So, Christmas is over already. It might have seemed like it passed in the blink of an eye, but it’s already time to take down the tree, pack the tinsel and baubles away, and finish off the last of the leftover turkey. The countdown to next Christmas has already started, and in the meantime, you can start using and playing with all the fabulous tech gifts that we know will have been waiting for many of you underneath the tree this year.
As advanced technology becomes more commonplace in all of our homes, more of the gifts we both give to and receive from our friends are tech-related, from devices that are supposed to make our lives easier to entertainment products and games. Gone are the days of receiving socks and deodorant for Christmas – these days, you’re more likely to get something that either needs batteries or has to be plugged into the wall!
Among all the tech-related items that have been gifted this Christmas, some have been more popular than others – and here’s the lowdown on the most commonly-given tech-related Christmas gifts for 2020.
Coffee Machines
There still is – and always will be – a time and a place for making coffee in under thirty seconds using milk, hot water, instant coffee beans, and a mug. It’s quick, and it’s effective when you want an instant caffeine hit in the morning. Thanks to the plurality of coffee shops and barista bars that stand in the middle of our towns and cities, though, we’ve all developed a taste for more exotic and expensive forms of coffee. That’s led to a surge in the popularity of coffee machines for home use, so we can all (theoretically) make something that looks and tastes like the lattes and espressos we enjoy in our preferred coffee bars.
Coffee machines come in many different shapes and sizes. Still, the Sage Bambino Plus Coffee Machine is thought to have been particularly popular with people wanting to wrap one to put under the Christmas tree this year.
The Sony PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 is so rare in some territories that it could almost be considered a myth. Still, those fortunate enough to either pre-order one or find one in stock in the run-up to Christmas were able to gift them this Christmas – and they’ll have been among the most enthusiastically well-received gifts of all this year. The PlayStation 5 might be the last ‘traditional’ console ever made. Platforms like Amazon Luna and Google Stadia, which offer games using a similar model to that employed by online slots websites, might show themselves to be the way of the future in years to come. In the same way, you don’t need to be inside a casino or own a cabinet to play 2021 slots. You don’t need to own a console to play video games on either of those platforms. When the public eventually took that idea to their hearts, online slots websites replaced traditional casinos as the most popular method of people engaging with gambling attractions. The popularity of the PlayStation this year suggests that the equivalent moment has not yet come for conventional gaming. Still, we suspect that consoles won’t be anywhere near as popular next year.
Amazon Echo Dot
Slowly but surely, we’re all becoming used to having robot assistants in our homes. They might not look or sound like the cleaning and cooking droids that were predicted by the science-fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, but they’re robot assistants all the same, and Google or Amazon generally makes them.
Millions of Americans now have ‘smart assistants’ in their homes, and the majority of those people own variants of the Amazon Echo Dot. The latest generation of the device is shaped like a golf ball, with a digital display on the side for telling the time and surprisingly good speakers for playing music. Thanks to their blue underlighting, they look more futuristic than ever before, and they learn new skills all the time. Very soon, we’ll wonder how we ever coped without them.
Nintendo Ring Fit
If you went back in time 25 years, you’d find that Nintendo was the king of the video game console brands. Times have changed a lot since then. Nintendo has been dethroned by Sony and Microsoft, but rather than shuffling quietly into the night. The Japanese company has found ways to diversify. Nintendo might not make ‘serious’ high-performance consoles anymore, but instead, it makes cute and useful devices like the ‘Ring Fit.’ It isn’t hard to work out why this has been such a popular purchase this year. With millions of people spending more time at home than they ever have before in their lives, and gyms being closed, fitness levels have taken a tumble. Devices like this help us to stay on top of our health and fitness without having to go outside to do it, and even make it fun in the processor, at least as much fun as working out and keeping fit ever can be!
Apple MacBook Air
You’d have to be very, very lucky to find one of these waiting for you under the tree on Christmas morning, but the popularity of Apple’s latest flagship laptop tells us that there must be a lot of lucky people out there! While the launch of every new MacBook Air model is a significant event in the computing and technology world, the latest generation is even more impressive than most. That’s because it comes with the M1 chip – Apple’s first ‘homegrown’ chip – which ends the company’s dependency on Intel chips and offers vastly superior performance. Never before has a MacBook moved at such speed, and never has the battery lasted long either. Given the significant leap forward in terms of capabilities, it’s not surprising that it costs a thousand dollars to acquire one. Still, once you’ve got one, it should last you several years, so it’s a worthwhile investment for Apple fans.
You should also learn about the details of how to maintain the MacBook pro, along with the difference between the MacBook pro and the air in case you want to choose one for someone as a gift.
We’ll hold our hands up and admit that nobody left us a PlayStation 5 or a MacBook Air to open on Christmas morning this time, so we’re a little envious, but so many units of both were sold in the weeks leading up to Christmas that we know thousands of you must be enjoying one or both of those incredible products right now. Don’t be too disheartened if you’re not one of the lucky few, though – there’s always next year!
