If you’re not much of a technology enthusiast yourself, this part of your Christmas shopping may be a bit intimidating. Particularly if the nerd we are speaking about is someone special in your life, and it is very important than he gets a nice surprise. You know you can’t go for a bottle of cologne or a sweater – they’d probably feel just like you would if you received a pair of socks for geek to geek. You may have a sort of vague idea that you should get a gadget or something. But how can you decide what to choose? What if it’s out-of-date, or they already have it, or it’s made by a company they despise?
First of all, here are some tips about gift shopping in general. If you want to make it special, you must get outside of your regular mindset. Try to put yourself in his shoes. Write down everything you know about what he loves: any special hobbies, tech companies that he likes and dislikes, what he is working on, gadgets that he has, computer games that he has, movies he has a special interest in… and basically everything that you know about his possessions and interests. Pay increased attention of the things that he already owns – you don’t want to go buying the exact same stuff. Also, listen to him when he’s talking about tech things for a few weeks, even if you do not really care – they are a good source of information.
The list might have helped you narrow things down a bit, but how do you go about actually picking the specific item? If you decide to purchase a computer game, for instance, how do you go about picking one if you don’t play PC games yourself? One thing you can do is to try reading online reviews about the latest releases. But then people have different tastes – even if you get a new, very popular one, how do you know he will like it? A straightforward solution is to speak to one of his friends if you could. If not, maybe you have a friend who plays computer games and can help you out.
Geeky toys could be a good idea – they are fun to have and not exactly something you would go buy for yourself. Your selection here is fairly wide – from walkie bits to tiny finger drums. It’s all about how much thought and imagination you put into it. In the same area, collectibles make a great present for someone who is very passionate about a particular movie or book.
If it’s a geek who also enjoys to dress up and look respectable, you could choose a designer notebook bag. Certainly, he already has one, but maybe it is just a regular bag. The advantage here is that you don’t need much technical expertise to choose a great model. You only need to know his laptop dimensions.
Books are an often ignored gift idea. Nonetheless, it’s something you can’t go wrong with if you choose carefully. You can either choose a novel or a specialty book. If he is into fantasy, for example, you might choose a good fantasy book. Even if you don’t read them, there are plenty of reviews available online. A specialty book is great if he just began learning some new programming language and is very passionate about it.
Finally, geeky T-shirts (that those with Pi-day or the caffeine molecule) are generally a safe choice. Also, if he is very enthusiastic about a new gadget that he got, you may always buy some accessories for that. Speaking of gadgets – if you want to buy that, make sure you choose the latest version of anything. Having the latest updates of everything is part of what makes you a geek.