PlayStation 3. Yeah, it was a games console, and had lots of awesome games (such as the Uncharted series, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet and Clank, Journey, Warhawk, I could be here all day), but it was the extra features that really made it appealing in my opinion.
This was the cheapest and best Blu-ray player you could possibly get. It even stores media files on the internal storage, rips CDs too, upscale DVDs to 1080p resolution, not to mention the XrossMediaBar user interface was just so easy to use, and aged quite beautifully. It even has funky themes. It can play your PS1 games (some models can even play PS2 disks, but all models have some PS2 games downloadable from the store), you can manage files on your PSP or Vita. It had remote play, but it was... pretty limited to say the least.
It quite literally only does everything.
A lot of things could go there i guess haha, here's some things I'm thinking of at this moment:
- a dishwasher. I will never go back this is the best invention humans created since the wheel
- AC. Same as above it changed my life
- keybar. This is a nice tool to manage keys and some other tools in a swiss-army like format.
- a good usb-c docking station. I need to jungle between multiple laptops for work, this really helped doing that.
- Going full public transit, bike and carsharing (communauto). Less traffic, and between these options it's rarely more difficult than a car. And muchhhh cheaper, with gas, maintenance, taxes and depreciation it's a bit crazy how much you put towards a car. It really helps to live comfortably with my budget.
A longer cable for charging my phone
No joke, implementing automated MMO style daily quests on my smartphone harnessed my brainrot for productive means. I struggle with depression and ADHD among other things, so before l pretty much never made my bed or worked out, etc. I do all of that consistently now, and I feel all the better for it.
I've been looking for a way to invert that and make a number go up instead, and maybe implement gacha, flashing lights and FOMO into my daily routine to really exploit my busted psychology to its maximum.
Solitude.
I appear to have had extraordinarily bad luck in my life, as nearly every significant friend or lover or family I've ever had is consistently some.combination of abusive, exploitative, duplicitous, violent, criminal, hypocrite, never willing to hear my side of any story.
Been by myself with a new phone number in a new state for some months now and I've never been less stressed out, never felt less burdened, never felt more free.
Took me 35 years to figure out... wait, what if I did what I wanted to do, enjoyed things because I enjoyed them instead of pretending to like some other thing because someone else does, what if I stopped bending over backwards to solve everyone else's problems when they usually just go out of their way to cause more problems for me, and never give anything meaningful back, and in fact usually blame me for things I have no control over, and then spread unfounded rumors about me due to their own massive neuroticism and guilt complexes?
I am quite happy now. I've never needed much to be happy, and nearly no one who has ever claimed to care about me has ever once been able to handle my honest opinions about what they have put me through.
Its been astounding to realize that actually, I make friends quite easily and get along with most people I meet great, whilst everyone I used to know has spent decades convincing me I am an unlikeable asshole who is merely to be tolerated.
A NAS. Godsent when you're dealing with multiple machines.
Selfhosted VPN, another godsent for bypassing network restrictions or using public wifi.
Got a dishwasher after I bought my house and it is incredible.
Also got one of those fancy self-scooping litter boxes which is great.
Got my yard fenced in too after I broke my ankle/leg walking my dog and had to have surgery. Now I can just let the dogs out whenever and not have to worry about them running off or me breaking my bones.
Money. Just kidding I don't have any ;-;
Finally setup up my smart home. Lights coming on at dusk across my whole house with varying levels of brightness, from nightlight to lighting up the living room. Shutting down everything in my house and arming my security system all with one phrase. Temp automatically adjusting throughout the day/night for better energy savings. It really just made life a little easier in multiple ways. Especially once you realize there are smart IR blasters.
20lb blanket. Better sleep means better everything!
First thing that comes to mind are my glasses I'm wearing right now. Might as well start with the thing on my already awkwardly roastable face.
Did - Lived abroad. Cheap, fun, good healthcare/dental, great new foods
Acquired - electric toothbrush, immediate halt of dental decay
A drawing tablet. Now I don't have to worry about running out of paper or other art supplies!
Haven't bought it yet so I'll have to update but I definitely think a street and trail dirt bike will make life so much better, especially where I live.
I'll save so much on gas. All the places nearby like local restaurants, friends houses, and my job all have back roads and trails I can hop on to get to faster. It'll be so much more fun. When something does break or need replaced it'll be easier to do myself. A bike will just be so much better.
- Legal documentation up to date. Hated paying the fees and having to visit lawyer's office. Easier to manage.
- Nice stainless steel water bottle with a wide mouth. Easier to wash.
- Pilates bar. When I have no time to go to in person classes, this bar has been super useful and I can store it easily. Easier to workout.
The Lance of Longinus has its uses.
A roomba. (Long time ago though. Not sure I'd get one of the new models.)
Roomba.
My wife really likes the beach, but I hate the sand and I find laying flat in a towel very uncomfortable.
This thing fits in my backpack and folds out to a very comfy air filled bed. It does lose some air over time, I expect to re-fill it every 2 hours or so, but filling it is just a matter of catching some air by moving the Lamzac around. It only takes a couple of seconds and doesn't require a pump or anything.
Electric wire strippers (I do a lot of electronics).
And a low power large work height microscope
Money, makes life easier (as in surplus to your immeadete needs)
I was always frugal and started investing small amounts in the stock market when I was 19 , started reading the financial news when i was 18 and never stopped doing both. Still invest my surplus income now (still live a frugal life) and still read.
Quit work at 35, been mortgage free for decades and am 58 now. Allows me to live where I want, which is a quiet small rural town well away from everyone.
Two* empty cardboard boxes. One is roughly the width and length of my desktop tower; another is ~1/3 of the size of the first.
My desk used to have two drawers, right below the surface top. I was always hitting those bloody drawers with my thigh. Eventually I had enough, unscrewed them, and threw them away.
...ok, but what about the stuff that I stored there? Inside the big box, that is now over my desktop tower. The smaller one and its lid became divisions for the bigger one. It's organised, within the reach of my hands, and far from my thigh.
*actually three. One of my cats saw it on my chair, as I was organising the stuff here, and went into "if it sits, I fits, I call dibs" mode. It's in my living room now.
Gold Bond eczema relief cream.
Costs a good bit more than "normal" moisturizer lotion. But when I have a flare up that stuff is a life saver.
