Ask HN: What do you want for Christmas?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1945374

by econner • 16 years ago

19 40 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What should be on the Christmas list of geeks everywhere?

clyfe• 16 years ago

An ebook reader. Advice ? (iPad, Galaxy, Kindle, B&Noble's reader ???)

wwortiz• 16 years ago

If you read books buy a Kindle or a Nook (Kindle is great especially when you are buying books, but nook gets wonderful reviews as well and supports quite a bit more). If you are going to be reading pdfs an Ipad is the way to go.

joelhooks• 16 years ago

I absolutely love my Kindle. Here's a word of warning though, if you like to read books that have code listings you will need the DX. They just don't work on the 6" screen.

zdw• 16 years ago

Reading linear books (novels, etc.), get an e-ink reader like the Kindle, etc. You won't mind the page delay if it's one page at a time.

Reading tech books (manuals, reference material, etc.) get an iPad or subnotebook. Much faster to flip rapidly through as there's a much smaller page load delay, better search etc.

I'm so thankful for ebooks - there's a line in one of the perl docs that says "You can't grep dead trees", which has always been my beef with paper docs.

talonx4• 16 years ago

Pretty narrow question - considering that not all geeks celebrate Christmas.

ceejayoz• 16 years ago

People who don't celebrate Christmas can still answer the question. "Nothing."

rick_2047• 16 years ago

No, they can answer the question by stating the gift they would like as a present. It doesn't always have to be Christmas to give presents.

W4SP• 16 years ago

It's a problem-solution thing. Commenting on HN typically has more substance than "I don't like ___". Your comment might have been more constructive if you restated the question to something you found more appropriate or thought would generate better discussion.

EDIT: I didn't down vote, just wanted to comment

econner• 16 years ago

True. My intention was to elicit a "what do you desire right now" response (with both gadgets/cool products and interesting philosophical answers e.g. "Time" etc..) rather than any focus on a holiday. I should have said "holiday season" rather than Christmas. My apologies.

frou_dh• 16 years ago

I'd like a nice high capacity SSD but it's too much to expect anyone to buy.

On a more hazy level, the motivation to get all this stuff I've accumulated sold or given away!

zacharypinter• 16 years ago

I suppose Christmas lost its excitement for me once I was able to buy just about any gadget I would've wanted as a present.

drm237• 16 years ago

I think that's generally the point where it becomes more fun to give than to receive. At least that has been my experience.

theospears• 16 years ago

Personally, I don't enjoy receiving anything electronic or gadget related as a present - I have a reasonable idea of what is available and if there is something I want I'll buy it for myself.

I'd love to be given a voucher paying for me to do some activity that the giver things I will enjoy, but which I would not have thought of doing myself. Bonus points if it has a time limit to give me an incentive to get on and try it straight away.

wilhelm• 16 years ago

Time.

davidj• 16 years ago

old macbook :) I've never had a mac before and I'd figure its time to try one out.

pfedor• 16 years ago

A book I would really like which I haven't heard of before.

megamark16• 16 years ago

I'm getting a new Thinkpad. Needless to say I'm pumped!

daeken• 16 years ago

I've been too broke to do anything Christmas-wise for the past nearly 4 years, so I'm gonna be getting awesome gifts for family and friends, and finally getting myself a toy as well: a chapman stick ( http://stick.com/ ). Been wanting one for years, and finally decided I'm just gonna splurge and get it.

kirpekar• 16 years ago

More customers for --> http://autolicio.us/

eel• 16 years ago

I would like an iron and a small ironing board.

Luyt• 16 years ago

This question made me realize again that I pretty much have anything I need already (in a materialistic way). I only want stuff if it replaces some other broken or old stuff. So I'd like to have a few pair of socks, and maybe a SSD to replace the noisy harddisk in my spare PC. Oh, and a kitchen scissors, the one I now have is worn.

lindvall• 16 years ago

I've been wanting a Jawbone Jambox ever since I saw the video that @lonelysandwich did for them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgC3zjNH1oU

AN447• 16 years ago

Suit, fridge-freezer, macbook

GeneralMaximus• 16 years ago

I just bought a truckload of books for my birthday, but I wouldn't mind some more ;). Sadly, the amount of free time I have is inversely proportional to the size of my wishlist[1]. Such is life.

[1] http://flipkart.com/wishlist/GeneralMaximus

randrews• 16 years ago

I've been looking at one of these: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKGK...

Seems like a fun toy, and I really enjoyed the "write bubble sort on a PIC" project I had in college.

pa7• 16 years ago

A practical use of an iPad, I won one but I really don't have any purpose for it except checking e-Mails/Twitter/any news.

gst• 16 years ago

Nothing.

I'm pretty happy with the things that I have and I can't imagine anything that I need (but don't already have). When moving to two different countries in the past I've managed to pack all the things I need into a single backpack.

Besides my phone, my laptop, my bicycle, and plenty of clothes I don't really have any use for other things.

proexploit• 16 years ago

I agree with you. I've got what I need. My family still insists on gift-giving and I'm forced to make a list in an attempt to get something actually useful to me or helpful to someone else.

blah123• 16 years ago

I want a Macbook Pro (not McBook Pro) 15 in, 2.8Ghz, with 8GB RAM, Geforce 330GT 512 GDDR3 RAM and 500GB SSD HHD. It ouwld cost only about 4000 including Apple-tax

whimsy• 16 years ago

>What should be on the Christmas list of geeks everywhere?

What should be on the Christmas list of mods everywhere? Of goths? Of clubbers? Of poly people? There are no answers to this type of question that aren't bred of ignorance or absurdity. This second question is silly.

The first was sensible. I suppose I could use a sweater.

geekytenny• 16 years ago

a geeky lady partner that is russian and in her 20s. lol

clistctrl• 16 years ago

A good Scotch.

Cafesolo• 16 years ago

Macbook, Kindle, Scotch.

runjake• 16 years ago

An FN SCAR .308

Hrm, oh wait, you're asking two completely different questions here.

djmattyg007• 16 years ago

I'm hoping for a book to help me learn Python!

Ask HN: What do you want for Christmas?

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