Here are a couple of categories of tech gifts with some recommendations. Just in case you haven’t gotten everything on your list yet.
Every year there’s one interesting tech product that may be horrible but is at least intriguing enough to make me want to try it.
This year it’s Amazon’s Echo. The Echo is an Internet connected speaker. Think of it as Siri for your house. You plug it in and start asking it questions or requesting that it play music, news, weather or I dunno, podcasts maybe? Remember on Star Trek when people were always just talking to the wall and then the wall (voiced by Majel-Barrett Roddenberry) would talk back? This is the first version of that sans Mrs. Roddenberry.
It’s $200 or $100 with an Amazon Prime membership. Also, it’s not yet available to order. You have to “request an invitation.” I’m not sure I recommend it but Amazon has made me curious. Check out this video for more.
Tablets
Apple released two new ones this year, the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3. The iPad Air 2 is the best tablet your money can buy. The iPad mini 3 is only worth the money if you really, really want the fingerprint unlocking mechanism known as Touch ID. Otherwise, get an iPad mini 2 which is the exact same tablet without Touch ID.
Also, pay the extra money to bump up the hard drive space. The lowest configuration on both tablets, 16 GB, is too small. I also prefer the model that includes cellular service. I’ve found it incredibly useful with my iPad Air.
There’s obviously a lot of competition in this category. Microsoft has The Surface which they are pitching as a replacement for your laptop that can also function as a tablet. Google and its partners have a number of Android tablets in a variety of flavors and prices. And, Amazon has the Kindle line which goes from very cheap e-readers, to tablets starting at $99 and going up in quality and price from there.
In this category it helps to know what kind of products the person you are buying for usually likes. For instance, if they use or need to use Microsoft Windows then the Surface is probably the way to go. If they have an Android phone then an Android tablet is where it’s at. The same goes for iPhone users and the iPad.
Amazon is the one wrinkle in there, a lot of people use Amazon’s shopping service but, other than the Kindle, their hardware has not yet saturated the public. Amazon’s phone was one of the biggest tech flops of the year. However, the low price on their products combined with the integration of services (Amazon has music, book, TV and movie services along with unlimited photo storage connected to it’s $100 a year Prime membership) always makes their tablets worth a second or third look.
TV streaming devices
Over the last few years everyone came out with a device to stream content, like Netflix and Hulu, to your television from the internet. The two big gaming consoles and most Blu-Ray players do the same thing. However, the streaming devices remain popular expecially among those who decide they can live without a cable tv subscription.
Roku – The Roku family of devices boast 1,800 internet channels including all the biggies, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Most of the reviewers generally consider this to be the best media streamer. The list price is $99 but you can probably find it cheaper at the online store of your choosing.
Unless:
You are serious about iTunes and Apple stuff. In that case you should probably get the $99 Apple TV. You can shoot anything from your iPhone or iPad to your Apple TV. It also is integrated with the stuff you purchase or upload to iTunes.
Or, if you are serious about Amazon or Android then you should get the Amazon Fire TV or the Google Chromecast.
Computers
There’s a pretty nice dichotomy with modern computers. You can go big and expensive with Apple or cheap and functional with Chrome or Windows.
Big and Expensive: Apple released a desktop computer with a 27 inch 5k display this year. It starts at $2,500. It’s the kind of thing the folks at Pixar and other movie studios will use to edit their 4k movies. In other words, no normal person needs this thing. But, you know, shiny.
Apple has a nice line of other desktops and laptops. The usually start around $1,000. You probably just need a Macbook Air. I went with a refurbished Mac Pro laptop last year and it’s a great machine. However, it’s more computer than I really need. As a writer I should have gone for a Macbook air because of the longer battery life. Live and learn.
Cheap and Functional: Google and Windows are fighting it out in the cheap and functional category. Again, this goes back to services. I could probably live off a Chromebook even though it has very limited functionality and mostly needs wifi to work. But then, I'm not interested in computer games and I don't do a lot of video editing or photo management.
The Windows folks have been aggressively trying to get the price down to match the $300 Chromebook price. A Windows machine is going to be open to more programs and games but Google is certainly closing in on them.
I gotta say, I wonder how long a $300 laptop lasts in the wild. Of course, at that price you could replace it twice and before spending as much as you will on the low end Mac.
To each his own.