Why It’s Alright to Return that Christmas Gadget You Don’t Need [Etiquette]

I admire Blu-ray. I’m anticipating Star Wars release greater than my first child. But, like every gadgets, sometimes Blu-ray is pointless. Maybe you or someone dear to you acquire a pointless tech gift. And you may (should!) return it, guilt-free.

People are protective over their things. Console wars! Format wars! My thing is brighter than your thing! Perhaps it’s some caveman reflex to be tech territorial. But while there’s still time, it’s worth explaining to that friend or father why the shiny holiday gadget that’s lighting up their smile may not be the handiest thing to light up their TV. Until Amazon’s guilt-free exchange patent becomes a reality, a thoughtful explanation of a mis-targeted gift is healthier than pleasant obliviousness. Whether it’s a Blu-ray player that isn’t right for their TV, a TV that isn’t right for their room, or a outright shitty smartphone, a trip to the return line is a drag-but wasted technology is a bummer of a good higher resolution.

I had to grapple with this issue in my recent personal life, with two people nearly my heart. My father informed me he was eyeing a Blu-ray deck as a self-gift for Christmas. My father is enormous into tech, but has never wanted a TV that swallows up a room-instead of myself (and plenty of of you), who adores big televisions that seem like giant portals into another dimension. His TV is a relatively diminutive 26 inches. It’s got an excellent, 720p picture, didn’t cost much, and doesn’t distract from anything of the front room. Fine.

Then there’s my roommate, who proudly informed me that he had received a Blu-ray player for Christmas to hook up to the 37-inch set he’s got in his bedroom, so he can watch flicks before he hits the sack. Cool! I said, unconvincingly. It’s a difficult topic to crack. Gifts are exciting-and when placed amid a sea of incredibly, incredibly lame gifts that aren’t Blu-ray players, it’s easy to whip oneself into a gadgety frenzy, without justification. But when someone you care about gets something they don’t need, you’re doing them no favor by permitting them to fool themselves.

I was ready to dissuade my father from getting a pointless Blu-ray player-for my buddy, it was slightly too late.

It’s not about tech bias or fanboy-ism or any type of ideological stance on Blu-ray (are there even any HD-DVD zealots left? Hiding within the hills somewhere?).

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This post is tagged: blu-ray player, blu-ray players, free exchange, free people, justification, obliviousness, personal life