
confess. if you read this blog, you are addicted to data. this means you do not like Christmas presents. in fact, you hate those information-less presents your friends buy you each year. even after patiently telling them "any present should self-update at least each 30 seconds", last year's Christmas was still a disaster, despite that wireless weather station from your wife that is now measuring the temperature & humidity of those boxes on your attic.
starting from $15, here are infosthetics' 20 most wanted Christmas gifts for the info-addicted.

1. ($300)
because: who wants to know the weather, the stock market or the news headlines if all that really interests you is your electricity usage?
however: how much electricity does the Wattson (& all its peripherals) use by itself?

2. ($49)
because: you really love flicking through books with beautiful maps, interfaces, networks & diagrams.
however: oh no, the book seems to be sold out! (I hope not, double check at: ).

3. (+$390).
because: as looking at your own phenotype in the mirror bores you, the genotype might be more intriguing.
however: one first might need to look up the definition of .

4. Nooka Zen H Watch ($250)
because: its black. its cool. it beeps. its a continuous data visualization on your wrist. it is a constant conversation starter. really, which data-addict can resist a self-updating wearable bar chart?
however: you never had a watch that crashed before (well, I hadn't).

5. ($179).
because: you do not mind to be constantly interrupted during important meetings to be alerted of the weather, news headlines & stock market trends.
however: you need to explain each & every visitor what that rabbit is doing (really, I know).

6. Oral-B Triumph 9900 Toothbrush with SmartGuide Monitor ($139)
because: you are convinced it is impossible to brush your teeth without knowing the past brushing time, charge level, pressure alert or brush head change advice.
however: unfortunately, there is no indication of somewhat more intriguing data, such as the amount of rotations per minute, real-time teeth statistics, historical tooth color comparisons, tooth brushing competitions, or why not, a tooth brush stats Facebook widget.

7. ($179)
because: finally! a cheap, wireless, touch-sensitive, fully configurable information display!
however: after patiently waiting for more than a year, you realize they do not ship the Chumby outside of the US.

8. ($29)
because: you realize you only go running to admire the graphs afterwards.
however: you rather want to know how to input fake data.

9. ($29)
because: your tax dollar counts & everyone needs to know.
however: you cannot stop wondering where your poster money went.

10. ($3300)
because: you always wondered what the weather was when filling up on soda.
however: you have windows in your kitchen, offering a perfect, high-resolution, real-time simulation of the actual weather.

11. ($200)
because: what you really want is a real on your wrist.
however: unfortunately, you will have to wait until Steve Jobs starts designing watches.

12.
because: you do really need a beautiful screen on which each single pixel is an individual button.
however: you did not realize you will need to program it first.

13. ($39)
because: it looks both geeky & seamless on the picture.
however: the shirt (& especially with you in it) looks quite different in reality.

14. ($25)
because: you love mixing your information addiction with other hobbies like cooking.
however: you wish it had a 4-digit sensitive temperature display instead of the subtle dot.

15. ($29)
because: if Salvador Dali lived today, his paintings would have looked like this.
however: your personal DNA Portrait is filling up the wall already.

16. ($15)
because: you no longer want to stain your paper maps while fighting flies when traveling outdoors.
however: taking a swatter to your next trip to find your way might not be as effective as you think.

17. ($20)
because: your visual sense is way more dominant than your taste.
however: you'll never put the mug in the dishwasher out of fear the colors will fade.

18. ($59)
because: somehow a clock radio with the live stock market reports, temperature graphs & traffic map updates does not exist yet.
however: configuring those 7 independent daily alarms, various snooze, sleep & nap timers, brightness, & individual alarm durations will make you too sleepy.

19. ($???)
because: you want to live inside the screen.
however: you will not longer know where to place your cupboards.

20. ($70)
because: you insist not to look like a tourist running around with a map.
however: your frequented subway station is on your backside, requiring sophisticated yoga poses in public spaces.

21. (¥14,900)
because: continuously figuring out what colors, shapes & positions mean in terms of data is your hobby.
however: passing airport security might be a challenge.
and finally (outside competition):

($27)
because: Benjamin Fry is your personal viz hero.
however: you will have to wait until mid-December to get your hands on his book.
what is your favorite data-addiction present?
The T-Qualizer T-Shirt, though different than expected is still the single greatest purchase I've ever made.
It's a real attention getter and conversation starter and drunk girls seem to enjoy it a great deal.
I really want a functional tricoder-esque device now.
So get a Nokia N95 -- GPS, WiFi, 5MP camera, DVD quality video cam, etc etc, I'm sure there's plenty of software that will make it behave like a tricorder (hmm, maybe I should make some).
Isn't it funny that a e-photo frame (the 179 chubby) costs abotu the same as a whole computer (the 180 XO from olpc) that can be twisted into a tablet and has a great hi res color screen...
wattson only uses 4 watts which costs around £4 per year to run.
A small compromise if you can save between 5-20% on your electricity bill.
another book option could be The Agile Rabbit Book of Historical And Curious Maps (Pepin Press)
http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Rabbit-Historical-Curious-Pepin/dp//
@alexander - the chumby is a programmable, networkable computer, not just an ephoto frame.
Great "delivering info" subway map hoodie! Thanks.
nice to see you can still put things in perspective ;-)
I was all done with my Xmas shopping until I saw this list and like 5 more things suddenly became absolutely necessary, damn youuuuuuuu (by which I mean YAY!)
Andrew, is that really you behind this post? I've never known you to be funny before...
(There is a compliment hidden in that comment -- This is a great info-wish-list!)
I would like a custom-made visualisation of personal data (say, email exchanges) between the gift-giver and myself! That would be the ultimate data-addiction present!
I like this shirt a bit better, and it's cheaper!
It took me 10 minutes to find the '20' items because of the design of this page. Since the summary fit on my screen with adds flowing off the bottom, and it had a link to 'here' - as if the details were elsewhere. Since clicking on 'here' didn't do anything it looked like a broken link.
Anyway, the stuff was cool, so thanks for the list :)
Seiko stopped selling that watch in 2002(ish). why is it on the list? :p
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
gumby: thnkx for the comment. I will try to repair it soon.
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
gumby: thnkx for the comment. I will try to repair it soon.
Anyway, the stuff was cool, so thanks for the list :)
I was all done with my Xmas shopping until I saw this list and like 5 more things suddenly became absolutely necessary, damn youuuuuuuu (by which I mean YAY!)
where can i get the Seiko Final Fantasy watch ?
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
Hey, will these items remain available till next Xmas. This year I bought my business promotional items from a site named...umm... yes it was http://www.gopromotionalproducts.com.au.. nice website and good prices!! And bought my personal gifts from dollar store (thanks to the economy..:)) - nothing fancy but some practically useful items.
But next Xmas, this url is on my hitlist for personal gifts. They are innovative!
Happy shopping!
was all done with my Xmas shopping until I saw this list and like 5 more things suddenly became absolutely necessary, damn youuuuuuuu (by which I mean YAY!)
I saw this list and like 5 more things suddenly became absolutely necessary, damn youuuuuuuu (by which I mean YAY!)
wattson only uses 4 watts which costs around £4 per year to run.
A small compromise if you can save between 5-20% on your electricity bill.
I like this shirt a bit better, and it's cheaper!
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
gumby: thnkx for the comment. I will try to repair it soon.
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
gumby: thnkx for the comment. I will try to repair it soon.
because it is the most data-geeky one I could find. sorry for any confusion though.
gumby: thnkx for the comment. I will try to repair it soon.