Great Gifts for Groovy Geeks: 2016 Edition

Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves

Episode #204

It’s that time again and, as usual, Dr. Mac has unearthed a bevy of superb-yet-inexpensive tech gifts guaranteed to bring big smiles to the faces of the geeks you love.

Kenu’s Tiny (and Near-Indestructible) Tripod for iPhones

One of the best ways to insure great-looking pictures is to keep your camera still. So, my first suggestion this year is Kenu Stance ($24.95), an ingenious tiny tripod that connects to your iPhone’s Lightning port using MicroMount, a patent–pending attachment made of a durable, resilient resin known as Grilamid®. That doohickey connects to a ball-and-socket mechanism, allowing precise positioning of your iPhone in both portrait or landscape modes.

Kenu Stance is about the size of a pack of gum and designed to carry on a keychain.

Despite being smaller than a pack of gum and weighing about as much, the rest of the device is fabricated of heavy-duty zinc alloy, making it solid as a rock. Finally, one of its legs doubles as a bottle opener. Bottom line: It’s earned a permanent spot on my keychain so I’m never without it.

Expand iDevice Storage with SanDisk iXpand

Next, if your geek’s iDevice is running out of space, SanDisk has an elegant solution—the iXpand Flash Drive.

Add up to 128GB of storage to your iPad or iPhone with SanDisk iXpand.

These little gems look like ordinary USB flash drives, but have a flexible Lightning connector at the end opposite the USB 3 connector. The free iXpand mobile app lets you back up your iDevice’s Camera Roll automatically, transfer videos and photos to and from your iDevice, and watch movies in popular video formats including WMV, AVI, MKV, MP4, and MOV. Prices range from $49.99 for 16GB to $129.99 for 128GB.

Great Headphones at Great Prices = Great Gifts

I bought my first (and so far, my only) pair of Grado headphones more than 20 years ago. I never expected them to last this long, and I never expected them to still be among my favorite headphones of all time… But they are. Handmade in Brooklyn, N. Y. since 1953, Grado makes some of the most amazing sounding headphones you’re likely to encounter.

Grado’s SR60e headphones sound awesome and make great gifts for under $100!

Now for the good news: While they no longer make my beloved SR60 model, its successor (SR60e), which sounds as good or better, still costs less than $100.00.

How Could You Not Love a Gift Called “Useless Machine Kit (No Soldering)”

I’m a little ashamed to admit I want one, but I think I’d like a Useless Machine Kit (No Soldering) from Fry’s Electronics ($34.99).

It’s a useless machine—it opens and closes and flicks the switch over and over and over.

As the name implies, there’s no soldering necessary—all you need is a screwdriver for hours upon hours of useless fun. Once assembled, this little box has a single switch and a motorized arm that pops out, flips the switch, and then goes back inside the box.

It’s simple, inexpensive, and totally useless… which may be why I really want one for my desk…

And that’s all he wrote…

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