The Ten Worst Techie Christmas Presents

David, beg to differ on one item on the list - the analogue TV. It could be a perfect gift for half the population in the first world...as long as the TV sports a few HDMI inputs (apart from oldies such as SCART), an LCD screen and consumes low-power. With nearly half the population using a set-top-box of some kind to receive broadcast, an analogue TV can very well serve their purpose!

Note also that if you (or your operator) chooses new technologies (such as DVB-T2), you can still keep your (relatively)expensive TV and just switch over to a new (relatively cheaper) STB.

The same holds for other sources of home entertainment - a box that does DVD/BluRay/Internet access is a wiser investment than a TV which claims to do some of these, potentially with significant compromises and with the risk of it getting fast obsolete.

Also, I would certainly add cheapo netbooks to the list. These use inferior plastics than most toy laptops, the keys are clunky, the touchpad is either abrasive or doesn't respond, and the overall quality feel is that of an overused tuk-tuk.