#8: Retro Phone Handset, ThinkGeek.com

Everybody has a Scott Kaczor or a Joelle Irving in their life -- a close friend or relative who could really benefit from joining the digital age, but just hasn't had the chance to keep up. Maybe they're still rocking a Reagan-era boombox...with cassette tapes. If there's a computer, the monitor is 14 inches wide and at least 18 inches deep. Forget about printing wirelessly -- the printer's connected through a serial port (remember those toothy old connectors you had to screw in with your thumbs?) You may even have tried to turn this dear person on to the money- and earth-saving idea of refillable inkjet cartridges...but his printer uses a ribbon. Yikes.

Maybe the 20th-Century holdout in your life has a genuine desire to get with the times, but just feels like everything is too complicated, or doesn't know where to start. Sure, some people need the bracing slap-in-the-face of a complete high-tech home makeover, but for others, baby steps might be the way to go. Like these 12 high-tech, easy-to-use gifts, ranging from the silly to the sublime. (Got your own high-tech gift ideas for low-tech people? Add them in the blog comments below.)

12. USB Turntable

So your friend knows that "mp3" isn't a TV channel -- that's a good start. Maybe there's even an mp3 jukebox somewhere with a CD or two ripped on it. But the White Lion's share of his big-haired classics are still on good ol' vinyl.

Not to worry -- just plug this baby into the computer's USB port to convert records to digital files easily (if not necessarily quickly.) You'll be recording each LP's groovy little crackles and pops, too, but their warm, familiar presence actually might make your techno-phobic's 2.0 transition a little smoother -- baby steps, after all. (If not, Audacity clean-up software's included, too.)
Ion TTUSB Turntable, $119-$199, Amazon.com and various retailers

11. Vinyl and Cassette Ripper

What if your buddy's musical history spans the vinyl and cassette tape eras? Or what if the old turntable, the pride of his disco-age hi-fi system, still works like a champ? Then this might be the way to go. Just connect the RCA end to your turntable or cassette player, and the USB end to your computer. You can then either burn the tracks directly to a CD, or save them as one of several different digital formats. It works with just about anything that has an RCA output, in fact, in case your old-school pal has even more ancient toys in the attic.
InstantMusic Vinyl and Cassette Ripper, $49.99 (PC), $59.99 (Mac), ThinkGeek.com

10. Slide And Negative to Digital Picture Converter

Yeah, there are higher-resolution, more option-filled scanners out there that will convert your slides and negatives into digital files. But in terms of price and ease of use, this one seems hard to beat. Before you know it, your beloved Luddite may even be doing custom digital slideshows on the living room TV with a Home Media DVR!

Just note: this scanner's designed for standard 35mm slides or negatives, so some formats, such as those old square pics from the 1960s, may get cut off during scanning. To help you decide if it's the right scanner for your analog amigo, check out the user feedback on gadget site The Green Head, or the downloadable manual (PDF) from the manufacturer.
VuPoint FS-C1-VP Scanner, $99.95, Hammacher Schlemmer, National Geographic Store

9. Digital Photo Keychain

Relatively speaking, these aren't all that high-tech, with memory usually measured in lowly kilobytes, not megas or gigas. But that's all your friend really needs to keep a few choice pics of the kids in his pocket (you know, from the trunkload he's been dutifully scanning for months.) Gadget geeks tend to scoff at these pint-sized portfolios, since a lot of your newer mobile devices can capture and store digital photos now, too...but do you really think your buddy has one of those yet?

Alternate choice, above: if your friend can't quite get a handle on the whole digital photo thing, but still uses stuff that requires keys, maybe this is the way to go instead. Remember the year you got him that expensive PDA he thought was a "calculator" and he had more fun popping the bubble wrap it came in? Why not cut out the middleman and keep all that excess plastic out of the landfill with the Electronic Bubble Wrap Keychain?
Digital Photo Keychain, various manufacturers and prices
Electronic Bubble Wrap Keychain, $9.99, ThinkGeek.com

8. Retro Phone Handset

Sometimes high-tech isn't always better. Yeah, those Bluetooth cell phone earpieces keep your hands free, but you end up looking like you're either (a) relaying a message from the approaching Romulan starship to Capt. Kirk, or (b) talking back to the voices in your head -- it all depends from which side people are looking at you. And even if your low-tech friend has an older cell phone, chances are it's probably still too small to effectively cradle between the neck and shoulder.

That's the beauty of this retro handset, which plugs right into the jack of your cell phone -- it combines 21st-Century portability (okay, late 20th, sticklers) with 20th-Century, solid-state poundage, in a handsome replica of the classic Western Electric 500-series.

