Black Friday is rapidly approaching and I have shed most of my consumer tendencies over the past few years. I primarily focus my spend on experiences over consumer goods so I normally don’t jump on Black Friday deals or bother much with it but this year is different for a variety of reasons. Tech stuff has become very expensive due to data center builds and the whole AI thing so I’ll largely avoid tech this year except for one thing….
Here’s my Black Friday shopping list:
- iPhone* – I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and it works fine except for the battery. I buy new iPhones and keep them till I run the battery to the ground. I will try to find somewhere to replace the battery and keep it as a backup until it is no longer supported.
- Luggage – My summer to fall holiday travel illustrated to me that I need robust and versatility in my luggage and I want to buy something that will work perfectly for my travel plans.
- Kindle – I read books on my iPhone Kindle app and it wasn’t ideal. I have an old Kindle that is no longer suppported so I plan on buying a new one. I thought about an iPad but the glare makes it unusable at the pool or beach. I am surprised Apple hasn’t come out with an outdoor device in all this time.
- Travel Cooking Ware – This may sound like an odd one but I missed cooking while traveling. I had access to great farmers markets fruits and veggies but didn’t have the right cooking ware to make the best of it. I have already ordered a travel knife and other minor supplies, the main thing I want is a portable sous vide wand that will work with 110 and 220 voltages.
- Travel stuff – I have some miscellaneous things around travel that I need to get. These are items to mostly optimize my life while I’m traveling. Power adapters, simplified cables, etc.
- Backup Power for Home Server Lab – The biggest stretch for the budget here is a backup power for my home lab. I had the power go out a few times and it shut down my AI chat bots and servers which left me naked and afraid while overseas.
* About the iPhone – This iPhone will likely be the last iPhone I buy. Quite frankly, I’m extremely tired of “apps” and stupid Microsoft Authenticator I need to use every time I log on to something. I am tired of being texted a code to enter into some apps too. How did big tech think this was sustainable? 500 apps on a iPhone and 500 Authenticator codes and 500 text messages, etc. It’s dumb. I don’t know how we got here but I don’t want to deal with it any more, I want my AI agent to do all the work and heavy lifting. Ultimately, I would like to end up with a linux phone and have an interface to my AI agents and manage my life from there. I would even consider those smart glasses and talk to my AI agents down the road.
I think smartphones will be dinosaurs in about 3 years or less so this will be my last iPhone.
Share The Wealth
What’s on your Black Friday list? Let me know in the comments below.