Horse Sense

Horse Sense #143

Toys for Techs (tm)

This e mail is NOT about the holiday consumer buying frenzy, but about your business needs (though some Toys for Techs (tm) make great personal gifts as well). Toys for Techs is not just for the holidays. You can do it any time and I encourage you to do so. [Of course, we think you should call Iron Horse to get your Toys!]

Our Horse Sense Newsletters are meant to be useful for long periods of time and few ideas have proven more useful than Toys for Techs. Everyone who has implemented Toys for Techs has seen positive results in their business. It is fun, serves a legitimate business purpose, improves communications, and helps people understand what others are doing in their jobs.

If you are Ebenezer Scrooge, you can stop reading now. But, if you want to know more about how you can make Toys for Techs work for you and bring happiness to techy girls and boys, take a look at these older Toys for Techs posts going back over 10 years!

New products have come out, but they are often covered in earlier recommendations, so there aren't many net new recommendations this year. Good toys withstand the test of time!

You may well be able to deduct your Toy expenses as business expenses. See http://www.section179.org/section_179_faqs.html

Here are some of my newer Toy ideas:

Under $50:

New devices can be charged quickly by versatile USB-C cables. There are even cables with magnetic connectors so when the dog trips over the power cord, your device doesn't go flying acrosss the room!

Monitors, keyboards, microphones, headphones, speakers, and pointing devices are what human beings use. The ones that work, look and feel best to the user are the ones they should have.

Malware protection for your phone, tablets, and computers is a must. Be sure you have it on everything. Leaving your phone or tablet unprotected on a network is dangerous.

Under $100:

Laptops now outsell desktops. If you bring them between work and home, a docking station in each place will allow you to use faster wired connections, a second monitor, and connect to backup devices and more easily.

Larger dollar items:

Desktops are far from dead. The Intel NUC is an example of a new breed of desktop. Their 4"x4"x2" size allows them to sit easily on your desk or attach to the back of a monitor without compromising compute power or connectivity. They also sip power relative to larger machines. Newer laptops are more power efficient so they can stay cool and allow you to compute on a battery charge for much longer. They can be made thinner, lighter, and without fans. Their NVME solid state disks boot quickly and are thousands of times faster that spinning disks for many operations. Security has improved. Graphics have improved. If you have a machine that is more than three years old, consider replacing it. If you do not want to replace it, consider adding a solid state disk to extend its life.

Of course, you should always call the elves at Iron Horse about your favorite Toys. Heck, we don't even care if you have been naughty!