This is Technology Bytes, episode 39 for December 3rd, 2023.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bites on interesting technology.
My name is Joel, enjoy, and here we go.
I was having a hard time coming up with a topic for this week.
And then last minute I came up with one and I really didn’t have time to make very many notes.
So this is going to be all off the top of the head.
But aren’t Christmas lights amazing?
Isn’t the technology behind Christmas light displays just off the charts when it comes to technology?
You know, they’re starting to make TV shows, or have for a number of years now, about Christmas lights and playing them to music and having them timed and on and off and blinking.
And you think that that would be very difficult to do.
And I think over the years it’s become more simple.
And with the LED lights it’s become less of a draw on the wallet because of the electricity used.
But Christmas lights are fantastic.
Even the simplicity of what I have in my house, which are just white lights.
My wife does not like colored lights, even though I do.
And so in our house we have the ability to do colored lights on our tree, but we don’t do that.
We just put the white lights on because that is what my wife likes and I’m not all that tied up in it.
But we have smart home stuff, as you know.
So I’m able to turn on lights and Christmas lights outside and trees inside and be able to enjoy them and the decorations that we have lit up.
And I think in years past it would have been a lot of manual work to do that, to turn on the lights.
Maybe still a lot of people do that today, but the displays that are out, even in the simplicity, there’s just something about the joy of Christmas lights and the joy of that season.
And many people don’t necessarily think about the technology behind it like I might because I do a Technology Bites microcast, but it is fairly fantastic.
And even if you want to go back as far as electricity and the technology that’s involved there and the fact that we have outlets that we just plug into without a second thought, knowing that electricity will flow.
And then the idea of the big Christmas light shows that you get to drive through and the technology behind that and tying it to a radio station and listening to music.
There are so many advances in technology when it comes to Christmas lights.
It’s fairly amazing.
All of this off the top of my head.
I didn’t really do any research.
I didn’t really read up on what is out there today, but I just know from colors, from the spectrum of what you can do with LEDs, even in the same bulb.
We don’t have to change bulbs and I can have them flash, I can have them colored, I can have them white, I can have them travel.
All those things are things that in the not so distant past would have been not considered or even thought of or maybe thought too much work or maybe the expense that goes into them, microcontrollers in the lights, all those things.
It’s just fairly amazing the progress that has been made over just the last probably, I don’t know, five, ten years, maybe even less.
And the enjoyment that it brings to the world.
It lets the world know that maybe you care.
Maybe there’s a sense of wonder still in that household and maybe there’s a sense of who Jesus is and what the season means.
You don’t really know because it’s not necessarily about lights if you think from a religious point of view or from followers of Jesus Christ.
But the reality is that the brightness of the lights, the colors, the pageantry, all of those things tend to bring people together.
And maybe it’s a good time for peace on earth.
Maybe I’m reading too much into Christmas light technology, but I love it.
I love to see the lights.
I look forward to actually the sun going down and driving to places just so I can see lights.
I love to see the joy and wonder in kids' eyes, especially my own grandkids.
My grandson is two years old and every light is a point and mouth open kind of experience.
And I think we miss that as we grow up.
And maybe as you drive down the road over the next days and weeks as we head into the heart of the Christmas season, just point at a light and drop your jaw in amazement.
Who knows what effect that might have on your family.
I guess what I’m saying is enjoy the time.
Enjoy the season.
Be amazed.
Don’t take it for granted.
That is all I have for today.
If you have any comments, you can send them to TechnologyBytes at MerrickFamily.com.
I want to thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast, and I look forward to the next time we are together taking another bite of technology.
