As we hurtle helplessly towards the gift-wrapped apocalypse, the collective Techland hivemind is giving you a little help with possible present ideas for your nearest, dearest and most deserving. Doug fearlessly led the way like a blogging Rudolph yesterday, and I’m following today with some suggestions of my own. I think that makes me Dasher, right? Or is it Dancer…? Or Comet, or Blitzen?
iPad 2 ($499)
I know, I know; isn’t the iPad yesterday’s—or, last year’s, even—gift buying suggestion? I’ll admit that it’s simultaneously an obvious and weirdly behind-the-times suggestion, especially considering all of the other tablets and tablet-like-devices (Hi, Amazon Kindle!) that have made their debuts far more recently, but if we’re really talking about our favorite things, then I have to ‘fess up: It’s very possible that, outside of work computers and things necessary for daily survival like refrigerators and televisions, there is no gadget that I have used, appreciated or just downright adored as much this year as the iPad 2. You all know what it is and what it does already, so I won’t bore you with those details, but this little thing has changed the way I consume information this year, and all for the better. I found myself reading more, distracted less and able to speed through all five seasons of Friday Night Lights on Netflix no matter where I happened to be thanks to this little wonder. Sure, saying “Hey, have you thought about buying someone an iPad?” is akin to suggesting that, if you’re thirsty, perhaps you should think about this new thing people call “water”—especially on a site like this—but I don’t care, goshdarnit: This really is one of my favorite things, and there are plenty of people out there who haven’t experienced its wonder yet: Stop being so ahead of the curve and buy one for your beloved family member who’s only just discovered email, why don’t you.
(MORE Apple iPad 2 – Tech Buyer’s Guide 2011)
Roku 2 XS ($99.99)
And speaking of Netflix streaming, I have to admit that, while I watch an almost inhuman amount of content through the service every week, I almost never watch it on my computer. Nope, thanks to my Roku box, I can stream it—or any number of the 350+ entertainment channels, including HuluPlus, HBOGo, Epix, Amazon Instant or even the CW—straight to my television in quality so good that even old episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine don’t look that bad on an overgrown flatscreen. The basic boxes are just $49.99, but I’d go for the Roku 2 XS, which has a motion control remote and free full Angry Birds included in its $99.99 cost.
Bose MIE2 Mobile Headset ($116.95)
Simple fact about cellphone headsets #1: They will break if you use them for any length of time (I speak as one who has become resigned to the possibility that some body part or another—or perhaps my entire body in some additive form that I haven’t quite worked out yet—emits some kind of frequency specifically designed to break down headsets at the molecular level; there’s no other logical explanation). Simple fact about cellphone headsets #2: So many of the replacement ones… Well, let’s be honest, so many of the original ones, as well, are terrible. Let’s all be grateful, therefore, for the existence of the Bose MIE2 Mobile Headset, which has great sound quality in the earbuds—maybe not so important when talking to someone on the phone, perhaps, but if you’re also using the headset to listen to music, it’s something you’ll really appreciate—and a really good microphone to pick up even your quietest mutterings as you lose power during those long family phone calls over the holidays. Sure, you can get much, much cheaper headsets, but you can genuinely tell the difference with this one.
(MORE: Everything You Need to Know About the Current State of Digital Comics)
Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited ($59.98 annually)
I’ve made no bones about my comic book nerditry, so it shouldn’t come as any real surprise that I’m all for giving the gift of four-color storytelling wonder this holiday season. Most digital comics apps are free, and short of suggesting that you hijack someone’s account and download very particular comics for them (don’t tempt me, I could very easily come up with that list), a year-long subscription to Marvel’s DCU seems like the best alternative, especially with the Avengers movie preparing to render fanboy brains asunder when it’s released in May next year. For just under $60.00 a year, you’ll get access to over 10,000 comics from the Marvel library, with more added daily. Know someone who wants to pretend to be knowledgeable about Peter Parker before Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man hits the big screen? This is what you should give them.
Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp 1.7-Liter Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle ($99.95)
This is what happens when Doug suggests a coffee maker: I suggest an electric kettle. It’s not just that I don’t drink coffee—although I don’t, thanks to a particularly-scalding-in-more-ways-than-one experience with some impressively strong coffee in Amsterdam a long, long time ago—but I’m still somewhat surprised that America hasn’t really embraced the electric kettle en masse just yet. Seriously, people, what’s holding you back? It’s a kettle that switches itself off so you don’t have to worry about it, and doesn’t whistle really loudly when you’re otherwise distracted and can’t quite get there to take it off the stove at that very moment. Even better, this particular kettle has multiple settings, depending on what you’re making, so that your teas will be brewed at exactly the right temperature. It also has a 30-minute “keep warm” option for when you forget that you’ve put the kettle on in the first place—which you can now do, because it’s not going to be driving you mad with its annoying whistle all the time. Somewhere in your life, there’s a tea drinker who will love you forever if you give them this, I promise.
(MORE: Our Favorite Things: Last-Minute Gift Ideas (Day One))
Farnsworth Artisan Hero Prox, FX Edition ($399)
Who wouldn’t want a replica Farnsworth communicator from the Syfy series Warehouse 13? Admittedly, $399 seems a little steep for what’s essentially a toy prop of the world’s fictional first iPhone, but I mean, come on…! Just me? Okay, then.
(Seriously, if someone out there can get one of these and then manage to retrofit it with iOS, I really genuinely would want that. Santa, I promise, I’ve been really good this year…)
Gift Cards
When I was a kid, gift cards were the worst presents imaginable; they showed that the gift giver hasn’t put any thought into it, and didn’t really care about what you liked and yadda yadda yadda. But these days, I think that gift cards are a safe and somewhat last minute save of the day option. With so much to buy online and so much digital media available as downloads, it’s much harder to have something physical to wrap anyway—and wouldn’t you rather give someone an iTunes or eBay card so that they could get whatever relatively obscure, niche gift they really want instead of your best guess? Letting go of your ego: It’s the greatest gift of all.