5 awesome last-minute Christmas gifts for your techie friends
on 9 December 2022 for GraduatesStill wondering what to get your techie friend or loved one this Christmas? Well, stop stressing because we’ve got you covered! Techies are notoriously difficult to buy for, but we’ve picked out five sure-fire winners that are guaranteed to bring peace and joy to any techie this holiday season!
Rubber duck
Wait, what? Is this a joke? If you’re puzzled by our first suggestion, then you’re obviously not a techie! In layman’s terms, rubber duck debugging is a way of identifying and removing problems, or ‘bugs’, from computer code. Trust us, it’s a thing.
The phrase comes from a book called The Pragmatic Programmer in which a programmer carried around a rubber duck to help them debug their code. Instead of bothering his colleagues, he would explain his code to the duck and, in doing so, would spot any problems or errors. When the book became a best-seller, the idea gained traction and a new debugging technique was born!
So, if your techie friend, colleague or family member has been burning the midnight oil lately and needs a lighthearted reminder to wind down, this Santa Rubber Duck will put a smile on their face! The Amazon store Duckshop makes a whole range of festively-themed rubber duckies including a Santa and reindeer duck. Thanks us later!
Coffee mug
You may have heard the famous phrase; ‘Programmers turn coffee into code’.
The saying apparently derives from a similar phrase coined by the Hungarian mathematician Alfréd Rényi and has adorned millions of t-shirts, mouse pads, and coffee mugs over the years. Techies LOVE coffee and you can’t go wrong with a mug!
There are a bunch of mugs with even more quotes so choice overload is almost inevitable. But we suggest this one!
Raspberry Pi
If you have vague memories of hearing the techie in your life mentioning ‘Raspberry Pi’ at some point, you may have assumed they were talking about the dessert! In fact, a Raspberry Pi is a tiny computer that has seemingly limitless uses. Anyone can start writing programs for a Raspberry Pi and create anything from a time-lapse camera to a retro gaming console or even a media server! If you don’t know what a media server is, don’t worry – trust us, it’s cool!
Nerf Gun
If you’re looking for the perfect last-minute Christmas gift for the techie on your list, buying a Nerf gun is a smart move! You see, when techies aren’t busy coding or solving hardware issues, they love nothing better than blowing off steam by waging Nerf gun wars in the office! Why? No one knows, but it’s fun!
If you haven’t heard, Nerf guns are toys that shoot harmless foam darts (or balls) and can be safely shot at other people without the need for protection. They’re perfect for quick office offensives and all-out blasting sessions with coworkers. They’re equally great for getting a colleague’s attention if they messed up a line of code! Nothing says ‘You messed up!’ quite like a Nerf dart to the back of the head!
Noise canceling headphones
When they’re not busy dodging Nerf darts or explaining lines of code to their rubber duck, your techie colleague or loved one is likely struggling to find some peace and quiet! There’s nothing worse than not being able to focus due to the background noise around. That’s why noise-canceling headphones make one of the best last-minute Christmas gifts!
These headphones contain tiny microphones that pick up outside noises and then create a noise cancelling wave to block out the sound. Pretty cool, right? Due to the amount of tech inside them, they’re a bit more expensive than the average rubber duck but they will get you instant kudos and plenty of festive goodwill from the recipient!
Whichever set you choose, noise cancelling headphones will go down a storm and will help your techie enjoy an ultra-productive New Year!
Final thoughts
If you’re looking for the perfect last-minute Christmas gift for the techie in your life, our list of festive treats covers everything from cheap and cheerful goodies to super-serious indulgences. So, whether you’re buying for a colleague, partner or a family member, we hope that something caught your eye!
What do you think of our list? What did we get right? What did we miss? Let us know!
From all of us at Exellys, have a Merry Christmas and, if your dream gift is a new professional adventure, make sure to reach out to us!
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Tags: christmas , exellyst , office , techie