Ask Lemmy

My e-book reader (Tolino).

As I got older and had problems with my eyes, this was a game changer. I had basically stopped reading books and now I do it daily. I can choose the font and letter size, background color, and backlighting based on what works best for my eyes that day and the light where I am.

Being able to hold a very light device with a big screen when I would have to balance a heavy weight as a paper book is also great, and I take the reader with me everywhere, whereas a big book would stay at home most of the time.

The reader has a bigger screen than my phone and the battery lasts longer.

The reader works flawlessly with my library, so I don't have to buy books, which keeps costs down, and I don't have to leave the house to get a new book.

Calibre helps us share books in our family, which is one reason we've stayed away from Amazon's Kindle, so we've all gone to ".epub".

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

A 1000€ ebike. Best choice ever. Always on time, unaffected by traffic and never get tickets since I don't have a registration table :)

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

A kitchen sink. Did an impromptu kitchen reno due to a gas leak and being without one is such a huge downgrade in quality of life. I was washing dishes in the bathtub nightly and it was absolutely miserable. I don't think I've ever been more appreciative of the technology of modern plumbing than the day I was able to rerun lines to the sink area and get it all going.

My NAS, having access to all my files anywhere at any time is great

A robot vacuum with a mop and self emptying/mop washing base (I live with two dogs in the PNW where mud is constant for 6 months of the year).

A temperature controlled pod for my bed. I used to sleep so hot all night long, constantly moving to find the cool part of the bed.

Now I keep it like as cold as can be all night, and my sleep has improved 10x. Plus my partner likes it warm so her side is nice and cozy. Both of us are happier for it.