What's the best gadget you ever bought?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by raysachs

It’s an awfully easy and obvious answer, but I’m going with the smartphone. I remember somewhere about 20 years ago owning a cell phone, an MP3 player, a “palm pilot” organizer, a camera, a Kindle, etc. and it was patently obvious that all of these functions were gonna be incorporated into one pocket sized device and it wasn’t gonna take long. And then soon they were. I bought a blackberry back in maybe 2005 and then by 2011 I had an iPhone, which was all of those things. And I’ve stayed in the Apple ecosystem since, because they’ve always just worked well for me. And the current iPhones really are just about everything I’d ever want in one device. The cameras keep getting better and better, as does nearly every other function. They really are “the world in your pocket, at your fingertips”. They’re so ubiquitous now and seemingly just one of life’s necessities, that we don’t even really think of them as “gadgets” anymore, but they really are the ultimate gadget and if we take a couple steps back and think about it, they’re really pretty miraculous. They have major downsides too - every great sword has two edges and social media has clearly done at least as much harm as good. But that’s not the technology’s fault - we just haven’t adapted to having sooo much information easily available. Yet, and maybe we never will. But on balance, I wouldn’t want to go back to pre-smartphone days. They’re just so dang handy for so many things.

-Ray

The downsides are usually just poor discipline that is not really a phone problem. What I see they do for the elderly, the special needs folks where I work and also the working poor or people getting ahead is amazing.

My wife and her associates in her school and other districts use them to help kids with really horrible home situations. They are really important tools for our staff with special needs and some PSTD vets in our enterprise. Also for safe rides programs.

In other countries I've gone to over decades it was really neat to see how they help with commerce, banking and safety. Satellite phones are a little different but those and cellular are really vital for my sister in law who volunteers with Physicians Without Borders. When really messed up things disasters occur in the world she goes to give medical care.

It was actually her Apple Watch, but my mother is among those stories where it saved a life. She had a fall that broke bones, skull, teeth and got 911 help instead of freezing to death on a January night.

[Gee Man]

This is easily the best 510 cart battery I've owned, USB-C charging, 900mAh Li-Ion Battery lasts forever. Great for when you need an attitude adjustment but need to be stealthy about it.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Rolph

I'm amazed at what my 7 y/o smartphone can accomplish. I think they are the scourge of modern society and should be banned from all schools.

Originally Posted by imwjl

Why are you against something so important for those with learning plus other disabilities, the homeless, and working poor? The phones are even more important in countries with poor infrastructure..

I have to agree at least partly with both of you. Exterior cellbrains is what I call them, and they should indeed be banned from unauthorised/supervised use in the classroom (and we're seeing that happening here). I can't imagine homeless people with a smartphone here either, and the working poor are IMHO often even poorer because of the (perceived) need to own a recent & capable one with a fat subscription.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by RJVB

I have to agree at least partly with both of you. Exterior cellbrains is what I call them, and they should indeed be banned from unauthorised/supervised use in the classroom (and we're seeing that happening here). I can't imagine homeless people with a smartphone here either, and the working poor are IMHO often even poorer because of the (perceived) need to own a recent & capable one with a fat subscription.

They are used extensively by people who are holding down 2-3 part-time jobs as their method to survive and it helps communicate with kids. There is so little wired or conventional telephony that the phones are needed to hold jobs.

Huge percentages of the USA and likely other places use the same few HR and payroll platforms where the only way people get their schedules and pay stubs is with those systems' apps and web sites. This is even more concentrated where a lot of entry level and working poor jobs are.

There are programs that assist getting phones to people who need them so don't mistake it as a bunch of folks with late model Samsung and Apple with their unlimited 5G wireless etc....

It is very easy to not realize or know some of this stuff. I only do from the jobs my wife and I have and volunteering I do. Like all gapminder problems, many might not know things are different now than only a few years ago.

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by RJVB

For a second I thought you were referring to one of those (supposedly) oil-less fryers for making fries. How is this thing different from a regular electric oven other than in size?

I don't have one, but my understanding is that an "air fryer" is basically a small electric convection oven. It doesn't actually fry anything in oil, but if you put in small bits that are coated in oil, the quick, high temps & circulating air cooks them fast and makes them nice & crisp, as if fried. But you can use them as a small oven for other stuff too.

And if we're on cooking, I'll throw in my Instant Pot as a nice gadget. Maybe not the best ever, but I love being able to make soups & stews that would usually take hours on the stove and have them ready in less than 90 minutes from start to finish, while only dirtying a single pot.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by imwjl

with those systems' apps and web sites

There are programs that assist getting phones to people who need them so don't mistake it as a bunch of folks with late model Samsung and Apple with their unlimited 5G wireless etc....

My underlining of a crucial point and first I heard of "programs that assist getting phones to people who need them" (but then here we have universal health care ). I'm more familiar with the position that nobody should be obliged to have a smartphone. And some outcry when that's disregarded, like around the Dutch "digital ID" system which has begun to lock out e.g. demented elderly.

Anyway, I have one (with a really minimal subscription ) but it spends very little time in my hands...

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

I don't have one, but my understanding is that an "air fryer" is basically a small electric convection oven

I wasn't wrong either: type "air fryer" in the French A'zon search engine and most hits you get are for the "oil less" deep fryers.

