Thursday
Dec042008
My Top 10 Gifts For Geeks
It's that time of year, all of us are looking for great gift ideas. Here are my top ten gifts for geeks - happy holidays!
#1. iTunes Gift Certificate Amazon Music (DRM free) Gift Certificate
#2. Tiny 8GB Washer/Dryer Safe USB Drive $12
#3. Roku Streaming Netflix Player $99 (for Netflix geeks that don't have an XBOX 360)
#4. Arduino $34 (great for geeks getting into electronics)
#5. FlipMinoHD $149-$229 (Flip cameras are easy, fun, and great for shooting internet video)
#6. Zuca Pro Luggage $285 (for geeks that travel)
#7. Epson Artisan 800 $230 (the ultimate wireless home office machine)
#8. Drobo $349-$999 (backup/storage for media geeks)
#9. 19-in-1 Micro Tool $12
#10. Casio EX-F1 Slow Motion Camera $964 (Amazon)
33 Comments
Reader Comments (33)
Nice list! I am getting the FlipMinoHD and I'm going to love it! The tiny 8GB looks useful and like something i need and only $12!
Yeah that tiny washer-safe drive is brilliant - everything needs to be washer-safe, in my hands.
That netflix player would be perfect for my parents. One gift idea down!
Mahalo, Kevin. Awesome list. I really hope my wife gets me the FlipMino HD!
Also, think my Personalized 'IRL' Twitter Shirts make great gifts. :)
Pretty good list. #2 is probably a must for me.
Dude, you forgot the BlackBookBerry, where low tech meets high expectations. It's the perfect gadget for the aspiring geek.
I love how #2 can be used as earrings!! the List is pretty good Kevin but i would include a telescope in there also, i know thats definitely on my Christmas list!!
Thanks for sharing. There are some sweet, inexpensive gifts here.
So it does everything but does it make waffles?
AND does it Scan & Email a photo attachment?
Great list, must also show twitter love with "ru following me" twitter inspired gear from www.twitterfunny.com
Thx!
@tfunny
I usually tell people who are looking to get a geek a present but don't have any clue to go to Think Geek. There are so many unique and awesome gifts for geeks and others alike. The best part is, most of it is pretty cheap.
I'm disappointed that one of your top ideas is the iTunes gift card. All that iTunes music is DRM'ed... I hope I don't need to explain to Internet Extraordinaire Keven Rose why that's so bad! http://www.defectivebydesign.org/
Ironically, one of the top stories on digg (it was on the front page yesterday) is an anti-DRM story entitled "35 Days Against DRM -- #7: Prince--friends without benefits."
+1 on the Arduino, but you had better get your orders in. My birthday was at the end of November and I ran into backorder situations. My order from Sparkfun.com still hasn't shipped.
I'm not saying you can't find them at all, but you usually want to order other parts (LEDs, LCDs, accelerometers, etc.) and you don't want to pay multiple shipping charges. That is what limits you.
The Washer & Dryer proof thumb drive is cool too. I carry an SD+USB as a thumb drive because it is smaller, and can be used in my camera too.
Hey Kevin, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the iTunes gift Cert. I think it would be a much better gift to give a DRM free gift. Such as Amazon MP3 gift cert (or even Walmart MP3 store)
Like the list, that dryer proof flash drive is superb. As a tea fan I think you should do a tea list as well. My fav at the moment is this Ying Zhen White Tea I got from www.teatreetea.com delicious.
The Zi6 has much better video quality. look up Scott McNulty's side-by-side comparison.
Hey @Eli White and @Kevin Rose
iTunes !== DRM, not implicitly. Let's be clear, not unreasoned.
iTunes does offer a lot of DRM-free tracks and would offer more if not for the record companies.
I'd say offer an iTunes Gift Card with a caveat -- only buy non-DRM stuff.
FWIW -- is anyone selling non-DRM video? Don't think so. And Audible content is all DRM laden IIRC.
I love the rest of the list.
I'm finally going to ask for one of those Flip Mino's now that they have the HD model. Thanks for the ideas. fR
Does anyone know how to hack the apple tv to allow it to see external storage such as DROBO instead of its internal storage? I would love to have Drobo with 4tb and Apple Tv with watch movies, podcasts, etc... I am looking for maybe a video tutorial. I heard Leo Laporte had one on MacbreakWeekly podcast or something like that
Thanks,
Will
@Will
take a look at boxee.tv
They have tutorials to hack apple tv. Actually it was super easy, you just need a USB thumb drive. Plus your apple tv now hooks up with Hulu.
Broke are we Kevin? Why the Amazon links? I guess Digg sucks for revenue since nobody will touch it with a 20ft pole.
The washer/dryer safe usb would have come in handy a month ago. I wonder if my wife can pony the cash for this gift. This is an awesome top ten list. You should post this to my buddy's site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and you can link back to your site. People can also vote on the list if they don't agree on the rankings.
FYI, streaming Netflix is coming to Tivo this month, so if you have a Tivo you don't need Roku or any other dedicated Netflix streamer.
I don't really care about DRM -- I use iTunes music store for just about everything, so if someone gave me an Amazon MP3 gift card I'd be bummed to have to start using some lesser website just to get DRM-free music. I do love Amazon and buy a lot of stuff there, but just not music. Maybe I'll give it a go... (must... use... all... things... apple...)
Have to disagree with the FlipMino... I would definately go with the Kodak Zi6 ... like 50 bucks cheaper... better quality video, better sound, upgradable memory (SD), takes standard batteries, toggle between HD and standard video (save a little space when needed) ... little larger then the mino (about the size of the ultra) but the upgradable memory (up to 32gb = 8 hours) and the battery (been burned by too many sealed battery solutions (thanks Apple!) dying.
Kodak Zi6 on Kodak's Site
Hope that helps... I got one and I love it.
I would really like an itunes gift card this year! great choice! I also would like an www.ithreesixty.com for christmas. Maybe you might want to add that to your list, although I'm not sure which one you would get rid of and then 11 top gifts wouldn't sound good! :)
Hey Kevin, this is a great list!
I published an article on Mashable with some really unique gifts for New Media Moguls & Bloggers -- thought that you might be interested in some of the stuff, http://mashable.com/2008/11/26/gifts-for-bloggers/
Cheers,
Catherine-Gail