Once again the giving season has descended upon us like a Harpiefrom the seventh circle of hell. If you are reading this wewill assume that you have some sort of interest or career ininformation technology so you need to be prepared to giveappropriate geek gifts. Geeks who distribute lame or uncool techgifts will be banned to a fate far worse than the seventhcircle.

The Basic Rules

First some ground rules. Rule #1: Never select a tech presentthat you would not want to use (or be seen using) yourself. Thatmeans that you can't give your nephews those 17 inch, 10 pound, 2GB, first generation AMD laptops that are on sale at you know wherefor $199. There is a reason they are cheaper than a decent smartphone. You can also get a good deal on day old bread at the bakeryif you don't mind a little mold.

Which provides a lovely segue into Rule # 2: You get what youpay for. There are lots of sad, old android tablets and smartphones that can be had for a song. Please resist that urge. If youare too cheap to buy something worthwhile spend your money on agift card. That way the recipient will know just how much value youplace on their friendship.

Rule # 3: Make your selection appropriate to the recipient. Youraging grandmother probably doesn't want to try and figure out theWindows 8 desktop on a Surface. My 86-yearold father is stillwondering where Outlook Express disappeared to when theneighborhood self-proclaimed technical guru offered to upgrade himto Windows 7. And the guru only charged him $100 for the labor.

The next thing we need to consider is the target audience orrecipient of the gift. There are two broad categories to consider,friends and family, and professional acquaintances. I seeabsolutely no need to gift anyone that I would not know were I atugboat captain. Simply working with someone or engaging theirprofessional services or having your professional services engageddoes not make for a gift-worthy situation. I get paid for what I doand so do you so let's leave it there. Anything else is less thanethical. If you really want to give me something, give me a nicerecommendation on Linked-in (and don't expect me to return thefavor).

So that leaves us with family and friends – and an introductionto our next categories—computers and gadgets.

Computers

We have finally gotten past that awkward time where PC's andlaptops were boring commodity devices distinguished only bycapacities and processors. We are now in an era where really funand interesting machines are available for not all that muchmoney.

Tablets

I call traditional tablets those devices where the touchscreenis the primary input device. Apple continues to dominate thismarket although that dominance will soon diminish. Not because theydon't make amazing well-designed and functioning products, butbecause there are simply too many less-expensive competitors. iPadshave led the way for all to follow. That being said I didn't reallyget the hype on the Retina Display on the latest iPad. I love thedisplay on my iMac and MacBook and when it's time to upgrade myiPad I am sure I will love Rentina, but I really didn't feel theneed for that investment. Although I'm sure I will one day wonderhow I ever did without it.

The iPad mini is a different story—and a different market. Themini is a fully functioning iPad – just smaller and a lot lighter.It feels like you are holding an envelope instead of a heavymagazine. The iPad mini bridges the gap we had between full-sizediPads and the lesser machines like the first generation AmazonKindle Fire. There was no comparison for those devices beyondthe fact that both used touch screens. It always seems to me thatwhen a parent purchased their child a Fire while they were using aniPad they were sending a message: “You are not worthy of what Ihave.”

The iPad mini provides a way to change that message. Their sizealone makes them totally child/teen friendly. Plus they are greatat the things a kid uses a tablet for: games, music, video, email,and social. They are a little small for web browsing and they haveno useful role in the business world—unless you are already luggingaround a Galaxy Note smartphone. The mini market is just homeand family use. Don't be a Scrooge; get the 16GB model. Kids needlots of memory for music and videos.

There are other good tablets on the market. I would recommendthe Kindle Paperwhite, a great reader that does not rely on ambientlighting; the Kindle Fire HD, great for video. If you are lookingfor an Android competitor to the mini you won't go wrong withGoogle Nexus 7—very iPad-like without all the apps.

MacBook Air

Ultrabooks are here to stay. The rest of the world finallyrealized that the MacBook Air was not going to go away so ratherthan wage the battle of innovation they joined the club. Ultrabooksare thin, lightweight, extremely portable devices with solid-statedrives and great battery life. Oh yea – Intel is trying to registerthe name as a trademark. Good luck with that. None of the machineson the market are anywhere near as good as a MacBook Air, whichwould make a perfect gift for your significant other (probablystill a little pricey for a kid).

Surface

The Microsoft Surface is probably the most revolutionarycomputer on the market this year. A cross between the pure tabletand an ultrabook it is a touch screen devices with a solid-statedrive and a keyboard built into its cover/stand. It runs Windows 8,which is optimized for touch screens. They are relativelyinexpensive (starting around $500) and rate very high on the coolfactor. The big challenge with the Surface right now is that theyhaven't been around long enough to gain real user acceptance, noris it certain just where the Surface niche will land. Are theycapable of being used as fulltime business machines? Will therelease of the Surface Professional close that gap?

