Your Electronic Product of the Year for 2011

[Winnow]

For me it won't be a surprise:

Apple iPad 2

I feel compelled to post at least once a month about how much I love my iPad 2. I use it (and my iPad 1) daily. It's pure bad-ass-ness. Reading comics and magazines on it (Comic Zeal and GoodReader) (Comics / Magazines) is pure awesomeness.

Catching up on news in your area of interest is made so easy with the latest on-the-fly news apps. Zite is the best for both iPad and iPhone but there are plenty of others (Flipboard, Google Currents, Pulse, etc). Zite provides such a smooth way to catch up, newspaper style , of all the latest happenings in whatever I'm interested in. Gaming, Gadgets, iPhone, Ancient History, Science, Comics, etc. The key is how fast and quick Zite is in updating the latest stories, Keeping things up to date hourly and every time you open the app so you have a fresh page of top articles presented in an aesthetically pleasing way. Gathering news isn't something new but as with just about everything, the tablet (iPad), and Zite in this case, have fine tuned existing ideas into the best available experience.

Any multimedia type experience rocks on the iPad. The best thing about the iPad is that it's useful for some many things that someone else may love it for completely different reasons.

For Xmas, my family choose to rent a house in Sedona for a week. There was no cell signal as we were deep in a canyon but the house had wireless. I talked my brother and his wife into getting iPhone 4s's a month ago, I had given my dad an iPad for Xmas the year before, and of course, I had my iPhone 4 and iPad 2 with me. We got some great pictures from all the iPhones on the hikes without having to take bulkier cameras. Having two iPads laying around the house made the vacation a lot better IMO. iPads are so easy to pick up and quickly search for something, using the browser or a more specialized app. My dad, and mom even more, are not tech savvy yet are able to use the iPad so easily, making life easier in general for finding all sorts of info, or checking mail, sending the latest pictures to friends, etc. When we were in town (Sedona) and there was a cell signal, having 3 iPhones in the car made locating restaurants, where the city xmas light display was, directions, etc so easy, cutting down on wasted time. Granted, Android and Windows 7 phones can do things, but Apple's products are unparalleled in ease of use/power/battery/design.

It's been two years since the iPad was introduced and I still marvel at it. I've also said before that I wasn't really sure what I'd use an iPad for before I bought my first one. It kicks ass pure and simple. There is a much larger gap between iPad and other tablets than there is between iPhones and other phones. Those cheap ass HP 99 jobs do not compare. You're cheating yourself by getting one of those. Right now there's one proper tablet experience which is the iPad, with some decent eReader type devices for those that want that specialty.

I hope poor people around the world can enjoy iPads starting in 2012 when the new iPad 3 is introduced, which will hopefully drop the iPad 2 enough in price to be accessible for cheapskates and people that can't afford shoes or baby formula.

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So anyway, that's my electronic product of the year for 2011. Yours may be a graphics card, monitor, car, speakers an amazing toaster, etc. When you look back at 2011, what product makes you think to yourself, "I'm glad I bought this thing!"

[miir]

Heh, when I go on vacation, I intentionally leave all my electronic devices (except a phone) at home.

I got an ipad for christmas and I think I've picked it up it twice (once for email, once to look something up at IMDB).
I still don't get what the big deal is about it. It's just a big ipod touch.
My 3 year old seems to like it though.


I guess my favorite 'new' electronic product this year is my 3DS.
There's been a couple of great games that have chewed up a lot of my spare hours.
Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Devil Survivor. I hardly picked up my PSP in the past 4-5 months.

Having two iPads laying around the house made the vacation a lot better

When I read that it makes me sad.
This is a really sad reflection on the direction that our society is going.
People need to put down their fucking 'idevices' and just spend quality time with their family and friends.

[Winnow]

Having two iPads laying around the house made the vacation a lot better

When I read that it makes me sad.
This is a really sad reflection on the direction that our society is going.
People need to put down their fucking 'idevices' and just spend quality time with their family and friends.

You make me sad.

