Great things

Knowing what’s best

Declaring winners is problematic. One could argue that anointing a thing to be the very best of its class does great injustice to many other almost-there products. And rightly so. The many factors that determine what’s best include value, and that changes as time passes and prices drop, thus reordering the podium. Or perhaps a product we’re looking at right now gets a firmware update that enables it to do new and more fantastic things, thus elevating it a little further up the ladder.

But that’s time and change for you. Always messing things up. What is true is that in any given moment of time, given sufficient expertise, it is indeed possible to make lists and rank things. And, that process is entirely accurate in a given moment. That moment, in our world of tech, is now. Together, the boffins at APC put minds to task, and have determined with unassailable truthiness just what deserves to called ‘the best’.

It begins on page 66, and over the many pages that follow are our top picks for just about everything that matters in this corner of the world. We do this every year, it keeps us on our toes, inspires healthy debate in the office and there were hardly any arguments this time.

But the point is not to create an excuse for the humans in the building we work in to actually engage with each other. No, it’s so you know what you should be hunting down if you want the very best. This is a natural extension of everything we do for you at APC. We test things, we use them in our lives, and we rate them so you know if this gear is good enough for you, and if it deserves your dollars.

So having an ultimate list once a year is the big annual yardstick. The culling of the above average and the elimination of all but the most extreme excelers. So, now you know what’s what and where it belongs in the great hierarchy of consumer tech gear. And, just in time for Xmas, too – should you happen to want to bestow something truly wonderful upon a loved one, or just treat yourself or the family.

As always, I love hearing your thoughts, whether on this or anything else that’s interesting. Until next month.