What Is a Gadget?

A gadget is an ingenious piece of oratory. Gadgets can be called gizmos, also known as little machines. A gadget is not a human invention; instead it is simply a machine that performs some task that can be described as a kind of a novelty. Gadgets come in all shapes and sizes. The current crop of gadgets includes everything from toys for the children to medical devices for senior citizens.

In order to understand what a gadget is it is necessary to know what a gadget is not. A toy, for instance, is not a gadget. A toy can be described as something that helps a child learn and develop a sense of what is around them. If a child finds an automobile he or she will be able to differentiate between the toy truck that drives around the neighborhood and the real vehicle that goes through the gas stations. So the term toy is given to the object that serves a human purpose rather than the human doing the purpose.

Another kind of a gadget is the software gadget. Software gadgets include CD players, web browsers, and cell phones. In other words, the meaning of a software gadget is anything that is designed and controlled with the aid of a software program. A cell phone may be considered as a software gadget because it allows its user to make and receive calls, surf the Internet, send text messages, play games, and use other features available in the cell phone.

Electronic gadgets are everywhere. Just walking down the street will you find cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, cameras, watches, televisions, compact disks, books, videos, wristwatches, calculators, infrared devices, and other electronic gadgets. The fact is that there is almost no department or area of modern life that has not seen the influence of some form of electronic gadget. The influence of gadgets on our lives is so pervasive that people usually do not refer to it as being ‘gadgets’ but as something that enhances their lives.

An example of an electronic gadget is the water heater. A water heater is considered to be a ‘gadget’ because it saves people money by keeping hot water in the house when it is needed most. A large number of people consider water heaters as appliances that they can’t live without. A water heater repair is therefore very common for an increasing number of people because they don’t know when it will fail.

So what is a gadget? The word gadget comes from the French word gager, which means, ‘a toy made or fashioned to be used.’ Today gadgets are both entertaining and useful, making the distinction between a toy and a hardware device blurred.