The Cheap Revolution

Gift Ideas for Internet Entrepreneurs

The holidays are fast-approaching. If you're still looking for gift ideas for your friends or if you're having trouble coming up with a wish list of your own, check out the 13 gift ideas below for inspiration.  These ideas are listed by price, with the cheapest appearing first.

1. Business Magazines - Magazines are inexpensive and easy gifts to give. The most popular business magazines are Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, Inc., Business Week, Fast Company, and Fortune. Prices range from $11/year to $45.97/year depending on the number of issues published.


2. Business Books - See our previous post about the top must read books for entrepreneurs for gift ideas.
   
   
3. Bluetooth Headset  - Entrepreneurs are always on the go -€“ whether they're heading to investor meetings, vendor meetings, or networking events - which is why this is such a great gift. There's one particular headset, the Motorola HS850, going for a steal at Amazon for only $23.75.
   
   

   

4. SanDisk 2GB Cruzer Titanium USB Drive - A flash drive allows entrepreneurs the ability to store and transfer their confidential files easily and quickly. This heavy-duty drive has a casing that is crush resistant to over 2000 lbs. Another benefit is its retractable USB port which eliminates the need for cover caps. The current Amazon price is $26.90.
   

    

5. Ergo Comfort Adjustable Footrest - This is a must have for entrepreneurs with feet and back problems. Its swivel action allows for instant repositioning of the users feet and legs when sitting in front of the computer. The Amazon current price is just under $28.
   

    

6. Leather Portfolio or Bag -€“ These gifts come in handy when entrepreneurs need a more professional look. Find a great price on eBay.
   

    

7. Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse -€“ It seems like entrepreneurs spend more than half their time in front of a computer, especially in the concept and launch stage of their startup. This wireless keyboard and mouse provides convenience, comfort and style. Its Amazon current price is $49.99 and its eBay auction price ranges from $20 to $40.
   

    

8. Fellowes Power Shredder -€“ Almost all entrepreneurs I've encountered are paranoid about protecting their ideas and paper shredders can provide them with an extra sense of security. This particular one creates confetti shreds and includes a 5-gallon basket for easy dumping. Its current Amazon price is $45.99.
   

    

9. Apple 1GB iPod - Great gift for those entrepreneurs that are always on the go. Help them pass the time with an iPod. Check out both Amazon and eBay for the best price.
   

    

10. Wall Street Journal Subscription -€“ Great for checking on competitors and reading the latest business news and trends. A six-month subscription ranges from $129 to $169.
    

     

11. NeatReceipts Scanner -€“ This scanner alleviates the hassle of keeping track of expenses and business cards and is a great way to prepare for taxes. Works with QuickBooks, Quicken, MS Money, Excel and many more. Scroll down this Amazon page to see how it works. Again, shop around for the best price. The prices I've seen range from $175 to $209.
    

     

12. Blackberry Phone -€“ All entrepreneurs need some kind of PDA and the Blackberry is the best selling by far. It's best to get one with a phone plan but if you're out of luck, check out both Amazon and eBay for the best price.
    
    

    

13. Amazon Kindle - Recently introduced, it's a portable reading device that has the ability to wirelessly download books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers. It's a great way to pass up time while reading business books/magazines, catching up on entrepreneurship blogs or the Wall Street Journal. It's biggest benefit is its paper-like display that is nothing like the glare of a computer screen. Plus, there is no PC or syncing needed. For more information, watch a video demonstration on Amazon. Note: This item is temporarily sold out due to heavy demand and is shipped on a first-come, first served basis. Its currently only available on Amazon for $399.
    
    

By: Yasmine

New Year Resolutions (hopes, dreams, plans) - A snapshot

This New Year Celebration we placed some large posters in our living room for friends and family to record their resolutions. My wife insisted on providing the option of calling them hopes, dreams, plans... which made the exercise a lot less threatening to people.

Below I've grouped the resolutions by ages and gender (Male or Female). Its fun to hear the different inner voices calling out in these messages... and how they change over the ages.

Do any of these look like your hopes, dreams or plans for 2007?

