2023 Gifts for the Techie in your Life
Let’s face it. A lot of people like receiving presents. And for most people who are GIVING presents, the hardest part is finding something appropriate and interesting.
As technical people ourselves who are geeky, like our gear, and like writing code, this list should give you some ideas about what sort of presents YOU could get for the technical people in your life!
(Note that we do NOT use affiliate links for this. Should we? Maybe! But we currently do not.)
(Also, these prices are accurate-ish as of the time of writing this post.)
Things to do work with
Keyboard: Keychron K1 Pro Mechnical — AUD90
https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-k1-pro-qmk-via-wireless-custom-mechanical-keyboard
Typical price: AUD90
We like typing things, and we regularly type things. Which means that having something very nice to type on is just a brilliant choice.
The Keychrons are great mechnical keyboards that give you a choice between Red or Brown switches. If you prefer your techie to be nice and quiet whilst they’re hammering at the keyboard, go Brown. Definitely the quieter of the two colours!
You can also choose between a white backlight, or an RGB backlight.
Here’s how amazingly awesome the RGB backlight version can be!
Mouse — Logitech MX Master 3S — AUD170
One of our favourite mice, you can probably find this for cheaper than the above RRP.
https://www.logitech.com/en-au/products/mice/mx-master-3s.910-006561.html
Your techie will want to use it in its Bluetooth configuration that also allows them to easily connect to 3 devices and easily swap between them! It charges fast, the top and side scroll wheels are brilliant, and there are more than 3 buttons, but not too many!
The Much Less Useful But Still Shiny Things
Desktop Mats — typically AUD30 to AUD50
These are completely unnecessary, but can be quite nice. Some techie types especially like a clean working surface — @petersrc I’m talking about you — so something like that could really nicely delinate where it starts and stops.
You can get a whole variety of options.
A patriotic one like this one that has a map of Australia at Officeworks.
Or
really even personalised custom printed ones at places like Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/desk-mats
Duckeys — AUD31 each, or packs of different sizes up to AUD400
https://duckeys.com/products/og-duckey-keycap-black-white
These are purely for people with mechnical keyboards. Get one of these ducks, swap out one of their keycaps from their mechnical keyboard and let them type on a duck.
Or if you wanted to really test their keyboard skills, and have a desire to splurge, go for the full Alphabet set
https://duckeys.com/products/duckey-keycap-2-0-full-alphabet
Replace ALL of their alphabet keys with a duck, and watch as they try to remember if “e” comes before “r”, or after “t”!
3D Printer — Ender-3 V3 — AUD296
Have you ever thought it’d be nice if your technical person could fix some of your real world problems instead of only digital problems?
Get them this 3D Printer, and watch as they start fixing all the plastic stuff!
https://store.creality.com/au/products/ender-3-v3-se-3d-printer
For The Ones That Like Reading
A physical book? Why?
Because there is nothing quite like the physicality of holding paper! And for a technical person who probably spends most of life dealing with bits and bytes, this will be a pleasant difference.
The Martian by Andy Weir — AUD22
If your technical giftee hasn’t watched the Oscar award winning movie, the book is better. (You could also organise a screening and share popcorn and a really good movie together.)
If your technical giftee has watched the movie… Did I mention that the book is better?
It goes into a lot more detail — whilst still being super accessible — about how Mark Watney — snarky marooned scientist — used science in order to survive being left behind on Mars. This included things like turning desolate Martian soil into fertile crop growing land, how he set things on fire — both intentionally and unintentionally — and also how radioactive things can be a terribly inefficient way to stay warm.
https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780091956141/9780091956141
Cooking for Geeks — AUD98
This might seem like an expensive recipe book… But it’s actually a totally worthwhile dive into the science of cooking, with recipes by other people in the tech world, including a simple recipe for scones by Tim O’Reilly (yes, the brains behind O’Reilly books).
It covers things from guidelines for basic cooking, to advanced techniques like sous vide, ceviche and tempering chocolate, all the way to why baking starts off an exact science that you need to understand before you start riffing on the concepts.
