Dear Mr. Gates...

I'm a busy mom. I'm homeschooling six kids while managing the house and trying to write a novel. The details change, but the challenge is basically the same for all of us. Technology is letting us down. Where are the things I need? Take for example a calendar that never needs replacing. I imagine it to be about 10 1/2"x13" with a nice interactive, touchable display screen. All our contact data could be stored in it, and with a touch of a couple buttons we can enter Dr. Smith's appointment or the play date at Rachel's. The calendar should be light enough to hang on the wall, but capable of printing a paper copy of the schedule currently on display for those children too small to be trusted with a PDA--more on that later. It should also be able to connect either through a wireless connection or a USB port to update everyone's laptop and PDA. While I'm thinking about it, it'd be great if it displayed recipes too and printed them for dinner guests.
Now, on to the PDAs, I want them to be inexpensive enough so that every kids in the family over the age of 6 has one. I want them to run on great software that I manage from my laptop. I want them built into the wall right next to the lightswitch. Morning alarm times, special notes about school assignments, chores, and appointments would all be added by me each night before I go to bed. The kids would wake up to their choice of ringtone, and everything they needed to do that day would be on a chorelist just waiting for them to get checking. The PDA ought to also have calculator and dictionary features. I want to be able to send them a little note through our family's wireless network so they know I'm thinking about them and I care. Positive reinforcement for successfully completing the day's work would be a great thing to have built in as well.
None of these ideas are out of the reach of today's technology. It's that we haven't asked the women who need it what they want and how. I've decided to just tell you. Raising children is our most difficult task. We need all the help we can get and good technology would be a wonderful help.