Last-minute Holiday Gift Ideas for Geeks [SURVEY]
16.12.2016 | 4 min read
Are you falling behind with your gift shopping? Hey, there’s still one weekend left! Maybe you could use a few tips from our geeky Holiday wishlist. Check out the results of our little Holiday gift survey in the 10Clouds team.
Generally speaking, there’s no way you can’t make a geek unhappy by giving him/her a holiday present! 94% of our team declared they like getting gifts in general. That’s a good start, but what’s next? To help you out, we conducted a small survey among 10Clouds team members and asked them to name the gifts that would make their Holidays just perfect. In the survey, you could choose among 5 present categories and name more than one you’re fond of:
- Tech gifts related to work (e.g. new equipment, tool access, etc.)
- Tech gifts unrelated to work (e.g. PlayStation console, VR gadgets)
- Non-tech gifts related to work (e.g. conference tickets, courses, industry books)
- Non-tech gifts unrelated to work (e.g. clothes, books, cosmetics)
- Hand-made gifts
- Gift cards
Which category do you think was the most popular?
Best shot: no work stuff
You’ll probably be surprised, but 72% of our team members love non-tech gifts unrelated to work, and that is the highest ranked category in the survey! You might expect such a geeky industry to be a community of total techies, but never judge a book by its cover. Also, our mini-study busted the myth of IT as a hub for workaholics. With tech gifts unrelated to work being the second most selected category, it turns out we prefer gifts to enjoy in our time off. Here’s how it looks in total:
Preferred gift categories:
- 72% – non tech, unrelated to work
- 66% – tech gadgets unrelated to work
- 50% – tech gifts related to work
- 36% – non tech related to work
You can never go wrong with something nice to use after hours.
Never judge a book by its cover. It turns out we, the IT people, prefer gifts to enjoy in our time off.
Risky business – gift cards and DIY
Of course, there are ways to avoid buying a specific thing per se – you may always make something on your own or simply get a gift card to spare yourself the horror of searching. But beware – this might not be a way to go when it comes to the IT folks. Hand-made gifts and gift cards were the least preferable forms of holiday gifts. If you were planning to go in this direction, well… Just go to our go-to online stores list in the last part of this post.
Have you been good this year?
Photo courtesy: Arielblankets.com
There are a few extra insights you should bear in mind when it comes to you fellow geek’s profession. We’ve extracted some interesting results based on these job categories:
Back-end developers
They are big fans of tech gear under the Christmas tree. Back-end developers picked gifts related to work as their favourite, but this stat might be a little misleading. Just look at one of the dreamed gifts stated in the survey!
Front-end developers
Interesting fact – front-end developers were the only working group who claimed they didn’t like getting presents (29%). But we guess it shouldn’t restrain you from finding something nice for them! As one of our folks stated in his answers, “gold, platinum, works of art and high-end alcohol” are always welcome.
iOS developers
Their preferences are more or less similar to back-end developers. Their first choice is tech gifts connected with work (93%), but the ones unrelated to work are almost equally desired (83% for both tech and non-tech type). Just like back-end developers, iOS coders’ letters to Santa might contain a little unexpected wishes, e.g. Jeffree Star cosmetics.
Android developers
Their preferences cover the general output of the survey – non-tech gifts unrelated to work are the most wanted option (80%). But, surprisingly, the same number of Android developers would be perfectly happy with a gift card (80%). If you thought the IT community is predictable, we hope this blog post will make you change your point of view.
Project Managers
This group includes the most fans of non-tech gifts related to work (60%). However, since that kind of gift might be a little hard to pick, don’t be afraid to rely on beautiful things that can be used both at the office and at home. For more details, check out the online shop list below, many of these came from one of our PMs!
Oculus Rift, photo courtesy: billboard.com
Designers (both UX and UI)
With this group, we know one thing for sure – don’t get them any tech gear related to work (0% picked this one!). Tech gadgets for home and entertainment are the best choice (75% like tech gifts unrelated to work). If you’re creative, use your imagination and think of something really unexpected. One of our designers’ favourite gift would be something completely non-material, maybe that’s a way to go?
Support (HR, Sales, Marketing, Office)
This group shows one strong tendency – no presents related to work! Tech (50%) and non-tech (50%) choices for other purposes are a perfect choice.
Online stores for Santa wannabes
From the answers in the survey, we noticed 4 most wanted sorts of gifts that appear in all groups:
- Home accessories
- Hi-tech gear (surprise, surprise) and related items
- Traveling (plane tickets, trip vouchers, etc.)
- Simply: pretty things
For each type, our team named a few online stores that will give you plenty of great choices. Most people listed amazon.com, but there are lots of places you must check out, too:
Pretty things
Smarter living
Tech&geeky paradise
All around the world
We hope this little guide will make your last-minute Christmas shopping a little less stressful! Or maybe you want to add other great ideas and stores worth dropping by? Share or retweet this post to keep the conversation going!
