2025's Notable Tools List

I love trying new tools, both physical and digital, to keep my environment fresh and exciting. Honestly, nothing excites me more than becoming productive with new software or hardware. I make tons of changes in my setup but not all of it sticks. The following highlight some of the items that stood out to me in 2025, purposely limited to my top 4 tools.

Obsidian

I've used a ton of different note taking applications and always had frustrations in one way or another. My requirements are so simple: I want to write in Markdown, I want the application to be cross-platform, and I want all of my notes to synchronize automatically. Over the years I have struggled to find an app that meets my criteria without trapping my notes in a proprietary format.

Obsidian has been popular for many years, but I had never taken the leap. I had always seen it as a powerful "mind mapping" application, full of plugins and extensions that I wouldn't need. As it turns out, I only need a handful of the core plugins and it works beautifully for me. I can use it on my laptop, phone, and tablet without issue, and I don't have to worry about my notes being trapped in some binary format.

Drawbacks

I purchased a subscription to Obsidian Sync Standard, which has performed well, but has 1 GB storage limit and a 5 MB file limit. For this reason, I don't store images in my Obsidian notes.

Shapr3D

I do a fair amount of CAD modeling as a hobby, not just for 3D printing, but also for metal and wood working projects. I have saved myself many hours, and dollars, by building my projects in CAD before purchasing materials. My main issue with most CAD programs is that they are expensive and require powerful hardware to run. This year, I want to try something reasonably priced that required lesser hardware specs.

Shapr3D was a perfect fit. It can run on an iPad, Mac or PC with reasonable hardware specs. The greatest advantage, for me, was the ability to use my iPad to interact with my CAD models. Shapr3D's flexibility is was piqued my interest. I can work at my desk, on a full PC workstation, and then make edits on my iPad, using a pencil, while I'm in the workshop.

Drawbacks

I occasionally do sheet metal work and Shapr3D does not have any sheet metal tools. Other CAD programs will calculate K-factors, bends and flat patterns which is a massive time saver.

Bambu Lab X1 Carbon

I have used a 3D printer in my workshop for many years now. Like many enthusiasts who started 3D printing in the 2010's, I began with a Creality Ender 3 v2. This printer was the gateway drug that got many of us started. It provided hope that one day we could consistently print without toiling over the printer itself. That was far from reality, 3D printers were a miserable experience in the past, but along came Bambu Lab and changed the game.

I bought the X1 Carbon with an AMS unit and haven't enjoyed 3D printing more! Bambu Lab accomplished what we dreamed of a decade ago. A 3D printer that felt more like sturdy tool than a project itself. I have printed countless hours of various materials with very high confidence that the X1 Carbon will deliver.

Drawbacks

Bambu Lab executes very well on turning a hobbyist device into a reliable tool. This comes with a compromise: you are very locked into Bambu Lab's supply chain. There are some third party components available, but for the most part you are stuck in the Bambu Lab's ecosystem.

GitHub Copilot

AI Coding Agents have become a bit of an arms race this year. I see GitHub Copilot as the OG, and while many say it has been left behind in the race, I found it the most friction-free way to dip my toes in the AI agent water. I have been pushed towards using Visual Studio Code for many reasons, and for many reasons Visual Studio Code has force AI agents into its product, so it was nearly effortless to begin using GitHub Copilot.

Adopting Copilot required a bit of effort, but its benefits largely overshadow any friction that it caused. I found the free tier to be generous, but I purchased a Pro subscription to get the full experience. I found that using the Claude Haiku 4.5 model was not only much faster, but tended to get things right on the first try.

I have a long way to go before I consider myself an AI Coding Agent power user, but I have still had a large boost in productivity thanks to Copilot. I may try other IDE's or Agent integrations in the future, but Copilot made its impact on me this year.

Drawbacks

Copilot as an IntelliSense replacement is clumsy. I almost always lose the suggestion, because hitting the tab key is awkward for me, and I struggle to recreate the suggested completion again. I would appreciate a more predictable interaction, similar to IntelliSense, than a complete shift in how completion works.