Do well on math test - M, Age 7

Get a cell phone - F, Age 10
Never be mean to my sister - F, Age 10
Take my dog on more walks - F, Age 10
Share more of my chocolate - F, Age 10
Become a better writer - F, Age 10
Be more patient - F, Age 10
Practice my musical instruments more - F, Age 10
Save more money - F, Age 10
Study more for tests - F, Age 10
Keep track of my stuff better - F, Age 10
Take more chances - F, Age 10
Have an opinion! - F, Age 10
Make more friends - F, Age 10

Be a cool person - M, Age 12
More skiing and golfing - M, Age 12

Stay fly - M, Age 13

To be more socially adept, less nerdy - F, Age 17
Follow through on ideas and be more dedicated to work - F, Age 17

Improve my relationship with my boss - M, 34
Focus on the science instead of the environment at work - M, 34

Intentionally choose how I react to annoying situations - F, 40

Turn in expense reports on time! - M, 40
Stop worrying about weight - M, 40
Smile and laugh more - M, 40

Take more time to be with old friends - F, Age 45

Connect to action - M, Age 45
Ask good questions - M, Age 45
Stop seeking validation (other's approval) - M, Age 45
Assign a quotient to the eliptical theorem - M, Age 45

Write and try and sell my work - F, Age 48
Open a new business - F, Age 48
Be a kind person - F, Age 48

Find a date/boyfriend who is:
1) upright
2) breathing
3) opposable thumbs
4) employed - F, Age 50

To be more wholly who I am - F, Age 50

Happy 2007!
- Skip

The cost of sharing information: an experiment

To test out the concepts of “Democratization of Knowledge”, I decided to do a spontaneous experiment. At 6:52 AM, I decided to use my new digital camera to record a digital video of myself and send it across the country to a friend. I had never used the digital recording feature of this camera and I had never shipped such a video to anyone.

I bought the previous generation Kodak DX6490 camera for $250 on eBay and received it seven days later. The camera has 3 times the resolution of my old digital camera, has digital video capability, an automatially rechargeable battery and 16MB of built-in digital memory. My old camera, which cost me about $500 five years ago, required me to purchase a memory chip, could not record video and burned through AA batteries like there was no tomorrow.

By 6:56 AM, I had recorded a short personal message to my friend Mike in San Francisco. I haven’t seen Mike in several months, so he also got a chance to see my new beard via the video.

By 7:02 AM, I had figured out how to transfer the video from my camera to my PC.

By 7:04 AM, I had shipped a 3 Megabyte file to my friend in San Francisco over my $30/month broadband internet connectivity (DSL).

In twelve minutes, I had produced and shipped a personalized video to a friend three thousand miles away.

My friend responded later that day at 5:52 PM, exactly 11 hours after I started my experiment. He told me that I would be the next American Idol (he is a very sarcastic fellow!).

In 2000, I could not have done this activity at the pricepoints mentioned. My DSL connection, which was slower than what I have now, cost me $90/month. A camera capable of recording digital video would have cost me over $1000. The cumbersome software surely would have slowed down my production to at least three times what it took me today.

Ten years ago, in 1996, recording a digital video would have required a conversion process from traditional video. The standard VCR technology would have cost about $500 to record, but the translation software and devices might have cost another $1000 in specialty software and hardware. The entire process would have taken several hours. Just transferring the files over my 56K Frame Relay (for which I paid $500/month) would have taken 10-20 minutes.

Twenty years ago, the process might have taken a custom studio, several thousands of dollars and would have taken some custom work on both sides of the connection to make the transfer happen electronically. It probably would have been faster (and certainly cheaper) to ship a video at that point.

To summarize, looking from the past forward, and how tough it would be to create this digital video and ship it electronically to someone:

1986 (not practical) Over $10,000 (est. equipment and connectivity). Over 1 day of effort.

1996 (possible but expensive) $1500 equipment. $500/month Frame Relay connection. 4 hours

2000 (cumbersome) $1000 for digital video camera (est.) $90/month high speed DSL. 45 minutes of total effort

2006 (simple): $250 equipment, $30/month connection, total operation - 14 minutes

You get the picture (and more!).