Warning Geek Gifts Are Not Created Equal

Kamis, 08 Desember 2011

Warning Geek Gifts Are Not Created Equal

Best Way to read on a Tablet. Kindle app is tablet certified on all tablets.

by Mike Reed

If you're the "tech-savvy" member of your family, then you're often the one labeled "difficult" to buy for when it comes to Christmas presents. We know we have pulled dozens of poorly made tech gifts out of stockings and pasted on fake smiles as we unwrapped box after box of badly made knock-off electronics over the years. This year, we hope to head off our (and your) families with some advice on what not to give that special person who is most likely providing free tech support for you and your family this year.

MP3 players: Off-brand mp3 players are cheap and there's a reason for that. While some of them may work as advertised, if the person you're buying for is tech-savvy, they already have one and if they aren't, you'll be spending most of your Christmas trying to decipher Korean instructions on how to get music from their collection of Haircut 500 CDs. Then, you'll get the inevitable call wanting to know how to do it again. And again. And again.

Digital photo frames: These were really popular a couple of years ago and now ours are in a land fill or desk drawer somewhere. In retrospect, the problems were obvious. It isn't always convenient to put a photo frame near a wall outlet. It can be expensive to keep putting batteries in them. Seeing a rotating selection of 10 or 15 photos is more annoying than one static photo. Most everyone I know looks at photos on their phones now. Slide shows have never been cool.

T-shirts that light up, make noise or detect wifi signals. Just stop it. Put it down and walk away. They are only amusing for the amount of time it takes to figure out what they do. After that, they're annoying, difficult to launder and just take up space in a closet somewhere.

Cheap Android-based tablets: If you can buy them at close-out stores for $75, they're going to cause you $500 worth of frustration and heart ache. Trust me, any joy you see on the face of your friend at opening this will be replaced by seething hatred when they figure out they can't update the out-dated operating system, the memory or processor. These things are churned out for the gullible and cheap. You don't want any part of it, much less be associated with giving this junk to a loved one.

Retro Video games that plug into the RCA jacks on your TV: Hey! You got me Tecmo Bowl! I loved Tecmo Bowl! Oh wait . . . How could I have ever liked Tecmo Bowl? Retro video games are romanticized because we played them when we were young and they were on the cutting edge of entertainment. Sure, we played and loved Atari's Yar's Revenge, but in the age of Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City, they won't hold our attention for very long, much less take up precious screen time on our giant TVs. Pass.

A few additions from Greg Adkins:
Geek Pez Dispensers