Without sounding completely out of touch with the rest of the world, I want to outline my five favourite purchases from 2024. My writing and storytelling days are largely behind me, so I expected a shift away from the normal new-product testing cycle. Yet, I still found a way to keep every device in my bag up to date, and I found a few other giddy-inducing products along the way.

I’m getting older though. Change is much less fun than it used to be. There’s only so much mental power each day, and large change for incremental gain is falling further and further down my interest list. More and more these days, once I’ve found something that sticks, I tend to stop hunting. Life’s better this way. I think.

Nonetheless, here are the five best products I’ve come across in 2024.

5. Mode Envoy (But More Specifically, Durock Silent Shrimp Switches)

The Mode Envoy has nearly ended my hunt for the best keyboard. Surely there are better keyboards. But they’re all three times the price, require you to build yourself, and require you to search the depths of the internet for the most arbitrary parts. I’m simply no longer interested in hunting for a better writing keyboard for at home.

The key to my love for the Envoy, though, are Durock Silent Shrimp switches. These light blue beauties probably hover on the line of not being allowed to call themselves a “silent” switch, given their deep pop, pop, pop sound. But once you get going though, that pop, pop, popping is one of the best sounds in the world.

I think the key difference between these Silent Shrimps and the Boba U4 Silent switches is the upstroke of each switch. On the way down, there’s about the same amount of force and feel of each keystroke. But on the way back up, the Silent Shrimps return to their normal state in a faster, less scratchy, more instant way.

These Silent Shrimps, combined with the Mode Envoy’s lattice mount system and internal foam make for the best keyboard I’ve ever typed on in my life. Over a year later, I still get giddy when I sit down at my home office desk to do some writing.

The only keyboard I really want these days is the Sonnet.

4. iPad Pro M4 13-inch

I’ve had more iPads than I care to admit, and the interest level has been waning in recent years. The M4 iPad Pro is the iPad that reignited the iPad for me. It wasn’t an operating system change that did it for me. It wasn’t the addition of new professional-level apps either. It happened to be a hardware and chassis change that put me over the top.

I long felt the 11-inch iPad Pro was the quintessential iPad size. It was the original iPad size, after all. It’s also the iPad that fits best in your hand and provides the best experience when using it on a couch or in a comfortable setting.

This incredibly thin, incredibly light, and incredibly bright 13-inch M4 iPad Pro puts all those monikers to the test, though. This big iPad feels wonderful to hold, even in one hand. It has a magnificent screen, capable of putting all other display in my life to shame. And there’s something about the way Stage Manager works on the big iPad that makes me think Apple actually is onto something. Perhaps most people just aren’t able to try out Stage Manager in its purest form.

For me, the iPad Pro M4 13-inch is Apple’s best device of the year. It has completely changed my personal computing life. I have a newfound separation between work and play, and it’s all thanks to this giant, insanely thin iPad Pro.

3. Ugmonk Gather

In my head, there are two versions of the ultimate desk setup: either perfect minimalism with next to nothing on the desk (like this one here), or a desk with Ugmonk’s Gather accessories. Minimalist desk setups look great, but I feel don’t have as much true functionality.

Jeff Sheldon’s ability to mould a beautiful set of high-quality desk accessories with an ultimate form of functionality is second to none in this category. Including magnets in each Gather component ensures everything stays where intended. Magnets also ensure you can move things around to your preference or give things a switch up if you’re looking for some inspiration.

If you made me pick one single Ugmonk Gather piece, it would be the Small Tray with a wooden lid. I don’t have one of the Large Trays (which could fit a set of glasses, for instance), so I can’t say for sure, but I feel the Small Tray is the perfect combination of form and function. The little box looks fantastic and stores anything from a set of AirPods, to a few SD cards, to a few paper clips. A close second is the Pencil Cup, which I feel works great for storing highlighters, pens, and a small ruler.

Perhaps the best part of the Gather system is its ultimate quality. This is a set of desk accessories I’ll have for the rest of my life. Their design is very likely timeless, and sure to be on my desk for the rest of my career.