If you prefer, there's also a cordless, Bluetooth model for the same price, and if you're handy with a soldering iron, you can even make one yourself. Or if you'd rather just get your buddy an easy-to-use hands-free set, I gotcha covered there, too.
Retro Phone Handset, $29.99, ThinkGeek.com
Hands-Free Set, $0.02 - $0.08, office supply stores and other retailers

7. Thirsty Light

Just stick this thing in the dirt, and a blinking LED light will tell you when your plant needs water -- what could be easier? Okay, so I guess you could just stick your finger in the dirt and see if it gets wet, but what's high-tech about that? Besides, dirty fingers are SO last century, and is your finger made of corrosion resistant brass and equipped with Drypoint™ technology? I rest my case.
Thirsty Light, $9.95, thirstylight.com

6. Self-Destruct Button USB Hub

Not only does this hub turn one USB port into four, it also lets your tech-zasperated friend vent like a classic uber-villain (lap cat and monocle not included), all without having to explain to tech support how that size-10 sneaker print ended up on his motherboard.
Self-Destruct Button USB Hub, $59.99, Audio Cubes

5. Flux Capacitor

Those crazy scientists have invented a lot of far-out stuff since 1985, but as of this writing, time travel still isn't one of them. (Nor has the IEEE officially recognized the "jiggawatt" as a unit of measurement.) But does your lo-fi friend know that? Just imagine the yuks you'll get as the unsuspecting giftee straps this thing to the dash...and guns it to 88 MPH...into the side of a barn. Okay, on second thought, better tell him this collectible movie prop replica is a fake before he puts the key in the ignition. (Thanks to our own resident crazy inventor/DeLorean enthusiast/Techno-Guru, Brian Albert, for telling me about this cool item.)
Flux Capacitor Replica, $275, Things From Another World

4. Kidsafe Security Key

Let's face it -- your kids probably know a lot more about your computer than you do. You can install kid-safe browsers and parental control filters, but kids today are smart, and probably figured out ages ago that your password is the dog's middle name. And the vast world wide web is fraught with much more troublesome stuff than your Dad ever hid in his bottom drawer. So make sure your little ones are only online when you're around to keep an eye on them, with this USB security key. It's a physical key -- as in, "I'm taking the key away now, you're grounded" -- put it in the computer to boot it up and get online, take it out and the computer stays off, period.
Kidsafe Security Key, $59.99, ThinkGeek.com

3. Roomba

Yeah, these things have been around for a few years now, but so have leather jackets, and are they any less cool? Plus, recent improvents like rug fringe-sparing "advanced anti-tangle technology" make now as good a time as ever to invest in one.

In case you went out hunting for mammoths one day, fell into a crevasse, and were just thawed out last week, the Roomba is a robot that vacuums your house. Let me repeat that: it's a robot that vacuums your house. (I still can't get over how cool that is, even though I'm sure it's yesterday's dot-matrix to some.) Roomba also has a robo-cousin named Scooba that scrubs and squeegees your floors. That's right, I said squeegees. And if your tech-shy flower really blossoms, it's even possible to hack Roomba to make it dance, sing and paint.
Roomba, $119.99 - $499.99, irobot.com and other retailers

2. Flip Video Camera

The Flip is ridiculously easy to use and intuitive -- even people who still use rotary phones (and Oprah!) will be shooting movies within seconds of taking it out of the box. (It's the same camera we've been giving our 2.0 Families to use, if that gives you an indication of its user-friendliness.) For something so simple, cheap and small -- not much bigger than your average cell phone -- the images and audio are surprisingly decent.

It's called The Flip because of the little USB arm that flips out of the side -- plug it into your computer and download the videos right to your hard drive, without messing with memory sticks or card readers. It runs on two AA batteries, which can get eaten up fairly quickly if you use it frequently, so some rechargeable batteries and a charger would make a nice companion gift.
Flip Video, $119.99 - $179.99, Flip Video Store, Amazon.com and other retailers

1. XO Laptop

With its rugged, extreme weather-resistant exterior and hand-crank-powered battery, this laptop computer was designed for someone even less tech-minded than your grandpa -- a child in a developing nation. Commissioned by charity organization One Laptop Per Child, the XO is a visionary tool in the fight against global poverty, by teaching underprivileged children to think for themselves and learn by exploring.

You can't get them in any retail store, but for every tax-deductible donation of $200 you give to OLPC (on behalf of your beloved techno-phobe, perhaps?), they give one XO laptop to a child in a developing country. Until December 31, 2007, they're also running a Give One, Get One deal -- donate $399, they'll send one laptop to a child in a developing country and one to you, for the child in your life.
XO Laptop, $200, laptop.org

Posted by Jim 2.0 | tagged: USB, Flip, gifts, tips, charity, upgrade, safety, laptop, digitize, robot, tape, cassette, Irving, holidays, photos, security, wireless, phone, video, kids, Kaczor