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Home > Storage Technology News > What to buy a geek for the holidays |
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If one of your friends or loved ones is a geek, you already may be well acquainted with the horrors of trying to find a suitable gift for them. There's no room for error and very little gray area -- either they'll love it, or they'll hate it. There's really no easy answer for the geek-gift dilemma, but we talked to a few members of our own stable of geeks for a few suggestions. Rule #1: Know your geek This is the cardinal rule, one that should never be broken. If all you know is that they're a geek -- that will not suffice. Geeks fall into a finely striated series of different subtle categories. Some geeks are gadget geeks, some geeks are computer and gadget geeks, and still others are computer geeks but could care less about gadgets -- preferring, Dalai Lama-like, to lead an uncomplicated life alone with their various work-related machines. Hence, the latest all-in-one digital Swiss army knife will make some geeks remember you fondly for years to come, while the same item will be about as useful to others as a left-handed can opener. It's up to you to choose wisely -- and it's a daunting task. If you don't know your geek that well, it's best not to try to buy them a specialized gift. Just get a Best Buy gift card and save yourself -- and them -- the pain. But if you've got a good sense of the denomination of your geek, we have further suggestions in a couple of different categories.
If your geek is of the computer variety and enjoys tinkering with wires even after working hours are over, these gifts will bring joy to their world. A new computer case. Sites like 3dcool.com have computer case designs beyond your wildest imaginings, such as see-through acrylic cases in neon colors, swank art deco designs and unusual shapes. WiFi locator and network analyzer. There are almost as many types of these whirligigs as there are flavors of ice cream. Some rely on USB ports in a laptop, and most detect network presence and signal strength only. Others, like the one from ThinkGeek.com, which got rave reviews from our geek consultants, is its own tiny device that includes an LCD screen that shows signal strength, network ID, encryption status and channel. We needed one of our geeks to explain this one -- an Ethernet crossover adapter keychain. "Crossover cables," which must be used when first installing many new devices to a network, "are the bane of the network admin," he said. "Everyone knows how to make a regular cable, but people tend to forget how to make crossover cables and that two pairs have to get swapped out. It's hard to remember, and a pain to dig up a crossover cable when almost inevitably, you forget one. The adapter is a quick little thing that you can just put at the end of a regular cable, adding a crossover connection so you can connect and configure a new device." For the truly advanced, there's always a home NAS system. "I don't want a Clariion for the house -- too hot and too costly to run," quipped geek expert (and SearchStorage.com expert) Brett Cooper. "But the guys at Buffalo have a 2 terabyte NAS device for about $2K that is pretty nice." Or this suggestion from expert Evan Marcus. "The geekiest thing I want this year is a whole-house FM transmitter," he said. "I want to be able to broadcast from my iPod or from my PC or from the XM that comes in via DirecTV and wake up to it on my clock radio, and to be able to hear it from any radio in the house whenever I like." Organization is key If your geek is typical, their home, or at least their home workshop, tends to look like The Matrix's machine-controlled netherworld -- a dark tangle of cables and disembodied computer parts. Help them help themselves with a few organizational gift ideas, such as a Power Squid outlet multiplier -- appealing to our geeks because of its flexible adapters. If you really want to get fancy, a company called Belkin makes a cute little KVM switch called OmniCube, which is suitable for home computers and will come in handy if your geek has more than one machine to switch back and forth between (and they probably do). For those times the geek must leave the comforting glow of the monitor behind and venture out of the house, there are several helpful gadgets our geek experts suggest. Remote control key locator. Yes, they really do exist. At least one company called KeyRinger will be more than happy to sell you a kit, which includes sensors to attach to your keys, remote or wallet. GPS for the car. "TomTom is my favorite," Cooper said, "But Garmin makes some good ones as well, and even Sony is getting into the fray." Once the geek has found the keys and their destination, they might want to keep in touch with a suggestion from industry analyst (and self-proclaimed geek) Greg Shultz: "The Motorola RAZR cell phone for those who don't want or need a Blackberry, yet need browser, e-mail, camera and a slim package." Simple and sweet Not all of us can blow two grand on a home NAS device. Here are a few smaller suggestions for those on a budget. The things they'll make in USB these days. Desktop aquariums. Coffee warmers. You name it, there's a small and relatively inexpensive gizmo you can hook up to the computer. Caffeine. We have yet to meet a geek for whom it's not a major food group. If all else fails, buy 'em a pound or two of their favorite coffee. A paper shredder. "Digital security be damned!" Cooper said. Most geeks also seem to boast huge and esoteric T-shirt collections. A new addition will almost always be welcome. The hit among our geeks? The one that says, in big bold letters, "No, I will not fix your computer."
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