Mother’s Day gift ideas: iLuv Dock and Roberts Digital Radio

May 2nd, 2013

Appliance Talk

As mentioned by the ever-insightful Louise in her blog Mother’s Day gift idea: Breville fruit and vegetable juicer, a lot of the stereotypes about mothers out there are patronising at best and flat-out wrong at worst.

One motherhood myth in dire need of busting is the idea that Mums are behind the times when it comes to technology.  Even if this is sometimes true, it doesn’t have to be!

Here are a couple to tech-based gift ideas for Mum:

iLuv Dock for high-tech Mum

If you’ve got a Mum who loves playing on her iPad, having long chats with Siri on her iPhone, or storing an intimidatingly large music collection in her handbag on an iPod, then an iLuv ArtStation Speaker Dock could be an ideal gift.

Here’s why:

• While a handheld tablet is all well and good, there are times when it would be more convenient to have both hands free when using one.  For example, being able to keep a tablet in plain view yet out of the way while following a Best Home Chef recipe in the kitchen would be super-handy, which is where the ArtStation can prove very useful (only suggest this if you know that Mum actually enjoys cooking and would find this useful – it may not be appreciated by everyone).
• If your Mum is a tidy and organised sort (even if they’re not born with it, some Mums have this quality thrust upon them through the management of unruly offspring) then an iLuv dock can give her iPhone a definitive “home” where it can charge and be quickly found in a crisis.
• Not only does an iLuv dock make it easy for Mum to share the extensive music collection on her iPod with the household (no-one is allowed to complain about her taste in music – it’s her day!), but by adding the iLuv app (free from the iTunes store) to her iPod Touch or similar device, the ArtStation will also provide access to digital radio, alarm clock functionality, and even weather updates.

Roberts Digital Radio for low-tech Mum

Now, to play Devil’s Advocate…

…some stereotypes have a grain of truth in their origins, and thus some Mums may indeed be a touch clueless when it comes to technology.  If this sounds familiar, a different choice of gift may be a better idea.

Unfortunately, time waits for no man, or Mum.  Traditionalist or Luddite Mums may find themselves left behind as technology moves forward – for example, you wouldn’t want to be stuck without a digital TV when the analogue signal is finally shut down Australia-wide at the end of this year.

If your Mum needs a touch of help to ease into the digital world,  Roberts Revival Digital Radio may be a good place to start.

The old-school design complete with simple control knobs should be familiar to even the most technophobic Mums, and should ensure that it’s simple for her to start enjoying the benefits of digital radio, from crystal clear reception to additional specialty stations.  This may even help her gain more confidence when it comes to technology, opening up a whole new world of options for her to explore.

But there’s more!

Each of these gift ideas could also suit the other types of Mum.

For example, if you got your Luddite Mum an iPad the other year and she’s still struggling with it, the iLuv Dock might be just what she needs in order to start really seeing its benefits.

The retro look of the Roberts Revival Digital Radio can actually be pretty fashionable in certain circles, making it appealing to Mums who pride themselves on their sense of style.

Remember though, to always keep your own mother’s needs and wants in mind when selecting her gift, and never take the “easy way out” by opting for something generic.  In the words of Anna Jarvis, the inventor of Mother’s Day:

“A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.  And candy!  You take a box to Mother — and then eat most of it yourself.  A pretty sentiment.”

(Fun Historical Fact: Anna Jarvis invented Mother’s Day in 1914, and was already disgusted by the commercialisation of the holiday by the 1920s.)

Happy Mother’s Day everybody!