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My colleague Chris Velazco is a professional gadget geek who has tried out a ton of technology products over the years. He's currently scrutinizing his CES in Las Vegas, a parade of quirky and sometimes brilliant technology.
Chris tells us about his current favorite (or not-so-favorite) tech gadgets. And he offers advice on how to determine whether a gadget will make your life better or whether it's likely to end up in your junk drawer.
Shira: A quick check to see how obsessed you are with technology. How many devices are connected to the internet in your home?
Chris: My WiFi router app says 25. This number is unusually low because I'm in Las Vegas and not sitting on my couch. There are unidentified devices. What exactly is “C02GP555Q05N”? You should look into that.
What are the rules for buying gadgets to ensure you get something you won't regret?
Trust your intuition. If you buy a gadget, set it up, and don't immediately feel that your life has improved, you may want to return it.
Don't rush to buy. When a shiny new product is released, there are so many flaws that people tend not to buy it right away. Also, almost all electronic products will be on sale. You can wait.
Be selective about your reviewers. First, ask yourself what you really want to know. Want a comparison between competing products? Do you have a feel for how the gadget fits into your life?
Look for someone you can trust. In addition to the Washington Post's help desk (shameless plug!), I call David Cogen on YouTube for daily reviews and listen to his Linus Tech Tips, which combine technical rigor with hilarious laughs. Masu. Wired's Julian Chokkattu and The Verge's Allison Johnson are wonderful, relatable, and unafraid to geek out when they need to.
What is your favorite technology-related thing in your life these days?
I swear I'm not an Apple fan, but the MacBook Pro, with Apple's in-house designed computer chips, is the best return on investment I've bought in years.I I never have I'm worried that the battery will run out.
[The latest models of MacBook Pro laptops have a starting price of $1,600 to $2,500. You can find older models for far less. Read more on savvy shopping for new or used computers.]
What technologies don't seem valuable to you?
I'm not interested in wireless charging. People will yell at me about this. I prefer to plug my device into a charger and continue using it rather than stick it on a wireless charging pad where I can't tap or type while it's charging.
What technology is too complicated or frustrating for you?
I'm not interested in anything smart home related other than the basics like lights. I live in a rented house and can't tear down the fixtures or rewire them.I'm worried that even if I could do it, I would spend the next 20 years all Smart.
But there is no way to install an internet connection toilet that you speak toright?
They may be okay. What's life without some weird luxuries once in a while?
Most of the products at CES are either gimmicks or popular items that will never be talked about. (look: household robot, face computer, driverless car.) Why is this important to the average person?
It's worth looking at how companies believe about the future and thinking about what we stand to gain and what we stand to lose.
Bring the robot home. Companies like Samsung and LG predict that people will have AI robots in their homes within a few years. I doubt it.
But this is an opportunity to ask ourselves, what do we want our household robots to do? How cheap would you splurge? Are these companies doing the right thing in the first place?
In all your years of writing about technology, what was the one thing you predicted would be huge and amazing that turned out to be wrong?
Ten years ago, when the first Oculus virtual reality headsets and Samsung's Gear VR were released, I thought many people would play games and complete tasks in virtual reality. I was way off base on how popular it would become.
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