Now that Halloween is over, it's on to the Great National Competitive Shopping Season. What to get the Mac owner in your life.

If you want to give someone a Mac for the holidays, I have some suggestions on stocking stuffers to include with it. 

 

First, I would include a cheap USB keyboard and mouse. You’re thinking, “this thing comes with a premium wireless keyboard and pointing device, why this extra keyboard and mouse?”

It’s because at some point, the batteries on the wireless keyboard/mouse will give out and your loved one will have forgotten to buy extra batteries or to recharge the device.  

You also run into times when they need a wired USB keyboard. Trust me on this, after 15 years of using Macs, you’ll need a wired keyboard at some point. 

 

Second, your loved one will need a USB hard drive as shown in the illustration. 

 

 

Third, if the Mac doesn’t come with its own CD/DVD drive, you should consider an external USB CD/DVD drive. I’ve even seen some that will do Blu-Ray disks. 

Fourth,  they’ll need some 8 or 16 gigabyte USB flash drives. The USB flash drive has replaced the old floppy drive for copying files and apps onto external media.

Fifth, headphones. I say this because chances are that their tastes in music clash with your tastes in music. 

Sixth, iTunes gift cards. When in doubt about what to get an Apple user, get them iTunes gift cards. They can redeem them for a wide range of downloads through Apple.

Seventh and final, EXTENSION CORDS AND POWER STRIPS! Murphy’s Law #321 states that the cord will be always be too short to reach the outlet on your holiday morning. So get extension cords.

Also get extension cords for the headphones, because the headphone’s own cord is just long enough to reach the back of the Mac and not long enough for a comfortable fit. 

 

 

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog