Apparently, according to my wife, I have too much tech.
I personally don’t understand what she’s talking about.
Everything I have serves a purpose.
And everything I want would also serve a purpose.
Probably.
Okay, maybe.
Three Monitors Apparently Isn’t Enough
My current desk has three monitors.
That’s reasonable.
I’m a software developer. I need one for code, one for whatever application I’m working on, and another for documentation, terminals, Teams, YouTube, or the 37 browser tabs I’ve somehow accumulated.
Perfectly normal.
But here’s the problem.
There’s all this perfectly good wall above them doing absolutely nothing.
So naturally I’ve mentioned that I should mount a 55-inch TV above the monitors.
My wife disagrees.
Strongly.
Her argument seems to be something along the lines of:
“YOU ALREADY HAVE THREE MONITORS.”
Yes.
I know.
The TV would be the fourth screen.
Completely different thing.
Then There’s the Raspberry Pi Cluster
I’ve also decided that I really want to build a tiny Raspberry Pi cluster.
Do I need one?
We’ve already established that this is the wrong question.
I wrote an entire post about why I really want to build a Raspberry Pi micro cluster.
I could run Docker containers on it. Host some of my projects. Play with Kubernetes. Run databases. Give different nodes specific jobs.
It would be educational.
It would be useful.
It would have a bunch of tiny blinking lights.
How am I supposed to say no to that?
My wife, however, has apparently discovered that we already own computers.
She’s really ruining this for me.
But I Already Have Servers
This is usually where my argument starts falling apart.
Because yes…
I already have other computers.
I’ve got my main development PC.
I’ve got my Mac.
I’ve got another machine handling backups, VMs, Docker containers, and other random stuff.
But those machines have jobs.
The Raspberry Pis would have completely different jobs.
What jobs?
I’ll figure that part out after I buy them.
That’s just good infrastructure planning.
And Now I’m Thinking About a Server Rack
This is probably where my wife would argue things are getting out of hand.
Because I’ve also been debating getting an actual server rack.
Nothing ridiculous.
Just a nice little rack where I can properly organize the server, networking equipment, Raspberry Pis, switches, and whatever other hardware inevitably ends up in there.
And obviously, if I’m going to have a proper network setup…
I might as well run Ethernet throughout the house.
See how quickly this happens?
One minute you’re thinking:
“It would be nice if this computer had a wired connection.”
The next minute you’re looking at patch panels, switches, wall plates, Cat6 cable, and wondering how difficult it would be to crawl through the attic.
Meanwhile, my wife is probably wondering why the Wi-Fi we already have isn’t good enough.
Because apparently “I want Ethernet drops in every room” isn’t a sufficient explanation.
Every Piece of Tech Solves a Problem
This is something I feel like my wife doesn’t fully appreciate.
Sometimes the problem didn’t exist until I discovered the technology that could solve it.
That’s irrelevant.
A 55-inch TV above my monitors could display dashboards.
Or server statistics.
Or documentation.
Or YouTube.
Or probably a football game while I’m programming.
See?
Productivity.
The Raspberry Pi cluster could run services that I’m currently perfectly capable of running somewhere else.
But it would run them on a tiny cluster.
That’s clearly better.
And the server rack would organize all the unnecessary hardware I’ve purchased to solve the problems I didn’t originally have.
It’s basically a complete ecosystem.
Then a Box Shows Up
Of course, eventually she sees a box sitting on the porch.
And I get the look.
You know the look.
“What did you buy?”
Nothing crazy.
Just a little something for the office.
Then I have to explain why this particular cable, adapter, drive, computer, controller, network switch, or completely unnecessary electronic device is actually extremely important.
This usually ends with her walking away while I continue explaining the technical benefits to absolutely nobody.
I Don’t Have Too Much Tech
I maintain that I do not have too much technology.
I simply have…
A lot of ongoing infrastructure requirements.
Could I survive with one computer and one monitor?
Probably.
Would I be happy?
Let’s not find out.
Besides, there are still plenty of things I don’t own.
I don’t have the Raspberry Pi cluster yet.
I don’t have the server rack yet.
The house isn’t wired for Ethernet yet.
I don’t have the 55-inch TV mounted above my three monitors yet.
There is clearly still room for growth.
My wife may disagree.
But that’s okay.
I’ll just show her the monitoring dashboard on my future 55-inch fourth screen displaying the Raspberry Pi cluster sitting inside the server rack connected to the network I ran throughout the entire house.
I’m sure that’ll convince her.
Anyone else have a spouse who thinks your tech collection has gotten out of control?
And more importantly: how many monitors, servers, Raspberry Pis, and Ethernet drops is actually too many?
Because I still think the answer is:
One more than I currently have.
