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YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

ycgiftideas.com

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Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#51

Post by Jun8 »

What, no STEM toys!? Have you visited the toy gadget section of your typical store, e.g. Target, BestBuy lately? It's full of crappy stuff marketed under the buzzword "STEM" for unknowing parents. Examples: Construction kits from Vex Robotics, WowWee's CHIP Robotic Dog, etc. etc. Problem with these "STEM revolutionary" toys is that they are not open ended, even with the so-called programmable ones kids get tired after a few hours of play. Another good example of such a toy is the BB-8 robot. You love this when you get it but quickly lose interest after you realize that it's a glorified remote-controlled car.

For truly inspiring toys like this one (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/withpiper/piper-a-minec...) you still have to hit Kickstarter or search the Web. Why is that?

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#52

Post by lmm »

CPLX wrote: post #21
joncrocks wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not this specific device perhaps, but Sous Vides (as I understand it) can form part of a commercial kitchen, at high-end restaurants. A quick google shows: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/10/michelin-restaura... - A Michelin starred restaurant, which uses a Sous Vide. They are generally quite expensive to by for home use. I won't comment on the rest, but I'd agree that the list doesn't exactly fill me with wo…

But that doesn't make sense. If I'm selling a stainless steel bowl like they use in commercial kitchens can I say "now every person ever can whip up Michelin-starred omelettes" or something? I mean I suppose I could, but it makes me sound like an idiot. It's also plainly factually untrue. No Michelin reviewer will ever see my meal, no meal I make will receive a Michelin star. It's literal nonsense. And Sous Vide has…

> But that doesn't make sense. If I'm selling a stainless steel bowl like they use in commercial kitchens can I say "now every person ever can whip up Michelin-starred omelettes" or something?

People who are selling, say, chef's knives absolutely say that kind of thing. It's kind of silly but not obviously more so than any other marketing puffery.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#53

Post by StudyAnimal »

xiaoma wrote: post #30

The thing that really strikes me about this list is how nearly everything on it is offered at a premium price. One thing I loved about the tech world while I was growing up was that it was consistently doing more with less. Wikipedia displaced Encyclopaedia Brittanica by being both better and free. Hotmail was a clear win over AOL and Yahoo's offerings and then Gmail was faster and handled spam better while giving mo…

Oh course, the products in Gift Guides aren't meant to be the ones that most people can afford. No one wants to look at a gift guide of moderately priced mid-level gear. Gift guides give people something to aspire to. And I think a lot of people do look at the items and then go order a cheaper version on amazon later.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#54

Post by xiaoma »

bhalp1 wrote: post #46
xiaoma wrote: post #30

The thing that really strikes me about this list is how nearly everything on it is offered at a premium price. One thing I loved about the tech world while I was growing up was that it was consistently doing more with less. Wikipedia displaced Encyclopaedia Brittanica by being both better and free. Hotmail was a clear win over AOL and Yahoo's offerings and then Gmail was faster and handled spam better while giving mo…

Your point is true, but it's also likely that the model for a lot of these companies is to start with premium so they can focus on a profitable model and get the supply chain and execution worked out while there is still wiggle room, and then move down market. This is what Uber and Tesla did, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the most fashionable approach these days. There are probably plenty of exceptions, as w…

I seriously hope that happens with Acre. They could be amazing.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#55

Post by kepano »

CPLX wrote: post #14

I always wonder how people can say things like this: "They've created a wifi-enabled immersion circulator called the Nomiku so every home chef can prepare simple, Michelin-starred meals." I mean, I bet that literally zero Michelin-starred meals have been prepared with this device. And the phrase "Michelin" or "Michelin-starred" is trademarked and has a clear meaning. If I was a marketer for this company I would feel…

Nomiku is in use at Michelin-starred restaurants. e.g. Noma: https://twitter.com/nomacph/status/527325007014543361

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#56

Post by VLM »

hyperopia wrote: post #8

Pick up one of these for the hacker/developer/AI enthusiast in your family: https://getasteria.com/

WRT the whole christmas gift theme, "Estimated delivery date: Summer 2017."

The explanation of why it can't run on a phone and why it needs a new currency is a little unconvincing.

"asteria can connect with any bot, command any service" But it can't run on a phone, why?

Certainly "its an open alexa/siri/now" sounds very interesting.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#57

Post by jordanlev »

koolba wrote: post #2

Unless there's a significant financial incentive to do so (ex: 2-to-1 match), don't give people gift cards. Gift cards are the biggest scam ever pulled by the retail industry, or more specifically, perpetuating the idea that giving cash is taboo. The one exception would be giving a preloaded credit card to someone who otherwise doesn't have access to one (ex: a niece/nephew that's far away) and only if there are no f…

Eh, if I get cash I feel compelled to put it in my bank account and use it for normal daily expenditures (bills, etc)... but with a gift card I feel like I have permission to buy things that are just fun (especially if it's something like an iTunes gift card where you can't even buy something useful if you wanted to, unlike Amazon).

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#58

Post by mwseibel »

ryanlol wrote: post #12
koolba wrote: post #2

Unless there's a significant financial incentive to do so (ex: 2-to-1 match), don't give people gift cards. Gift cards are the biggest scam ever pulled by the retail industry, or more specifically, perpetuating the idea that giving cash is taboo. The one exception would be giving a preloaded credit card to someone who otherwise doesn't have access to one (ex: a niece/nephew that's far away) and only if there are no f…

>All that aside, Markhor looks interesting. I don't recall seeing them on HN (guess it's less "tech" than most YC companies) but the loafers look nice. Anybody here have any experience with them? Always on the look out for a better pair of shoes... Googling 'site:styleforum.net "markhor"' only finds one hit, and sites like reddit are equally empty. Does this company actually exist? They've supposedly been around for…

They do exist - I have a pair of Markhor shoes that I wore at my wedding last year and I love them :)

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#59

Post by tristor »

xiaoma wrote: post #30

The thing that really strikes me about this list is how nearly everything on it is offered at a premium price. One thing I loved about the tech world while I was growing up was that it was consistently doing more with less. Wikipedia displaced Encyclopaedia Brittanica by being both better and free. Hotmail was a clear win over AOL and Yahoo's offerings and then Gmail was faster and handled spam better while giving mo…

This is true in one way of looking at it, but the other way of looking at it is that these are companies offering products that were always out of the price range of the average person, but they've managed to drive the price down. For instance, handmade leather shoes are between $300-$500 for the entry level, but Markhor is selling them for $120. Yeah, maybe your average person can't spend $120 on a pair of shoes, but that's still significantly opening up the market in a way which wasn't possible before.

That's the nature of capitalism. Identify a market for goods people want, and as demand goes up, figure out a way to supply it at a price people can afford. As these types of ideas iterate, the cost will continue to go down and new things will become available at the top of the price ladder.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#60

Post by qwertyuiop924 »

ryanlol wrote: post #41
qwertyuiop924 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are circumstances in which Gift Cards are acceptable. For example, gift cards for online stores (iTunes, Amazon, Steam, etc.). This is particularly acceptable for children, as they are otherwise unable to purchase items from such stores.

Couldn't you just give kids prepaid Visa/MC cards instead? And I'm not from the US, but the idea of school-age kids not having their own cards sounds a little funny to me.

Not having credit cards? It's fairly common. Even Debit cards are not the sort of things you give to kids.

As for prepaid Visas, they're a relatively recent thing, and generally less known.

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