Some tech gifts can make sense for technology buffs

You may be considering adding some high-tech gifts to your holiday shopping list. But before you do, answer this question. Do you know the very worst candidate for a hightech gift? The very worst candidate is someone who really enjoys technology. Sounds crazy but it’s true. I’ll use myself as an example. I have very specific notions of what I want – right down to the brand and model number. If you tried to find a high-tech gift for me it would almost certainly miss the mark. People like me want a nice pair of wool socks instead. But don’t give up. There are some high-tech gifts that can make sense. I’ve scoured the world, hired expensive gift consultants to help and spent months on finding them. OK, maybe not, but they still strike me as good gifts even for picky folks such as myself. I’ll list them here. For convenience sake I’ve most used Amazon as the source for them. But y ouca also n find these items, or others like them, at other retailers.

Give me a little more room

One night I watched my wife try to use her iPad to read in bed. But the battery was low. So she had it connected to the charger while reading. Since the normal cord is so short she was curled up in a position that would have do neayoga master proud. Long cords for gadgets such as the iPad, iPhone, your Android devices – whatever – make great stocking stuffers. They’re easy to find on Amazon, just do a Google search like this one (substituting the name of your own device): long cord iPad. You can buy these things for $10 or so.

Let me sleep

I’ve mentioned this one in Christmases past and it’s still a clear winner. I have to take you to bed again to explain why. My wife loves to watch television in bed. I like to read. When the TV is too loud –w hich is usually, as far as I’m concerned – I get grumpy. That makes her mad. Believe me, mad beats grumpy every time. Now we have perfect marital bliss at nigh t.Igot her some wireless headphones for the TV. Again, this will be easy to find on Amazon, just use a Google search like: wireless headphone for TV. Prices will range from about $60 to way too much.

Let me talk

Well, when it comes to cellphones, I should have said “let her talk.” Iu se my own cell so little that, when I do need it I have to hunt it down and then usually find that the battery is dead. Mary is a different story. Because of her work she nthe is o phone alot. Because of her addiction to talking on the phone in general – her sister, her friends, clients, you name it – she’s on the phone even more. So her cell’s battery is usually in desperate shape. That’s why this charger – you don’t need to plug it into an outlet, it uses a battery instead – works great for her. I selected the Jackery G iant+Pr emium 12000mAh Dual USB Portable Battery Charger & External Battery Pack from Amazon for about $26.

I see now

I wear glasses. And – forrea sons I don’t fully understand – I crave knowing the time when I wake up in the middle of the night. I’m not going anywhere at 2 a.m. so I am not able to explain why all this is. Maybe it is esult ar of too much time spent on deadline at newspapers. Anyway, this clock takes care of things for even people who wear glasses. It displays the time in big illuminated numbers. And it has all the usual clock radio stuff – AM/FM, snooze alarm, plus a couple of cool extras – a built in USB port to charge your gadgets and battery back up so that lose it doesn’t the correct time during an outage .Is electe dthe Sony - AM/FM Dual-Alarm Clock Radio for $60. But if you browse around you’ll disco ver plenty of other clocks with the same options. Email Bill Husted at tecbud@ bellsouth.net