Time to take a tour of what I consider to be the best tech gadgets of 2018. There are some that you'll no doubt expect to find in this list, and others that will probably come as a surprise. ...
In 2018, you can buy a 55-inch 4k HDTV for under $400, but go back a decade in time and 1080p was the must-have spec. But you couldn't get it for $400, or even twice that amount, in a big screen. In fact, ZDNet highlighted a Black Friday sale at Best Buy on a 42-inch LG LCD with full high-def resolution for "just" $1,299. Better still, you saved around $300 for a TV that some people might have in a bathroom or a toddler's room today.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Before everyone went ga-ga over tablets, they fell in love with netbooks, the precursor to Chromebooks and other frugally priced (and spec'd) tiny laptops. It seemed
like everyone hopped on the netbook bandwagon -- even Disney. Our 2009 Black Friday deal rundown references the Disney Netpal, a custom-skinned (in Blue Magic or Princess Pink) Asus netbook built around a tiny 8.9-inch
display, Intel Atom processor and good-ol' Windows XP. With specs like that, it was clearly a steal for $349.99 at Toys "R" Us, which has followed netbooks into the dustbin of history.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Apple made tech history in March of 2010 with the launch of the original iPad, which once again showed the company's genius for refining an existing product category and making a device that was irresistible to the masses. It led to tablet mania by the time Black Friday of that year rolled around, with the iPad already outselling the Macs for which Apple was long known at the company's stores during the 2010 Thanksgiving weekend.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Subsequent generations of the Apple tablet have graced retailers' Black Friday ads ever since, even if they no longer command the rabid crowds they did during their first couple of Black Fridays.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Cyber Monday was started in 2005 as a way for the burgeoning e-commerce world to grab some of the Black Friday magic for online retailers. By 2011, shoppers were just about as likely to participate in Cyber Monday shopping as Black Friday, and it was also the year that marked the biggest year-over-year growth in Cyber Monday sales. But that wasn't good enough for the internet, which, in the years since, has coopted more and more of Black Friday sales, to the point that American Express started Small Business Saturday to support local brick-and-mortar stores.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Due to the success of the iPad and the explosive growth of smartphone usage, the PC market started stagnating by 2012 and even the launch of Microsoft Windows 8 didn't do much to jolt sales. The conditions made it difficult for a company like Sony to continue to profit from its strategy of selling sleekly designed (and pricier) laptops and desktops.
By early 2014, the electronics giant had sold off its Vaio PC brand, but it was still hanging in there as Black Friday 2012 rolled around. As you might expect from an upscale approach, Sony's deals through its online store were mostly modest, though you could snag a whopping $420 off of a Windows 7 Series Z notebook. The fact that the deal lowered the price from $2,999.99 perhaps provides a clue as to why Sony wouldn't last too much longer in the PC game.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
By 2013, retailers had figured out a new wrinkle to their Black Friday dealmaking: Rather than discounting products that manufacturers weren't particularly interested in selling below their normal prices, stores enticed you with gift cards if you purchased those products at the regular prices. Apple, historically allergic to discounts, was the focal point of this new strategy.
Not only did Apple stores begin to phase out their (smallish) discounts on iPads and Macs for Black Friday 2013, but also other chains like Target began offering store gift cards while keeping its price the same on the iPad Air and iPad mini. The tactic has been successful enough that it's been continued through subsequent Black Fridays, despite consumers grumbling each year about Apple stores only giving out iTunes gift cards as enticements.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
Chromebooks stumbled a bit out of the gate, as potential buyers didn't know what to make of Google's budget laptops that included minimal specs and ran the company's Chrome operating system. But by Black Friday 2014, the devices were hitting critical mass, as the browser-based OS and sub-$200 price point proved perfect for students and other cost-conscious web surfers.
Best Buy had an 11.6-inch Acer Chromebook as a Black Friday special at $149, while Office Depot and Office Max had a bigger Toshiba 13.3-inch model for $199.99.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
That prices for Chromebooks in 2018 remain similar to those is a testament to how compelling Google's pricing strategy has been.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Photo by: SJ Portnoy
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
The success of Chromebooks left Microsoft with a quandary: How to compete with devices that used a free OS and had captured the general public's imagination more than Linux-equipped systems. After a generation of PCs were built with the licensing of Windows factored into their pricing, the software giant veered from its long-established business model by releasing a version of Windows 8.1 that cost OEMs next to nothing.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Photo by: SJ Portnoy
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
By 2015 the maligned Windows 8 experiment had been replaced by Windows 10, and low-priced systems running the then-new operating system were a staple of 2015 Black Friday ads. Dell sold a desktop for just $99.99, Office Depot/OfficeMax had a Toshiba laptop for $119.99, and Windows 10 tablets (remember them?) were as cheap as $77.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
By 2016, tablets had joined the larger PC market in stagnating sales growth. Smartphones had grown more powerful and came equipped with bigger screens, and manufacturers hijacked tablet features like touchscreen displays for so-called 2-in-1 laptops (see next slide).
One of the rare success stories for tablets during this time was courtesy of Amazon, the online retailing behemoth that created Android-based Kindle Fire slates to complement its Kindle e-readers. As with other Amazon successes, the Kindle Fire's popularity stems from its unbeatable price: The basic 7-inch model started selling for a mere $33.33 during Black Friday 2016, both on the Amazon site and through other retailers like Best Buy and Target.
Other budget tablets had sold for around that price, but primarily from third-tier vendors in places like drugstores. The Amazon imprimatur, however, allowed it to sell millions of Kindle Fires -- 11 million in 2016, to be exact, a yearly growth of a whopping 99.4 percent in shipments.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
That aren't many bright spots in today's computer landscape, but the surge in laptops shipping with both tablet and traditional notebook features helped stanch the bleeding from the PC market.
Call them 2-in-1s, or hybrids, or convertibles -- they provide versatility through foldable screens, detachable keyboards, or digital pen support. They were also everywhere during last year's Black Friday, ranging from the $199.99 Lenovo N23 offered as a BJ's Warehouse doorbuster to a Microsoft Surface Laptop for $899 at Best Buy. One thing that is sure about Black Friday 2018 is you'll see a lot more deals on these 2-in-1 laptops in the coming weeks.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Photo by: SJ Portnoy
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
A look back at a decade of the year's biggest shopping event.
In 2018, you can buy a 55-inch 4k HDTV for under $400, but go back a decade in time and 1080p was the must-have spec. But you couldn't get it for $400, or even twice that amount, in a big screen. In fact, ZDNet highlighted a Black Friday sale at Best Buy on a 42-inch LG LCD with full high-def resolution for "just" $1,299. Better still, you saved around $300 for a TV that some people might have in a bathroom or a toddler's room today.
Also: Best Black Friday 2018 deals: Business Bargain Hunter's top picks
Caption by: Sean Portnoy
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