How To Make A Gadget Gift Great

I bravely waded into an Apple Store in a Houston, Texas, mall this week -- it was like entering a cage full of rabid badgers. Holiday shoppers were ransacking the joint for Apple goodies, accessories, software, and most of all, iPods. Not coincidentally, the "record store" next door was almost empty. This holiday appears to signal the inevitable music purchasing shift from disc to download.iPods and other music and media players -- and battery-operated gadgets in general -- are clearly hot this year.

In last week's newsletter, I pointed you toward the Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide, which tells you which are the truly greatest gadgets to give this season. I also told you last week where to buy great gadgets online.

But what I haven't seen anyone do is give tips and advice on how to give these electronic toys. It's something of an art form.

A gadget gift is ideally an exercise in instant gratification. But when people give battery-operated gifts, the receiver can't use it right away because batteries almost never come charged. So my first recommendation is to go ahead and break the shrink wrap, read the instructions for charging, charge the battery, and put everything back in the package before wrapping. That way, when people open their gift, they can start playing with it right away.

If your gift is something that stores data, think about how you might add some personal touch, such as pre-loading music, adding your own contact info to a PDA, adding digital family photos or loading a sound a sound file wishing them a happy holiday.

Also think about what accessories might enhance the gift experience. A luxury case, extra battery, removable storage, headphones -- whatever your recipient might enjoy. Music players, for example -- especially scratchable ones like the iPod Nano -- really need protective cases. Digital cameras can always use another battery and higher capacity storage.

A lot of gadgets can use services, such as iTunes with the iPod or Audible.com for PDAs, eBooks and media players, for downloading files on a pay-per-file basis. Others, like satellite radios, need subscriptions. So look for download gift cards, or buy a subscription with the gift.

Also: A lot of gadgets have how-to books that can really improve the receiver's experience.

Your friends and family will love the gadgets you give -- but with a little effort, a little more money and a little imagination, you can really make it an even greater gift.

Happy holidays!