Top SciTech Gifts 2002

Steve0987 writes "Scientific American has a list of suggested Christmas presents for the those technical people on your shopping list. There are a couple I might add to my letter to Santa." Um, I'd also like to add some wireless speakers, but the the coal from the Titanic seems a bit macabre.

Comments

For a lot of people out there...

[Wolfier]

The perfect gift is a job...

Care

[Trusty Penfold]

Technical gifts are cool; that microscope on page 5 is exactly what I was looking for for my brother.

But they soon lose their charm, run out of batteries and end up polluting the environment with mercury, Lithium, Chlorine and other heavy metals.

SciAm should also promote more ethical gifts, such as adopting endangered animals, areas of threatened land and donations to trusts promoting research in to disease cure and treatment.

It's cliched, I know, but christmas is far too commercial but I hope simple things like this can reverse the trend

THG

[hitzroth]

Tom's Hardware Guide has their list up, too. Nothing spectacular, but looks like some neat ideas if you're stuck.

Re:Buy thing day - tomorrow

[Wyatt Earp]

Right or Wrong - much of the forcasting for the 4th quarter's end output is based on holiday shopping this weekend.

Retail sales are an important part of the whole economy in the winter.

If sales are soft, the Stock Market will play off the initial sales numbers. For people in a Public Employee Retirement System a soft market is the last thing those systems need.

While I understand the BND idea and I've followed in the past, this year I'm going to try and get my walk-in retail shopping done this weekend.

Don't Buy Jack

[limekiller4]

Karma hit be damned, don't buy anyone a damned thing. Draw them a picture. Write them a letter. Fold them an oragami barn complete with animals.

I realize the point of this post is to be informative and this is a tech/nerd site. So be it. I'm suggesting that the best tech gift you can give someone is more of your time which, I might point out, is going to be spent working -- as opposed to spending time with them -- to earn the money for that runaway consuermism, optical, wifi, 3D, open-source imbedded OS GPS-capable caffienated, programmable biometric teeshirt.

Yeesh.

Re:Don't Buy Jack

[limekiller4]

forkboy writes:
"Imagine going to your boss and saying "Hey, I don't need as much money to live since I stopped buting things, so I'm only coming in 2 days a week now. You can cut my salary if you like." Tell me how that works out for you and what jobs you'll be applying for next. "

I've got this crazy thought. How about you find a part-time job? Perish the thought!

Besides, you sound like a guy saying, "man, my dealer isn't going to like that I'm going to stop using heroin." Who gives a flying !@#$ what your boss does or does not like. Is this not enough of an indication that you're a slave when you cannot even bring yourself to determine how much you're compelled to work??

"You see, there's this thing called disposable income. When you have a job that pays X dollars per year as a salary, once you remove the cost of living (rent, food, clothes, etc) the rest is what gets spent on toys, vacations, and all that other fun stuff. Sure people get caught up in material things, but how will it be any better if they hoard their money? "

Can you really be missing the point this badly? I'm not suggesting they work just as long so they can hoarde money, I'm suggesting they work less to begin with. I'm also not suggesting that you forego "fun stuff." I'm suggesting that you re-evaluate what qualifies as "fun stuff" and most importantly, what you're giving up to get it. Has it not occurred to you that perhaps you're giving up your time -- and thus your life -- to get something of lesser value?

My question is "should we?" Your answer is "we can," which doesn't really address the problem, does it?