I’ve been very stressed lately and have been doing some window shopping to calm down. I’m interested in gadgets, but a lot of things can just be replaced with apps. I realize a phone won’t replace very large appliances like refrigerators or washing machines so I’m trying to scope my question to portable devices. So what are some portable devices or gadgets that their specialization hasn’t been replaced by smart phone apps? Extra points if they’re super useful and reliable.

  • IMALlama@lemmy.world
    5·
    7 days ago

    If you’re looking for an outlet, why not project shop with the aim of making something?

    This gives you the opportunity geek out on the gadgets you’ll need to pull off whatever you want to make. More importantly, the journey will continue post purchase as chase the thing you want to make.

    You can make both digital and physical stuff. With things like CAD, Arduino/Raspberry PI, and IoT you can also blend the two pretty easily.

    A very low key example might be a small garden. I’ve put a bit of time/effort into my seed stating setup, including designing and printing parts for my lighting rig. It seems like the setup iterates a bit every year. In addition, every year I spend a decent amount of time thinking about what I want to grow this year and then diving seed catalogues to find some new-to-me verity of something I’ve grown before.

    You can also design from-scratch speakers and go as far down that rabbit hole as you want to - buy vs build (kit) vs design the amplifier, ditto for the actual speaker, etc.

    /a person who likes making things