Two weeks ago, I was invited to join an exclusive gathering of technology aficionados sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association and Techlicious. It was a great opportunity to see and experience new tech gadgets and to get some terrific ideas for the holidays.
One of the features I love about this road show is seeing current trends as well as revisit trends from yesteryear.
Remember 1999?
Going back to 1999, the year before the famous Y2K? Can you believe that was TWENTY years ago? Back then the most popular items included:
1. Color TV – 27” or greater
2. VCR
3. Color TV- less than 27”
4. DVD player
5. Digital camera
Top choices were laptops, MP3, Flat panel TV, Video game system and Digital camera
Ten Years Later— 2009 Top Trends:
1. Notebook or laptop PC
2. MP3 player
3. Flat panel TV
4. Video game system
5. Digital camera
So in 1999 and 2009, digital cameras made it onto the list, but now, everyone’s phones have such fantastic cameras, sadly for casual camera manufacturers, I’m sure they’ve taken a big hit. In 2019, we see some similar things like TVs and laptops but I think this is the first time wearables made it on to the list.
The Present — Top Trends for 2019:
1. Laptops
2. Smartphones
3. TVs
4. Tablets
5. Wearables
CTA research revealed the most wanted tech this holiday season to include Laptops, Smartphones, TVs, Tablets and Wearable tech
Another really cool trend in 2019 is giving the gift of content! In fact, 71 percent of those surveyed plan to purchase a content-related gifts like streaming or download entertainment services such as Netflix or Disney+.
So, there are the typical “big-ticket items” on a lot of people’s wish lists, but what are consumers really going to purchase? The Top Tech Gifts people actually intend to buy are relatively more affordable.
Top Tech Gifts for 2019:
• Headphones/earbuds
• Mobile case devices
• Portable battery chargers
• Video game discs
• Portable wireless speakers
Headphones, Mobile cases devices, Portable battery chargers, Video game discs and Portable wireless speakers
From my own point of view, and writing as a full-time college student, I’m on a budget, so it was great to see gift ideas presented by Mophie, Jabra, Amazon, Fitbit and 1More (and I don’t mean “one more!”) that were affordable, attractive and super useful.
True Wireless Bluetooth
Apple earbuds don’t fit snugly in my ears, and other wrap around options have been uncomfortable, so I enjoyed trying out the Jabra Elite 65t Bluetooth wireless headset.
Comfortable and beautifully designed in Copenhagen, Jabra offers great sound quality and noise suppression
The Jabras turned out to be surprisingly comfortable and fit snugly. The sound quality is excellent both from the standpoint of hearing and being heard. I don’t like the idea of having both ears being blocked from hearing ambient sounds and have mostly used single-ear headsets, but it’s not a problem with the Elite 65t. There are also settings to allow you to hear more external sounds, and also you can use just the right earbud, leaving your left ear open to all sound.
They normally sell for $170, but I noticed on the website they’re $110, which is a great deal. The industrial design is handsome, (they’re designed and engineered in Copenhagen) and it comes with a case which is used to store and charge your earbuds.
Amazon Fire tablets for kids – Almost indestructible and peace of mind for parents with great parental controls
For the past year or so I’ve been using the Sennheiser Presence bluetooth headset, which also has great sound quality and noise suppression. Its list price is $180. The design is old school, and the ear hook is uncomfortable. Actually, uncomfortable is an understatement!
Tablets for Kids
I thought the indestructible Amazon Fire tablets for kids were pretty cool. They give parents control over what their kids are reading, seeing, doing and when. The smaller 7” tablets were around $60 and the larger HD tablet (with more memory) is around $90. A tablet for under $100 seemed great!
Great variety of Mophie power stations and power banks for every need.
Battery Backup Power
There were so many great choices from Mophie and this picture doesn’t do justice to some of the fancier versions, but most range from $30 to $70 with a few more expensive options for powering laptops, tablets and Fast-charge portable hubs with Qi-enabled wireless charging.
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What are your thoughts about giving technology for the holidays? Yay or Nay?
Do you live in the U.S.? If so, please leave a comment and you’ll have a chance to win a Mophie Power station!
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Thanks to Techlicious and CTA for this fun event and for the gift bag of goodies, a great lunch and valet parking. My assessments of the products mentioned in this post are my own and don’t represent the manufacturers, CTA or Techlicious.
More about Terri:
Her store on Alki Beach: Alki Surf Shop
Terri Nakamura Design
Terri Nakamura on Twitter
Alki Surf Shop on Twitter
The Horsfall House on AirBNB
More by Terri Nakamura
Stories, Social Media & Tech 
Fun to see gifts from 1999 and 2009! Thanks for sharing about trends and cool stuff from CTA!
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Thanks so much for taking a look. Over the course of 2 decades, a lot has changed! Who would have imagined in the near future people would be carrying small computers around in their pockets! And the devices spawned a ton of products that exist to extend the convenience and usability of them! Happy holidays!
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This gave me flashbacks of downloading mp3s and burning them onto cds only to discover that regular cd players couldn’t read mp3 files and needed to be converted to .wav format which was 10 times the file size on average lol. I remember back in high school if you had an iPod you were cool. Nowadays if you have AirPods you’re cool.
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Hi, Stanley and thanks for the comment. Technology changes so quickly that I sometimes think consumers hold back from making major purchases for fear of having something outmoded in a year. The example you mentioned was interesting. I remember the different music file formats but didn’t know about the file size difference! Speaking of AirPods, I have seen knock offs, so it’s possible to look cool but more than likely not enjoy a great audio experience!
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The battery backup devices sound like a fantastic and practical gift idea!
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Hey, Mike, thanks for your comment, and I agree, the battery backups are amazing and I’m planning to gift a few this Christmas!
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Nicely done, Terri. When the iPhone came out, Steve Ballmer of Microsoft said, “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.” Twenty years from now when flying around on our personal hovercraft the latest technology gifts may be things we can’t envision today.
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Hey, couldn’t resist commenting… these tech gadgets are really awesome and most nerds would want them as gifts even without actually saying it. I saw some good tech gifts while surfing the internet and was thinking you could take a minute to look at them and probably add them to your list.
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