If you need more than just discussing Thanksgiving politics to get you off the guest list for December vacations, here are some gift ideas that will prevent you from being invited again next year.

Have you ever been in a position to buy a gift for someone you don’t like? Maybe an in-law or a stubborn niece or nephew? Or are you just looking to avoid terrible gifts? We collected the worst possible gift ideas—products you can give to people who serve as the holiday equivalent of “Here’s your problem now.” In other words, the digital equivalent of buying a drum kit for your cousin to annoy your brother

  1. Wired 3.5 mm headphones

    For the 2019 holiday season, this gives people a quest to find out how to connect headphones to whatever they own.

    Every flagship smartphone has left the 3.5 mm headphone connection in the last 3.5 years, which means that the practical possibilities of this are limited, at least with using a dongle for Lightning or USB-C connectors.

  2. Android tablets

    The Motorola Xoom, the first Android tablet, debuted in 2011, and full-size Android tablets were hardly better. For all UI enhancements associated with the tablet form factor in Android 3.0, these were slowly eliminated as the primary Android user interface returned to being more phone-focused, with third-party apps that rarely make or maintain tablet optimizations, making the tablet experience Android essentially just vast phone apps.

    In combination with the reputation of Android tablets for rarely or never receiving important version updates, giving Android tablets is an exercise in exposing people to frustration.

  3. The wrong smart assistant device (or, realistically, each)

    Do you know someone enthusiastic about the Google ecosystem? Buying an Echo device or something that relies on Alexa is a quick way to express polite disappointment.

    Amazon Alexa? Buying a Google Home or Nest product is counterproductive at best, given the incompatibility between the two.

    If you know someone who has not yet purchased either of these ecosystems, it is best not to give them either of them at all. “Here is a microphone and/or camera to place in your house, so Silicon Valley can always follow you!” will make you dear to friends, family, and informal acquaintances.

    There is also the point that Google is pushing the Nest Mini so hard with giveaways and bundles that the product’s value is roughly the same as the toy at the bottom of the breakfast cereal box.

    The thought counts, but this can be a flawed thought.

  4. The Facebook portal

    Facebook debuted the Portal videophone in November 2018, which was politely accepted despite the continuing data privacy scandal plaguing the social media giant. The portal is advertised as a device in the user’s living room used to communicate with friends and family.

    In February 2019, in an interview with Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, “We do not want a society in which there is a camera in the living room of everyone viewing the content of those conversations,” Apparently forgetting that the Facebook portal exists. No. We didn’t make that up. We can’t make things up.

  5. In principle, any Fitbit or WearOS smartwatch

    WearOS will be welcomed quickly because the devices of the current generation need to be properly equipped to take on the previous generation of Apple Watch units. This is not purely the fault of Google; the lack of good SoCs from Qualcomm needed to power these smartwatches has hampered development, although WearOS could be better in itself.

  6. Apple Watch for Android users

    This doesn’t work; it looks like apples, and well, you get it.

  7. Expired Chromebooks

    Chromebooks are delivered with nominally five years of software updates from Google, keeping the Chrome browser up-to-date. It is not five years after purchase but five years from the model’s introduction date. You can check the lifetime of Chromebook models on the Google support pages, but this information is not printed on the package when you purchase a Chromebook.

    Quite a few websites increase Chromebook sales for less than $100; these are often refurbished, expired systems that no longer receive security updates. Set a course for identity theft!

  8. The Xbox One X’s fully digital edition

    Do you want a game console but with none of the savings you can get on Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales or stores that sell second-hand games, such as GameStop? The Xbox One X All-Digital Edition is great for people who want to pay more for less money.

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