4 pieces of tech that Santa could use to make his job easier

The traditional image of Santa Claus is of a bearded old man going around in a magic reindeer powered sleigh with a sack full of presents that he drops off at people’s houses (usually through their chimney’s).

As much as he has supposedly been able to do this for years, centuries even, the fact that he has to do this all within one 24 hour time period for all the boys and girls who haven’t been naughty but nice seems like such a daunting task.

With this in mind, we here at Variable couldn’t help but wonder how much easier Santa’s job would be with the help of modern technology. With this in mind, we’ve put together this list of tech that Santa could use to make his job easier.

1. Smartphone

And that’s it, job done … well not really, but you have to admit that a smartphone brings so much to the table for Santa. At the very least, using the GPS on it would help him as he flies around the globe on his epic gift delivery marathon.

At the same time, an internet connection could also help him keep in touch with his elves back at the North Pole should the need arise. This way, he can get them to ready more gifts for him to pick up, or even have his list of kids that have been nice updated in real-time.

Worst case, he can use his smartphone to order certain gifts on the internet, should he not have them on hand. Also, he can use the same phone to do online banking and make the payments he needs to do in order to get those gifts.

2. VPN

If Santa’s going to use a smartphone, then he’s going to need an internet connection. The thing is, different countries in the world have different levels of access to certain parts of the internet. China, for one, has very stringent controls behind its “great firewall.”

To get around this to access services he needs that are blocked in certain countries, Santa needs a VPN.

A good VPN will allow Santa to appear as if he’s in a different country, allowing him to order local gifts from sites that may only allow these orders from certain countries—it’s certainly a good way to take advantage of regional discounts for certain goods. At the same time, it will also allow Santa to get past internet filters if the country he’s in has them.

3. Cargo drone

Let’s face it, carrying a sack of gifts up the roof of a house and down its chimney is hard work, especially for an overweight man in heavy winter gear. With this in mind, perhaps Santa should opt to get a cargo drone to help him.

Unlike the typical drones that most people use for taking aerial footage, cargo drones are specifically designed to carry goods over long distances. In fact, some of the bigger ones can carry up to 70 pounds worth of goods.

By using a cargo drone, Santa saves himself the burden of having to lug around his bag of gifts to every household. He can just park somewhere and use it to cover all the houses in a neighborhood.

4. An electric crossover

While his sleigh may have served him well all these years, it may be time for Santa to upgrade to something more modern and comfortable. With this, we recommend that he get an electric crossover.

Why electric. Considering that Santa lives on the North Pole, he surely wouldn’t want to use something that contributes directly to the melting of the polar icecap.

More importantly, most of the top electric crossover’s have some form of autonomous driving. Tesla’s Model X comes with the company’s “Autopilot,” level 2 autonomous driving technology. Meanwhile, Ford’s recently released Mustang Mach-E is set to receive Ford Active Drive Assist sometime next year.  With this, Santa doesn’t even have to drive (though he still should keep his eyes on the road, or would that be sky, as with all level 2 autonomous systems).

Now some may point out that these are cars and that Santa needs to fly to different countries. But think about it, if Santa can get a collection of wood, metal and reindeer to fly, then surely he can get a small crossover to fly as well, especially as these are more aerodynamic than the former. There’s also the small benefit of him not spreading reindeer poop all over the world.

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