It’s a cookbook, but with science!
The Pragmatic Programmer — AUD75
Looking for something more technical for your technical person? This book has been a skills upgrade for many many other technical people, and is likely to be a useful addition to your technical person’s library.
An O’Reilly membership — AUD90/month+
If you don’t know about O’Reilly, don’t worry, the technical person in your life would. They are — in my humble opinion — the premier resource for software development knowledge. Their membership is NOT cheap, but it’s a great way for the technical person in your life to gain access to a whole bunch of technical resources!
https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/individuals.html
Their topics cover basic software development skills, AI skills, Virtual Reality development, game development, project management, User Experience styles, etc etc etc. A veritable trove of knowledge!
On The Go
Peak Design Tech Pouch — AUD90
Your techie probably has cables. And more cables. And battery packs. And chargers, and a laptop charger. Maybe some anti-histamines, a couple of snack bars, wireless earbuds and their charging case. A dongle or two, SD cards. A new Logitech MX 3 Mouse that somebody else has just purchased for them. And then in a weirdly low-tech manner, some pencils, whiteboard markers, and a ruler.
And all of these go into their laptop bag, swimming around in different pockets, or right at the bottom, completely unorganised, and very difficult to retrieve.
Image if there was a better way!
https://au.peakdesign.com/collections/pouches-cubes/products/tech-pouch
The Peak Design Tech Pouch manages to squeeze a surprisingly large amount of miscellaneous stuff into a very small size. Your technical person will definitely also appreciate the engineering and design that has gone into the way the pockets fold and unfold to fit thick things, whilst having straps and snug compartments for gripping tinier things.
A Flat Water Bottle — A6 memobottle — AUD45
Everybody needs water sometimes but toting water bottles around can be annoying, especially when they don’t fit nicely into bags.
https://www.memobottle.com.au/collections/memobottles/products/a6-memobottle
These flat water bottles are designed to slide into bags, hold a nice amount of water and look just a tiny bit more unique. The A6 & A7 sizes could even fit into the above-mentioned tech pouch!
For When They Need A Moment
A Pour Over Coffee Brewer — AUD70 to AUD100
“How does coffee help them when they need a moment?”, I hear you asking. Because making a pour over coffee is something that requires a quiet 5 minute moment to focus on how a coffee is being brewed.
Briefly, your tech person will need to gently soak a filter with hot water, then put some coffee grinds in, then slowly — and in a circular manner — wet the coffee grinds. Wait 10 seconds. And then slowly — and in another circular manner — further add enough hot water for them to make a coffee with.
It’s an amazing way to drag them away from their desk, to get them to reset their focus, and then let them reward themself with a freshly brewed coffee.
https://industrybeans.com/collections/manual-brewing/products/torch-mountain-dripper
Try the Torch Mountain Dripper as an option if you wanted to encourage a single cup of coffee, or something like the Hario V60 Metal Dripper if you didn’t mind them consumung more than 1 cup at a time.
Terrarium — DIY it, or get a kit ~AUD100
Your techie might be one of those who appreciates plants, but is incapable of surviving in a garden. Here’s an alternative: get them a terrarium!
An ecological microcosm that needs a tiny amount of care, but returns great moments of green reflective calm. It’s a nice way for them to sit back in their chair, gaze at the layers of the system, and contemplate how many things are needed to make something neat.
And to suddenly remember that they need to water it.
Depending on your techie, this might be the sort of thing they’d appreciate a fully assembled one, a DIY kit, or something that they would like to DIY fully. Bunnings has a great guide on how they could fully build it themselves.
Alternatively, we’ve seen fully prepared ones on sale in various shopping centres or even on the streets of Melbourne.
Or Something Else Entirely
Ultimately, the point is that if you wanted something to gift the technical people in your life, there are options and options galore, and it ultimately comes down to what you reckon they’d like.
We hope this little list has been useful or given you some ideas!
Happy Holidays!
Originally published at https://blog.srcinnovations.com.au on December 1, 2023.
