Ask Lemmy

I bought a new microwave in 2007 to replace the 1989 model I had since college. It could boil water in under 10 minutes. It had sensor cooking and preset modes. It was life changing.

The best recent one was a Faraday bag for my phone.

I use it as a step counter but didn't want to be checking it often nor tracked all the time, and the faraday bag blocks signals from the outside and minimizes my phone as a nuisance AND helps curb the urge to check it all the time while still counting my steps.

Overall, though, I'd say a USB powerbank. I've had it for three years and only used it a handful of times, but when I'm in an airport or road tripping, it's nice to have an easy way to recharge my devices.

Steam owen. Haven't reheated my food un the microwave ever since.

Noise cancelling headphones. I wish I could wear them 24/7.

My Thinkpad T440p, its a reliable laptop that works amazingly. It may not be the most powerful but the keyboard is amazing and the build quality is better then any modern laptop.

Putting more than 256MB of ram in a Windows XP machine. People think that the jump from HDD to SSD was big, but imagine Windows actively using the HDD as virtual memory. It would grind your PC to a halt. Going to 512MB made your computer feel like a Ferrari.

The original GameBoy in like 1992, I was 6 and it was everything. Then Pokemon came out and hell yeah

My Ampler E-Bike I bought 2 years ago. More than 5000 km later I still love it to bits.

Not sure if that counts as technology, but simple LED lights over my kitchen counter (mounted under the upper cabinets) were a pretty inexpensive purchase that made my life significantly better. I don't understand now how I was ever able to cook with just the ceiling lights on, it's absolutely terrible.

I got a Microsoft Surface earlier this year. I have had phones and tablets with pens before but none were very satisfying to use and I have had laptops for decades at this point. This is the thinnest and lightest laptop as well as the best tablet I have ever used.

I no longer carry a paper notebook with me because I always have my surface. I have needed One Note for a very long time but didn't realize it. having access to all of my notes and being able to carry all of them without having to find the right notebook as been huge.

Stand mixer. It's so much easier to mix things now and I make less of a mess.

Egg cooker. Hard boiled and omelettes were already easy but the cooker made it even easier, with less water, and less cleanup.