Stuck in Holiday Gift Purgatory?
By Jay Hershman
LD ContributorTrying to buy the perfect gadget for someone you love? You may want to wait until the 2005 holiday season, or at least until the some of the consumer electronics companies scrambling for your hard-earned dollars start releasing devices that actually live up to the hype they created.
Most “Technology Gift Guides” I saw for 2004 seem to list the same “usual suspects” found at your local Best Buy. Many of these products are a very welcome addition to any tech-savvy individual’s gadget arsenal. The problem lies in the fact that there is a generational gap between digital media products that the masses have adopted, and the new, hot, trendy, “convergence” devices that fall far short of their promises.
In fact, you might want to consider 2004 as the “Year of the Upgrade” when purchasing a new toy for your loved one. Chances are that last year you (or Santa) delivered this person a wonderful new 3-megapixel digital camera, Palm or Pocket PC, cell phone, or MP3 player under the Chrismukkah tree/bush. Even if only one of these helped you spread holiday cheer, I imagine that enough time has passed for your beloved techie to pick up the remainder of these items online using rebates and/or promotion codes found at their favorite “Hot Deals” website.
So now what? While keeping the budget under $500, we think your best bet is probably an upgrade! For example, replacing their digital camera with a 5-megapixel version, or purchasing a new PDA with wireless connectivity and high-resolution screen, or upgrading their current MP3 player with a 40GB 4th Generation iPod may be the best you can do this year.
Although, here are a few exceptions, some products that serve the niche market but have not quite yet reached critical mass:
Home Theater Master MX-800 RF or Harmony Remote H659
Universal remote controls are typically luxury purchases that are not essential equipment in managing or recording one’s life, and therefore put off until some custom retailer up-sells you for a huge markup, or given as a gift (hint, hint).
Shure E3c Headphones
The bundled headphones that come with many digital audio products are nothing to write home about (in fact, they aren’t worth an instant message home). However, given the time of year, I’m sure a letter home couldn’t hurt. While the in-ear placement takes some time to grow accustomed to, the unmatched aural quality and complete exclusion of ambient noise prove any of Shure’s headphones to be a terrific complement to a high-quality audio player.
Compact Sirius or XM Satellite Radio System
To Stern or not to Stern. Given the latest “cola wars” between XM and Sirius, it seems that content is the key motivator, followed closely behind by form factor and manufacturing partners. In the past year, both companies scrambled to sign exclusive content deals with professional sports associations and Howard Stern. At the same time they are out striking distribution deals with automotive and consumer electronics manufactures. The question remains, would your loved one prefer to listen to Game 6 in Fenway 1500 miles away, or hear if a bagel and cream cheese will stick to a stripper’s rear Oh my! (comparison at Cnet)
In an attempt to eliminate the possibility of repeating myself in ’05, I’m asking Santa (Mordecai?) to put some of the half-baked concepts and unreasonable price points back in the oven for another year. At least until the probe reads “ready for primetime”. Here are a few of the gifts that make my 2004 “Undercooked” Gift Guide:
Like many early adopters, I am willing to bet that the gadget guru in your life spent much of the past 3 months checking TreoCentral’s discussion boards daily for hints on the new Treo 650 release date. I’ll go a step further to predict that they now continue their search to uncover the launch date of the 650 on a provider other than Sprint. Had the Treo 650 launched on Verizon prior to the 2004 holiday season, this Gift Guide would be less of a rant and more of a review.
Gotta keep cooking until: available on more carriers!
If I understand this correctly, the cost is $999 and is only available with DirecTV. It records a grand total of 14 hours of high-definition TV content. As much as TiVo has changed my TV-viewing habits for the positive and I feel that I should be loyal them (I’ve subscribed for more than 5 years), I could not take one more day watching their Series2 on an HDTV after the Comcast HD PVR became available. Yes, Comcast’s functionality (on the Motorola HD DVR unit) is less than user-friendly, but the picture is hard to beat.
Throw it back in the oven until: it works with non-DirecTV HDTV systems AND stores more than 14 hours of video!
Great picture, ridiculous price. If the topic of this article was “what to do with your lottery winnings,” these would likely have been at the top of list. A smaller size LCD or Plasma TV today just does not seem feasible as a “gift” at the current prices.
Bake until: the prices drop in half or more!
Already covered by LIVEdigitally
As a quick summary, if upgrades and the few niche products didn’t help you on the path to success in ’04, I hope I have helped kick-start some creative gift ideas for the coming year. More importantly, I hope I’ve saved you from disappointing your gadget geek friend or loved one.
Hopefully price and innovation will find a happy balance at your favorite retailer in 2005. This year, you may want to stick with some nice shirts, dress socks, and a sweater.Interesting links
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