Having iPads around enhanced the time together. When my dad had a hard time remembering something about his past, a location, plane he flew, etc, the iPad on the coffee table made it easy to find the information to help out. When I was talking to my brother about an uninhabited island with Roman ruins I visited in the Mediterranean off the coast of Sardinia, I was able to quickly locate it with google earth and show him exactly where I was and the ruins. It's only sad if you bury your head in the device and ignore people. If you have a clue how to properly take advantage of something (sounds like you need to keep electronic devices away from yourself), it helps, not hinders. I guess some people only know how to play Angry Birds on a portable device.

[miir]

The internet existed long before the ipad.

[masteen]

The ipad just made it portable.

I have an iphone, it's all the iGizmo iNeed.

But I did buy my mom a wifi only ipad for Mithramas. She uses it to facetime with my neice who lives up in Tampa, to check her gmail, stream QVC, and look up recipies. Not bad for a woman who is completely tech-phobic.

[miir]

The ipad just made it portable.

Revisionist history.

[Winnow]

The internet existed long before the ipad.

Are still riding around in a Model T car as well?

Roads existed before cars as well.

[Leonaerd]

Having two iPads laying around the house made the vacation a lot better

When I read that it makes me sad.
This is a really sad reflection on the direction that our society is going.
People need to put down their fucking 'idevices' and just spend quality time with their family and friends.

Agreed.

It is no vacation to have an 80Mhz refresh rate assaulting your eyeballs.

[Winnow]

Agreed.

It is no vacation to have an 80Mhz refresh rate assaulting your eyeballs.

Again, we were out hiking every day around Sedona. I'd venture, and venture probably have a 99% chance of being right, myself and family have seen much more of the planet than most here, and at the same point of whatever your various ages are. (yes, I even spent a few weeks even in Canada driving across the entire length of the country, and an entire summer driving around and camping in the U.S, and 10 years outside of the U.S.) I say this not to boast but to advise you to fuck off if you think I've never experienced camping or being away from tech. I've been there and done that and can say without a doubt that having a couple iPads did not ruin our vacation and can say it from plenty of experience. Perhaps the crab hand pain from handling PS3 controllers and mind blowing headaches from looking at a 3DS display require time away but that's personal issues.

It's almost like that vegan dude invaded the tech forum. Chill out people. Having an iPad on the coffee table for easy access of information while sitting around the fireplace chatting with family after seeing nature all day is not the anti christ of a vacation. I've experienced plenty of vacations out in nature with just a tent, or even sleeping out under the stars on rafting trips, etc. Fireside chats are nice too. Night walks in National Parks are great. At my parent's age, it's a little more reasonable to do day trips out into the wilderness and stay in a cabin, etc.

Portable tech helps, not hinders if you have a clue. Even for family pictures, sitting with an iPad on the couch, using Airstream to show images on the big screen beats being huddled around a PC or old school slide show projectors, or fingering up actual photos. Several thousand family photos, grouped by decade, location, etc are all on an iPad, sparking memories and stories. iPads have a lot of uses. Not all of them are games. Go enjoy your nature vacations with no clothes or toilet paper. Steve Jobs went to India and was near death for weeks from dysentery, pissing out his ass the entire time. Sounds like a hoot! Just you and nature. Go find those mountain monks and be as one with them. I'm sure that's fun too but someday you won't be clueless about the benefits of tech on a vacation if used correctly.

Frontrunner for tech product of the year in 2012: iPad 3!

[miir]

How much is apple paying you to shill their products?

[masteen]

I'd venture, and venture probably have a 99% chance of being right, myself and family have seen much more of the planet than most here, and at the same point of whatever your various ages are.

This has more to do with the fact that you come from money than any amazing life insight you have. I am the 99%.

[Fairweather Pure]

Damn Winnow, you got trolled hard!

I would say iPad 2, easily. However, my only new tech this year was an iPad 2 and a 4gs. Both were just upgrades of existing products that I already owned. Oh yeah, I bought a Wii as well, but that is anything but life changing. Last year, my triple monitor set up was the winner by a country mile. It's the only way to play PC games for me now. It has completely spoiled me and changed how I use my PC.

