The 11 Geekiest Gadget Stores

[Tomsguiderachel]

From the 11 wackiest stores on the Internet come last minute, funny tech gift ideas for the lovable weirdos in your life. They're not all USB.

The 11 Geekiest Gadget Stores : Read more

 

[Guest]

Hmmm... Not sure what kind of geek the author is thinking of, but these sites are all WAY too 'hip' to interest a true dweeb.

Fry's SHOULD be on the top of any true geeklist, glamerous no, supremely functional... He'll Yea.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]dave k[/nom]Hmmm... Not sure what kind of geek the author is thinking of, but these sites are all WAY too 'hip' to interest a true dweeb.Fry's SHOULD be on the top of any true geeklist, glamerous no, supremely functional... He'll Yea.[/citation]
Ahh, Frys.com, definitely a classic to those on the West Coast. Seems like a hardware focus to me, though, and I was looking for toys/accessories tech stores. Though, Frys definitely has *some* of that stuff!

Thanks,
Rachel Rosmarin, Editor of Tom's Guide

 

[eh_ch]

DealExtreme.com also has some gems hiding in piles of useless usb fluff. Love it.

 

[d_kuhn]

Fry's is the Mecca of geek shopping, and a must-go pilgrimage (whenever we're out West) for those of us unlucky enough to live on the East Coast, far far away from the center of civilization (San Jose).

As far as the list... I perused the various links and have some comments:

The first store (fredflare) I think is a sordid attempt to dilute the good name of "Geek". After all... what dork in his/her right mind would be caught dead buying something from a store with the tag line "Stay Cute"? NONE I TELL YOU! I think it's part of a mass conspiracy (conspiracy theories are right up the ally of a true geek) to redefine the beloved stereotyping identifier of technophiles everywhere. I shudder... I really do.

The second store is described for the "Cool-Hunting"... we geeks are many things, "Cool Hunting" we are not. It's not that we wouldn't like to be cool... it's just that it takes too much effort and we have no idea how to do it anyway.

The third store (thinkgeek) was neat... I bought some stuff.

The Brando store could be thought of as Fry's lite... why bother with a pretender when the real McCoy is just a click away?

I think they should put a flash vid at the entrance to the Fry's site of clouds parting with some choir of angels thing going in the background.

UrbanOutfitter? I'm not sure if it's the name or the picture of the keyboard vacuum cleaner but I couldn't bring myself to go to that site. I was scared.

NerdyShirts - This site is for people who know geeks... not for geeks. Geeks don't buy clothes, geeks MOMS buy clothes, or if they're older then Geeks girl/boy/other-friends or wives/husbands. Usually it's in a vain attempt to reform said social outcast, though sometimes it's simply because said outcasts clothes are worn out and he/she has not yet noticed.

PerpetualKid - for the adolescent not the geeks.

Hammacher Schlemmer - For the rich geek... I'll give you that one. What geek WOULDN'T want a voice activated R2-D2.

Now one might think that a store like eToys would be a good place to shop for the little geeklings in the family... but you'd be WRONG. Little geeks aren't going to want any of that crap... stop over to Frys and buy up the components for a low cost PC for them to put together, or maybe get them a nice selection of electronic components... transistors, resistors, capacitors and a book with instructions on how to make a remote controlled shock collar for their sister.

xtremegeek... not very. This site would cover an aisle at your average Fry's... not the same aisle as the brando site... but an aisle nonetheless. And $60 for what looks like an aluminum TP dispenser... WTH?

Anyway, I'm off in search of more caffine - work has been a drag ever since my company stopped the supply of free soda.


Merry Christmas!

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]D_Kuhn[/nom][/citation]
Hi D_Kuhn,

Thoughtful comments, but may I suggest that you've defined "geek" rather narrowly? Not all geeks are into building their own systems, and not all geeks are social outcasts. Those attributes are not part of my definition, anyhow. Now, would I want to begin a conversation about the true definition of "geek" vs "nerd" vs "dork" vs "dweeb" etc? No, not really. But, as an example, there's a site out there on the Web called GeekSugar. If you visited it, you'd probably say its not for real geeks. But, of course, it is

Thanks,

Rachel Rosmarin, Editor of Tom's Guide

 

[d_kuhn]

Well I was just having fun above, but on the definition of "geek" I'd humbly disagree... it absolutely includes a social outcast aspect. Certainly you can put too fine a point on it, like folks that say there's a difference between geek, dweeb, nerd, etc. All these terms were/are interchangeable derogatory labels for kids that fit a certain description; tech or science oriented (sometimes art too), un-athletic, unpopular, uncool, unattractive, etc...

Fundamentally, those terms label folks who are unwilling or unable to play the social conformation game that starts in grade/high school and continues in some circles well into adulthood. I was being flippant in my earlier post (we tend not to take ourselves too seriously) but with a kernel of truth, the group for whom these terms were coined tend not to be interested in some things that other groups take for granted (like trying to be hip). Now I think these days there's a bit of cache' associated with the label so it's broadened as more and more people try to squeeze in, but at its heart it began when I was a kid (way back in the 70's and 80's) and back then NOBODY wanted any of those labels.

Well... to be accurate (and sadly to show my nerd colors since I can't leave well enough alone) the work Geek has been around much longer (at the very least it was used to describe sideshow performers in the early 1900's, but I don't its whole history)... but it became attached to the technology oriented as that group started growing with the advent of the PC.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

D_Kuhn,
Totally agree on how the word has changed over time. But as you said: "Now I think these days there's a bit of cache' associated with the label so it's broadened as more and more people try to squeeze in." I'm going with that. I, personally, like how the word has been reclaimed!

Rachel

 

[d_kuhn]

bah humbug ... if you let a word get redefined willy-nilly then what sort of language do you end up with? ENGLISH!

No wonder it's the hardest language to learn... between that and the word "witch" (or is it which?) - even those of us who practice it daily have a hard time keeping up.

 

[hellwig]

Double-Es (EEs, Electrical Engineers) put the EE in gEEk, and we don't even necessarily have anything to do with computers. Geek has been around before computers, geek doesn't necessarily mean you play WoW or recompile linux kernels in your free time.

That said, how safe is it to plug heaters into your USB ports, I'm sure they have regulators to prevent pulling too much current, but still doesn't sound safe.

 

[hellwig]

Oh I almost forgot, 11 of 12 pages? Something is wrong with the slideshows on this site, I've seen 11 of 10 before as well.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]hellwig[/nom]Oh I almost forgot, 11 of 12 pages? Something is wrong with the slideshows on this site, I've seen 11 of 10 before as well.[/citation]
I know what you mean about the pages, I've seen that before as well though I am not seeing that problem on this particular article.

I'll look into it, thanks.

Rachel Rosmarin, Editor of Tom's Guide