In the current business environment Windows 8 is not perceivedas ready for prime time. Many large organizations are stillcompleting the move from XP to Windows 7 and are hardly ready toembrace another, radically different, operating system. The Surfacehas to cross that Rubicon as well as getting users acclimated to adevice where sometimes you touch the screen and sometimes you useyour keyboard. I have been using keyboards with iPads for a coupleof years and that now you touch, now you type thing isvery hard to get used to.

A lot of Microsoft employees I work with use Surface machinesand they all seem to say the same thing: “I miss the start menu.”(Which they then immediately follow up with a disclaimer sayingthat they really don't need it.) Not a bad thing, that—paradigmshifts always take a little while to gain acceptance.

I was at a Microsoft conference last month. During the keynotewe were being shown a very nice live product demonstration from adata center 5000 miles away. Very cool stuff. Then a marketing VPswiped the icons right off the face of the Surface he was using forthe demo. He stood speechless, staring in amazement at the blank,black screen he had created and which he was sharing with us all.It was one of those moments when you understand why geeks and notmarketing managers should do product demos.

Bottom line on the Surface is yes I want one. Yes they are cool.Fast, light, and super-portable. But I haven't wanted one enough topay for one myself. And that makes me wonder if I really want tospend that much money on a gift computer that could end up in theBetamax closet. Early adopters aren't always the eventual winners.I think I will wait for version two.

Google Chromebook

The logical successor to the netbook, these are lightweightcomputers designed as thin client devices. They have small (16 GB)solid-state drives so applications and storage need to be cloudbased (my iPad has a 64 GB drive). Using SSD technology theyare touted as instant on (a few seconds). They are a good fit forGoogle's cloud-based application suites and tools but are bookendswithout Wi-Fi or Cellular connectivity. The cheapest Chromebooksare nothing more than netbooks with spinning platter hard drives. Iwould not bother purchasing a Chromebook without a SSD. Price forthe Samsung version is $250. I would rate these asinteresting but not compelling. They might be a good gift for acollege student who is guaranteed of Wi-Fi across the campus andwho just needs something for taking notes, lightweight composition,email and social—and who will get a real computer when theygraduate.

Gadgets

The perfect gift for the road warrior is a portable wirelessrouter. I have been toting around a “small” wireless router foryears. I have way too many devices to use a single wiredconnection. So I plug in my little brick and hook it up to mywireless router and get everything connected. The good news is thatthere are now devices available specifically designed for travelthat don't require an external power adapter. The Apple AirportExpress is a favorite, but is pricey (about $100) and it does nothave an Ethernet port and requires an electric outlet. CNet has aninexpensive wireless router that can be powered and charged fromany USB power port. TRENDnet has a nice, low-priced 300 Mbps travelrouter.

I would probably select the Apple Airport Express but that'sjust me. I recently added an Airport Extreme wireless modem to myhome networks. I don't have a large house but have needed tomaintain 3 wireless networks to keep everyone connected withadequate bandwidth. The AE was expensive (about $200) butoutperforms every other wireless router I have used—and I have gonethrough a bunch of them.

Headphones

Last year I dismissed over-the-ear headphones as being as beingold fashioned and silly. In-ear devices provide great sound forless money and more convenience. I stand corrected. The boring—beenthere, done that—noise cancelling headphones have been replacedwith hip, cool over the ear devices. If you have a pre-teen throughyoung adult on your gift list you can't go wrong with Beats by Dr.Dre. They are not the most advanced acoustically, nor are they thebest design, but sometimes cool outweighs performance. The 1964Pontiac GTO wasn't the fastest or best handling car on the marketbut it was the coolest for that one summer. The Beats Solo goes forabout $200 and will definitely make you the favorite (and hippest)aunt or uncle on Christmas morning.

While on the subject of headphones I need to once again addressthe Bluetooth phone headsets. You know what I mean – those sillythings that hook over one ear and allow you to talk on your phonealmost hands free. I understand that they are very useful in a carand may save your life while driving. But friends don't let friendswear them. I see them lurching around every day—middle-aged men inmommy jeans and plaid shirts with that idiotic thing hanging offtheir ear. They look like the mob from Night of theLiving Dead. Lose the Bluetooth.

Neither

One of the best geek gifts you can give relatives is a year offree tech support. You are probably doing it anyway so you might aswell get credit for it. For Christmas set up their computers withsome type of software so that you can remotely access theircomputer and fix whatever they have broken. I have used a bunch ofdifferent remote desktop and VNC products over the years but thisyear switched to one called Splashtop Remote. It has a small clientinstalled on the remote machine that runs on start up and as longas the machine is connected to the Internet it allows me to remoteonto that computer and do whatever I need to. It was ridiculouslyinexpensive and I am able to connect from my iPad or MacBook. Myonly problem was I set it up out of the goodness of my soul and gotno gift credit for it. Don't make the same mistake I did.

Once last thing

Gift certificates really are wonderful presents for the youngpeople on your list. They have a better sense of style and coolthan you do anyway. Just don't cheap out.