchen appliances are outfitted with high-powered thermometers, digital sensors, and onboard intelligence to tell you when to flip, stir, or add ingredients.
Holiday Shopping Helpers
Smart home devices like Alexa and Google make excellent assistants. As you go through the pantry, use recording and voice recognition to create a Thanksgiving shopping list. There are also tools you can use to save you money by scanning barcodes at the local marketplace and then connecting to an online selection of items for fast order placement.
Other great pieces of technology for holiday help are robotic vacuum cleaners. Having one of these allows you to tidy up before your guests arrive with little to no effort from you. Simply program your vacuum, and it will do the work.
Cooking the Main Dish
Presenting your friends and family with a succulent Thanksgiving turkey can be stressful. Investing in a smart thermometer that features presets for all weights and types of meat can help take the anxiety out of cooking the main dish. With one of these thermometers, you’ll always know the exact temperature and when your bird is done.
Serving Spirits
And don’t worry if you like to serve spirits! We have a technology fix for this as well. For example, you can keep the holiday cheer flowing with an internet-connected wine cooler. Internal cameras scan the wine label, and within 30 seconds, the cooler is set to the perfect temperature for the bottle.
Furthermore, many find that sensor-driven kitchen fixtures are great for helping serve any type of refreshment. With this, you can invest between $90 and $500 and have touchless faucets or taps that supply steaming hot water on demand.
At the end of the day, there’s technology for every facet of life. Hence, it’s only natural that there are many valuable tools that can help make your Thanksgiving Day go as planned. From our 208Geek family to yours: have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!
208Geek will be closed November 20 through November 27 for Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holiday with your family.
About 208Geek in Meridian, Idaho
Owner/Operator Jacob Van Vliet began building and repairing computer systems for friends and family out of his home in 2001. Jacob was receiving so many requests for computer repair, that in the Fall of 2005, he opened 208 Geek with the vision of providing outstanding service and peace of mind. He has committed 208 Geek to delivering unparalleled, friendly, and professional service, with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.