Looking for a tech gift? Here are two items that would make great tech stocking stuffers in 2024.

Brother P-touch Cube label printer
I just love this Cube label printer. I have an old reliable Dymo I use for labelling computer and network equipment but I couldn’t resist the Brother P-touch Cube B300B label printer for mobile phone and tablet.
To get the most out of the P-touch Cube you need to download the right Brother software. Don’t use the regular Brother iPrint & Scan. You need to get the Brother Design&Print2 software as it has all the templates you want.

The Home Office template section has some very handy options for labelling your cables (definitely most wanted in offices) and computers.
For example, not only can you print “Monitor” on the label, you can also add an icon for quick recognition. Saves so much time if you have to rewire or replace connected devices. Please, all I want for Xmas is labelled cables.

Old versus New
One of the reasons I wanted to switch was ease of packing it into my bag. Definitely easier to cram the cube shape into my work backpack. I had thought it would be lighter than the old one. But no. The P-Touch Cube takes six, yes six, AAA batteries (not included in the box). With the batteries, the Cube weighs 478g versus 383g for my old Dymo which only takes four AA batteries.
Picture below gives you an idea of size.

Best Buy carries both the P-touch Cube B300B for mobile and the its big Brother P-touch Cube B710BT which works with PC and Mac as well as mobile. Both will fit into a stocking.

Apple Watch SE 2nd Generation
You need to know the wrist size before buying this as a tech stocking stuffer. The amiable Apple Store staffer tried to sell me the 44mm size watch. I felt like a small child trying on my dad’s watch. No, really, I wanted 40mm size.
Why SE instead of Watch Series 10? Why upgrade? I did want a better heart rate monitor than my old Apple Watch. I did not want to fork over for the Series 10 blood oxygen, ECG or sleep apnea monitoring. Mobile health trackers are just not accurate enough (yet) to fork over the dollars. BBC News did an interesting piece on “Why doctors are wary of wearables.”
Also I don’t quite trust how Apple defines exercise. For example, Apple does not consider walking up West End hills (with groceries) as a cardio workout.

And most people don’t need or want most of the features of the Watch Series 10. It’s like Microsoft 365 desktop apps, most people use about 15% of the features. In terms of tech features (as opposed to the health) I just want something that previews text messages and phone calls, and reminds me to get moving to appointments. The Apple Watch SE does all that affordably.
Apple Watch Annoyances
Why, oh why, does Apple automatically insist on sending notifications from every iPhone app to your Watch? Then Apple has unironically offers you a Mindfulness App that you wouldn’t need if they didn’t automatically send every notification to the Watch. It took me almost 20 minutes to turn off all that crap.

Secure your tech stocking stuffers
Whether you buy the Cube, or Apple Watch SE or receive another tech stocking stuffer in 2024, make sure you secure the device with updates. The latest version of Watch OS is 11.1. You can check this from the Watch App, General, About.
Doing other Xmas shopping? Secure your holiday online shopping.