That Ninja model looks like the perfect toaster for my partner though, when her old bread burner finally breaks down

[frankmcr]

What, no Pocket Fisherman?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by RJVB

My underlining of a crucial point and first I heard of "programs that assist getting phones to people who need them" (but then here we have universal health care ). I'm more familiar with the position that nobody should be obliged to have a smartphone. And some outcry when that's disregarded, like around the Dutch "digital ID" system which has begun to lock out e.g. demented elderly.

Anyway, I have one (with a really minimal subscription ) but it spends very little time in my hands...

I'm sure ChatGPT or Bard would give a faster and better written summary of the several programs that are a mix of private and public that aid telecom in the US. It predates most of us even having cell phones. Universal Service Fund came out of the acts that have our modern deregulated and competitive telecom environment.

Sorry if it sounds flippant, but decades ago now in helping elderly family members I remember the outrage and accusations of discriminating when you had to show ID that was paper.

Now that I think of it I'd probably answer an old chorded phone and early wireless handset if this question was posed decades ago. They were fantastic helpers for my grandmother's last years in the 1980s.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by imwjl

Now that I think of it I'd probably answer an old chorded phone and early wireless handset if this question was posed decades ago. They were fantastic helpers for my grandmother's last years in the 1980s.

Oh, don't misunderstand me thinking I have something against telephones or other remote communication systems. I've been a heavy user of those since the late 80s myself, and they're what keep me from being a total hermit right now.

But let's be honest, telephony is almost an afterthought in modern smartphones.

----

I think I finally have an actual reply to the original question: the small, countertop 2000W induction hub I bought for (IIRC) 50€ a bit over 4 years ago when I knew we'd be having to equip a new-to-us kitchen and I wanted to experiment with this unknown, holy-grail kind of cooking and see if there was any way to get the incompatible pots to work with it acceptably.
It really is a bit of a gadget but it works surprisingly well and has survived quite a bit of abuse. We ended up deciding against a full-size induction top (going with halogen instead) but I use the little one about as if not more often. I wouldn't dream of reheating my tea in its s.steel pot on any other heat source but that little hub does it with very heat dissipation.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by RJVB

I think I finally have an actual reply to the original question: the small, countertop 2000W induction hub I bought for (IIRC) 50€ a bit over 4 years ago when I knew we'd be having to equip a new-to-us kitchen and I wanted to experiment with this unknown, holy-grail kind of cooking and see if there was any way to get the incompatible pots to work with it acceptably.
It really is a bit of a gadget but it works surprisingly well and has survived quite a bit of abuse. We ended up deciding against a full-size induction top (going with halogen instead) but I use the little one about as if not more often. I wouldn't dream of reheating my tea in its s.steel pot on any other heat source but that little hub does it with very heat dissipation.

Oh yeah, I could have mentioned induction range / cooktops also, although I don’t see that as a gadget so much as just a better approach to the stoves we’ve all (at least those of us in the developed world) had for most if not all of our lives. We re-modeled out last kitchen back in 2014 and switched to an induction range then, moved into another place this past March that had another induction range in place, and now I wouldn’t consider using anything else. In addition to the speed with which they can heat stuff up - boils water waaay faster than a microwave - and their energy efficiency, the ease of cleanup (since the element doesn’t heat up - the pan does), and they’re every bit as responsive as gas if not a bit more so. You turn one on high and it goes from zero to incredibly hot right NOW and then turn it down while cooking and it goes from 60-0 basically instantly. I don’t consider it a gadget but it’s such a vast improvement over a typical electric stove, somewhat of an improvement over gas - although I know many people would never want to give up their gas stoves, that I’d never use anything else. We rant places in North Carolina every winter and they tend to have typical electric stoves and it’s an adjustment and a bit of a PIA every year when we go back to those and then such a pleasure when we get back home to our induction stove each spring.

-Ray

[hubcapsc]

Do you use cast iron pans on that induction stove? One is in my future...

-Mike

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

Do you use cast iron pans on that induction stove? One is in my future..

Of course! Just remember to never put the heat on too high when the cast iron is still cold as it might not like the thermal shock. I start mine at 400W on induction but don't hesitate to put my halogen burner on 6/9 because it heats slower and not from the inside of the steel.
If you're new to glass tops: get used to putting down pots and pans with deliberate care and not to slide them without lifting a bit. That said, most of my CI cookware has an enamelled bottom and even the bare Lodge skillets are smooth enough not too worry about scratching the glass under normal use.

NB: I'm not calling induction a gadget; that term is reserved for the cheap mobile hub. The gadget status clearly shows from the fact that the timer will increase in 10 min steps and decrease in 1 min steps, or that the lock function doesn't prevent it from getting turned off (very annoying if that happens when you wipe off over-boiled water when cooking pasta and you didn't watch where the time was at first).

Re: cleaning it: I had a practical aunt who realised very quickly she could cut down on cleaning needs even more by putting a newspaper page under her pans. That does sound like a gadgetry trick, no?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

I'd love to be able to say it was those X Ray glasses ordered from the back of a late 60s comic book.

But didn't these make the Blob spill into the audience ?

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

Do you use cast iron pans on that induction stove? One is in my future...

-Mike

Yeah, anything with a ferrous bottom…

-Ray