[Animalor]

Mine for the year has to be my Windows Phone. I love the OS and I'm actually toying with developpment again.

I debated picking up a 3DS for 140 during boxing week however I remembered how little I played the last DS and I decided against it.

[Winnow]

I'd venture, and venture probably have a 99% chance of being right, myself and family have seen much more of the planet than most here, and at the same point of whatever your various ages are.

This has more to do with the fact that you come from money than any amazing life insight you have. I am the 99%.

I grew up above the poverty level. I'm not sure where money or life insights come into play, especially when it comes to camping/hiking which anyone can do. You don't have to be a millionaire to travel a lot.

[Sueven]

It sure as hell helps!

Come on now. Anybody can drop out and be a wandering vagabond, but in general it takes some serious material resources to travel extensively. Even most outdoorsy activities. It's possible to backpack (the camping/hiking kind of backpacking) cheaply, but it takes some serious planning and is not easy, if you plan on going anywhere other than your backyard.

But anyway, I think you're right: Having an iPad (or an iPhone in my case) is not going to ruin a family vacation. I'm about as anti-technology as people get on this message board, but come on: You can have an iPad on a vacation without being compelled to check your email every 5 minutes, or without resorting to facebook as soon as there's a lull in the conversation. There's nothing wrong with having it there, there's something wrong with using it compulsively.

On topic: The only tech product I acquired in 2011 is a new iPhone, to replace my old-ass iPhone 3, so I suppose that's gotta be my winner.

[Bubba Grizz]

I've travelled a lot when I was younger. Then again that was in the military and the places I have been to probably wouldn't be considered a vacation spot unless you count being shot at being the same as shuffle board. Any travel I do now is mainly for work. If I didn't already have to tote my laptop with me, I'd seriously consider getting an iPad.

[Aabidano]

I've camped all over the US, it's an easy and cheap way to vacation but does take some planning.

Technology on vacation isn't terrible, you just need to keep perspective.

The degree to which some people co-opt product or brand X as part of their life and self image is pretty sad (to me). If they work there or are owners it's sort of excusable but in general it just shows how empty their lives must be to get so caught up in what is essentially a throw away product. Apple and VW customers would seem to be the worst in this respect. Reminds me of the kid on youtube flipping our when his parents cancelled his WoW account

*Edit - As with most things different strokes for different folks. Like diet or whatever feel free, my disagreement with your opinion doesn't invalidate it.

[Aslanna]

I know somebody like that at work and I just find it rude. Constantly checking for email and facebook updates and typing messages and shit while ignoring real people trying to have a conversation. I seriously have no idea what the fuck some people did before smartphones were invented. What do they think they are missing?

[Canelek]

Asus EeePad for me. Dig Android Honeycomb OS!

[Aabidano]

I know somebody like that at work and I just find it rude. Constantly checking for email and facebook updates and typing messages and shit while ignoring real people trying to have a conversation. I seriously have no idea what the fuck some people did before smartphones were invented. What do they think they are missing?

Not much different than the people on the phone while driving, walking through the mall, etc... What on earth do they have to endlessly talk about? Will they explode if they just shut up for a few minutes? What did they do before cell phones?

[Leonaerd]

As part of the first generation to grow up with the internet, I find there are two types of people.

1) People who look at (escape to) their phones all the time and don't acknowledge how unattractive their vapid attention span is.
2) People with self-respect who choose to con amiably to their peers.

[Aabidano]

For the initial query it'd probably be my 32Gb touchpad. When it croaks, as it inevitably will, I will get another tablet of some sort, hopefully Android comes up to speed by that point. The format is much handier than expected as contrasted to a netbook\laptop\desktop.

If I can pick stuff from work, playing with a Pb+\day data stream right now. Everything involved just becomes kind of silly on that sort of scale

[Animalor]

My 16GB Touchpad is way up there for me as well on tech gadgets for this year. 50-60% of what makes an iPad great at 15-20% of the cost AND it plays flash.

I can also connect my Windows Phone to it via bluetooth and take calls from the tablet.