This article was published on December 22, 2012

What’s really on entrepreneurs’ 2012 holiday wish list?


What’s really on entrepreneurs’ 2012 holiday wish list?

From the realistic and pragmatic to the hypothetical, members of the YEC have technology on the brain in 2012 — to improve their lives, make the office a little brighter and update “business as usual” while they’re at it.

What is one high tech gadget on your holiday gift wish list that could radically help your biz in 2013? Why?

1. iPad mini

I do a lot of speaking and would love an iPad Mini to start demoing our website and to take emails of people at my events for our newsletter. This would also enable me to get Square and start charging people on site for products and services. This is one gift that would take my biz from boring to digital real quick.

Vanessa Van Edwards, Science of People

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2. Corporate Minority Report?

If I could change one thing about my work it would be how I currently hold virtual meetings. Simply put, they are prosaic and just unreal. By introducing the natural user interface, the office would become a gesture-controlled world, creating a bridge between the real world and the digital world. Its time to take the touchscreen to the ether and let our bodies interact with the our devices, bringing body language and true human interactivity into the virtual world.

Leandro Margulis, Impulsa Business Accelerator

3. The Emperor 200

For our team at LabDoor, spending 100+ hours a week wired into a high-tech computer setup, efficiency and comfort are king. To that end, nothing beats the Emperor 200. It turns your coding station into an environment reminiscent of Star Wars, all while providing top-of-the-line screens, speakers, touch-controls, seating, and more.

Neil Thanedar, LabDoor

4. Jambox — Cue the office dance parties

The gadget at the top of our PRserve team’s collective holiday wish list is the Jawbone Jambox. It’s a tiny, sleek speaker with high-impact sound. I got my first glimpse of the Jambox when Shahar Nechmad, the founder of Stagedom, pulled one out of his bag during #AnotherDetroit event in Detroit. The Jambox isn’t just great for spontaneous office dance parties (which lower stress and increase positive vibes/ productivity); it’s great for clear, effective conference calls with clients. We are making this item a requirement desk accessory at our office this new year.

Chris Barrett, PRserve

5. Nest

My goal is to buy a Nest Learning Thermostat as holiday gifts for each of our office locations in order to save money on our energy bills in 2013 and beyond. For those that are unaware, Nest is a smart thermostat that replaces any traditional thermostat and uses technology, the web, and obvious logic to control and monitor your room temperatures in a more efficient way. It may not be a fun personal gadget, but it’s definitely something to get excited about.

Logan Lenz, Endagon

6. Google Glass

I would love to play around with the newly released SDK and see how it works. I think we will see a big increase in the next 2 years on devices that interact with their reality. We had Augmented reality before… but this seems to make a more practical use of it.

Joseph Ricard, Plum Investors

7. Dictation software

I’m just in love with dictating. I’ve used software on my Mac for a few years to help me dictate articles, blog posts, and emails… but now I’m digging the mobile dictation. Jamming on an iPhone and being able to just record yourself speak is priceless, the ideas just flow.

Then when you get home you just plug in your phone or wireless upload your recordings, and using software like Dragon’s Scribe you get your words transcribed and ready to publish.

Nathalie Lussier, The Website Checkup Tool

8. MacBook Pro perks

One item that would improve how I run my business is the Apple MacBook Pro. The latest version comes with retina display, which is currently the world’s best screen resolution for notebooks. This would allow me to give impressive business presentations to my clients. It also has an Intel Core i7 processor, which would be an upgrade over my current laptop. With 8GB of RAM, I’ll be able to get my work done faster. Other features which will help me run my business more effectively include an HD camera, a Solid State Drive, and it’s also a very light device.

Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

Image Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images

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