2. Weber Slate Griddle

Like everyone (and everything) these days, I discovered the idea of a griddle on Instagram. A mom of three was showing off how easy it was to cook a gigantic breakfast for her rugrats and I immediately forwarded the video to my wife. Of course, we both figured it was probably one of those Insta-mom-influencers just trying to make a buck, but we couldn’t shake the idea of having one of these cool griddles on our deck.

While researching, the Weber Slate Griddle had just been recently announced, and I had to jump onboard. The griddle arrived in the early summer. We probably cooked upwards of 50% of our meals on the griddle thereafter.

There’s something about the way food tastes on a griddle. It’s most likely the greases and oils from yesterday’s meal making their way into your current slate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It could also be the oily and buttery mess you have to throw on the cooking surface ahead of every cook session. Whatever it is, food tastes at least three times better coming off the griddle.

You can also cook up a far larger number of items (burgers, pancakes, French toast, etc.) at once, or you can cook all the eggs, bacon, and pancakes in one or two passes, rather than working through each breakfast component one by one in your kitchen.

We ultimately chose the Weber Slate because we have a Weber barbecue. The Slate does have the ability, though, to cook at one of the lowest griddle temperatures on the market, making cooking those eggs a little easier. The Slate also comes pre-seasoned, meaning you can cook basically out of the box. We quickly made some breakfast burritos during our first cook — we were eating within 15 minutes of firing up the Slate for the very first time.

1. ESV Study Bible in Olive Tree Bible Study App

I bought my first Olive Tree book way back in 2010 when working through my first arts degree. Back then, I had this cute obsession to try to put everything possible onto the first and second generation iPad, and that meant purchasing the NRSV Bible. I chose Olive Tree at the time because it was the prettiest Bible study app on the iPad. Little did I think the app would still be around 15 years later, let alone still have one of the best Bible experiences on the iPad.

I’ve been using the physically massive and wonderfully constructed Crossway Heirloom Study Bible for the last few years. It has a number of highlights and notes inside and even has a massive wine spill stain from a late night study session 5 years ago. Shame on me. At least my Study Bible has some additional character.

I tend to read twice a day — once at the office and once at home — and I wanted to have those ESV Study Bible notes for whenever I was reading. Carrying that Study Bible around is the worst. It’s massive. And it’s too pretty to be rough with. I needed a digital version.

The ESV Study Bible in the Olive Tree app is as good as it gets for a digital Bible. The notes are feature-complete relative to the physical ESV Study Bible. The notes can stay locked-in to the verses you’re reading, or you can scroll forward or back while keeping your passages locked-in at the top of the view. The best part about the digital notes, though, is the ability to tap on a cross-reference and have the verse or study note pop up in a little window. This keeps you focused and reading the relevant sections to the verse you’re studying, rather than having to flip through the Bible to find the referenced note.

In my opinion, the ESV Study Bible in the Olive Tree app is the best way to study the Bible right now. Big-time pastors seem to be picking Logos. But the ability to have these sorts of pop up windows in the reference and study notes, while also having the Apple Pencil ready for some note-taking or some highlighting, is truly one of its kind. Connect the iPad to an external display and you can even have multiple windows open for multiple-reference studying.

The Olive Tree Bible Study app is now my most-used iPad app. And it’s all thanks to that 21st Century ESV Study Bible inside.

Wrap Up

I could have multiple shout-outs or push the list to seven or eight. I’m really, really happy with the M4 Pro MacBook Pro I recently picked up, and I’m specifically enamoured with the new nano texture display. That display is the best of its kind and I can’ see myself wanting any other kind of display again.

I could also mention Superhuman, perhaps my second favourite app of the year. I bounced off it the first time, but the second pass at the app has made my email workflow a dream. I finally feel on top of my email after what feels like years.

Or I could include Notion Calendar, maybe potentially Blue J, or a pair of Good Man Brand leather sneakers I picked up this year. I also discovered linen Marcoliani ankle socks. And these quirky and fun keycaps for the Planck EZ. All are excellent.

All the items above have provided a level of delight far beyond their price tag this year. I could not recommend any of these five items enough for anyone’s Christmas list this year.