It feels like the easiest gift until it needs a reboot, restart or anything else.
Whether it’s the holidays, an anniversary or a housewarming, there’s always an occasion to give a loved one a gift — and flowers only cut it so many times. Enter: gadgets like smart home speakers or tablets that are affordable enough to be great gifts, no matter the occasion. They won’t just collect dust either — they’re useful and easily become part of your recipient’s everyday life. Companies feed this appetite as well: Google practically gave away Google Home Minis to Spotify Premium users last October.
But while it seems easy enough to throw a $50 gadget into your cart and order away, for some people that’s where the problems start. Loved ones, whether a family member or a best friend, often expect you to set up the device for them and give you a call when there’s even the slightest problem. Suddenly, what was supposed to be a nice gift and sentiment ends up becoming your next headache, or worse, a long-distance project.
One way to avoid becoming your loved ones’ on-demand tech guru is to keep the gift — even if it’s a gadget — simple, said Joel Santo Domingo, a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, the New York Times company that reviews products. Mr. Santo Domingo suggested buying an item like a smartwatch for family and friends, because at the very least, “people understand a watch” and know how to check for messages and check the time. Before you give your gift, read up on a few other ways you can spare yourself from becoming the go-to IT person for anything related to tech.
Read the whole article at NY Times:
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