Gift Ideas: 14 Possibilities for the Discriminating, Tech-Loving Weirdo on Your List
By now, the many gift guides that Yahoo Tech has generously offered for your consideration have collectively suggested roughly 4.3 bazillion excellent ideas for brightening the lives of all the tech-savvy people on your holiday list.
If you’ve missed all these great suggestions, go here. (More to come!)
But if you’ve rigorously studied every option we’ve already provided and still haven’t come up with something to satisfy that one discriminating geek with outside-the-(gift)-box taste, read on.
1. Custom #PermanentTweet on wood or metal: $20
Sending a loved one a tweet for Christmas is probably going to come across as cheap and lazy. But what if you sent a bespoke tweet, laser-etched onto wood or metal? It can be done! “Permanent140 turns digital Tweets into physical objects,” Permanent140.com explains. “The result is a work of art that can best be described as a #PermanentTweet.”
2. Soap that looks like an Xbox controller: $16
Etsy seller Digitalsoaps offers a whole slew of soaps that look like game-culture objects, from cartridges to retro controllers. Plus: shampoo, conditioner, or bath gel in Mountain Dew bottles. (Via BoingBoing.)
As the name suggests, this is just a box. A nice box. “Do not put gifts in this box that don’t mean anything!” explain creators Hello We Are. “If someone else could buy it, don’t put it in here! This box is for one of a kind, meaningful, important gifts.” The idea, in other words, is to give something personal — something with a real story. (In fact, the story is meant to be part of the gift; more here and here.) Technically you could do this with any box. But it probably wouldn’t be as nice a box as this one.
4. Stealth Meh T-shirt: $19.99
As gifts go, a T-shirt is kinda meh. Double down on that idea by giving the most insistently unimpressed person on your list this nuanced “meh” T-shirt from the professional weirdos at ThinkGeek: “A shiny black expression of indifference emblazoned on a significantly less shiny (aka standard) t-shirt.” Perfect for people who don’t even care whether anybody else notices that they don’t care.
Should you happen to find yourself entangled in one of those “Secret Santa” schemes, take the concept to the extreme: The Big Data Pawn Shop offers a variety of Zazzle-made goods — T-shirts, hoodies, a pingpong paddle, and so on — emblazoned with images of pages of a leaked, formerly classified National Security Agency surveillance-equipment catalog. (Via Post-Digital Publishing Archive.)
6. Gyroscopic Illuminated Figure: $20,000
Here’s something for your special giftee who can’t get enough of the familiar “buffering” or “loading” symbol on computers and other devices. “Wall-mountable with fully adjustable speed,” promises Thingmade. Admittedly, the price is a bit steep. But here’s your chance to prove that good things come to those who wait … and wait … and wait. (Via Core77.)
7. Virgin Islands Beach Scenic Window: $57.59
These days, I suppose, we all know somebody who needs to get away from the computer and appreciate the great outdoors. This won’t actually solve that person’s problem, since it’s just a wall sticker. But maybe it will send a message. (Via The Worst Things For Sale.)
8. The Driven Executive’s Nap Tie, $19.95
Probably the actual driven executives on your list won’t really appreciate this “necktie with a built-in inflatable pillow.” But the lazy slobs and slackers might. Consumer alert: If this picture is any guide, the claim that this object “enables the fully-engaged executive to inconspicuously recharge with a power nap” may be hyperbole. (Via Book of Joe.)
9. Martha Stewart 3D-Print Designs for MakerBot, $2.99
Know anybody who has a MakerBot 3D printer and is really into the Martha Stewart aesthetic? Me neither! But this hypothetical person sounds interesting enough to deserve the complete set of MarthaBot designs: coaster, napkin ring, candle votive, and place-card holder. Jadeite, Lemon Drop, and Robin’s Egg filaments sold separately.
Is there a better way to honor and memorialize humanity’s great achievements than by converting them into home décor? This rug proves the answer is no.
11. IN1 Multi-Tool Utility Case for iPhone 6, $44.95
For the MacGyver in your life, here’s a miniature polycarbonate toolkit case that clips onto an iPhone: The recipient will never again be without two screwdrivers, a nail file, a pen, and other tiny tools. Available in black and transparent variations for several iPhone models.
12. Holiday Plug-Hugger, $7.99
Possibly your holidays will involve so many gizmos swapped among so many gadget-laden celebrants that keeping all that gear fully charged will become a crisis. Sounds horrible to me, but if that’s the scenario you face, make sure somebody opens this present — a festive USB wall adapter — right away.
13. Star Trek Dog Chew Toy — Red Shirt Plush, $9.94
And what are you getting for your dog this holiday season, eh? How about a toy in the form of one of those anonymous red-shirt Enterprisecrew members forever accompanying Kirk, Spock, and the gang onto a new planet to discover firsthand what fatal dangers lurk there: Let your fanged beast demonstrate that his worried expression is very appropriate. (Via BoingBoing.)
And, finally, here is the perfect gift for … well, I don’t know. It’s a phone dock and speaker shaped like a chair and a stool. And it has a hilarious name. Remember, it’s the thought that counts, and the person you give this too will never be able to figure out what you were thinking.
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