Localize the content keeping the concept !!
[ Rose Kim 2006-01-09 ]

[AVING TALKS] With the advent of personal media ‘blog’, individuals have an opportunity to stand as ‘an information transmitter’ from a mere information taker. Together with this trend, invention of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) facilitates individual info transmitters to achieve ‘news agency’ status that is able spread their news to various channels even without high tech equipment that AP or Reuter has.

If there were no ‘Blogosphere’ in the world, AVING would not be able to accomplish its mission to unearth new products and technologies of unknown companies and deliver them with vivid images to readers all over the world.

In this regard, AVING arranges a special time to have email interviews with publishers and chief editors of blog news channels, who are delivering AVING Visual News to all over the world with professional knowledge and gentle humor, to get their opinions about media trend in the world and the future of IT industry.

AVING Talks on ‘Blogosphere’ – 4

Nicolas “Soma” Gut,
Publisher of technobiosphere.com

(Picture: Nicolas started his career at pdafrance.com)

1. Can you introduce yourself to us briefly?

My name is Nicolas Gut, I write web content under the name Soma. I’m 29 years old and I’m half French half Swiss person living in Paris, France. I studied Art, Japanese language and culture, and management. I finished my studies in a German business school called WHU. I started to work in the IT industry as a journalist during my management studies. I worked for a website called pdafrance.com, a very famous website in France about PDA and the whole mobile technology.

2. What kind of a blog is technobiosphere?

One year ago I started to write a personal weblog about the things I like: technology (of course), architecture, ecological way of life and sports I usually play (golf and snowboard). My blog was pretty popular and 4 months later I decided to create with the Pdafrance publisher a new website called w3sh.com. This blog-style website is about gadget, fashion and urban culture. I’m the editor in chief of this website.

I continued to write on my personal weblog called “technobiosphere” or “a weblog from the technobiosphere” but I wanted to be closer to the Asian IT market and I discovered Aving.net. I immediately had a crush on this website. I found everything I’d like: interesting subject about device and about the persons who produce the devices, good pics, good style…

The technobiosphere talks about technology and I focus on the devices I love: the Sony PSP and Sony NW-A1000 MP3P. I like to talk about architecture and ecology subjects, too, and sometimes you could learn about my personal life…

(Picture: He’s also an editor in chief of w3sh.com, that is about gadget, fashion and urban culture)

3. What are your opinions about Korean Digital Products, Korean market, and its IT Infrastructure?

To be honest, for a long time I thought IT equal Japan. But my opinion started to change with Samsung products. Then I discovered the LG brand. I didn’t realize that LG is a Korean manufacturer. I definitely changed my mind when I met Pantech people during the last year Cebit event in Germany. When I saw Pantech products I thought innovation is here. During the Cebit 2005, the most impressive products were from Samsung, LG and Pantech. In France, Samsung and LG are well known and appreciated. BenQ is starting to be popular in the computer industry. French people don’t know Pantech because we can’t find any Pantech products in France… sad, isn’t it?

I will always remember the first article I wrote about IT infrastructure in Korea. It was about the hotels providing PDA with GPS to the tourists to help them visiting the Korean cities. It was fun, I thought. But I didn’t realize that Korea started to be one of the most IT countries. Now, you talk about T-DMB… Korea, as Japan is now a good example of the IT usage in everyday life.

4. You probably have seen many gadgets presented with girls in the pictures. What is your opinion about that? Is there any better idea to display products than the ones with girls?

Girls and gadget harmony? The fact is that the major part of IT consumers is men as in the car industry. My point of view is a beautiful gadget (good design, good skills) is the most important. A good gadget with a beautiful girl is a good picture. But an awful gadget with a beautiful girl could be a bad point because I will focus on the girl, not on the product.

The important thing is providing good pictures even if it’s with a beautiful girl or a beautiful man, or in a beautiful place. For example, a TV set with good design should be presented in huge designed interior. For me a good arrangement is to find the good environment for a gadget, even if it’s a girl. Beauty of object and beauty of people together is the best arrangement.

(Picture: He recently cooperates with AVING for ‘AVING French Edition’)

5. What is going to happen to ‘blog news’ in America and Europe? Do you think they are able to overpower Cnet or JD power in the future?

I think that blog is only an interface, nothing else. The blog system allows everybody to create its own news website. It’s like podcast or video podcast. The issue is the content. In France, we have so many blogs about IT, fashion, design… but only a few with a real good content. A blog could overwhelm Cnet or JD power if the blog content is better.

Another problem is that Cnet and JD power are real professionals: they have time and they have money. The major part of the blogs writers are only fanatics, they have to work and they write when they have time left.

At the end of the day, the best blogs will join the media group and those media group will survive. For example, VNUnet owns Gizmodo France…

6. What do you think about selecting several products and giving a sort of award to them on a regular basis by forming a kind of association of blog news editors? What is your opinion regarding credibility of the award, compared to that of Cnet, JD Power?

How could I say no?! It’s my dream to work on that kind of project. I want to think that it could have greater reliability than Cnet, JD Power. The issue is the economic model of that kind of association. If that issue is solved, I’m sure it could work!

(Picture: He writes about golf and snowboard as well as hightech)

7. Lastly, give us (Korean netizens and AVING Team) some inspirational and penetrative comments about the Future

Wow! Not easy to answer to that question without thinking quietly (it was the same about the other questions, by the way). I already talked about that with Daniel… I think aving.net is a huge concept. That’s why I decided to put your news in French. You are the only one to provide that kind of news: IT products, IT industry, IT people, IT writers…I would like to read that content in every language, about IT in the whole world! The idea I can give you is to localize the content keeping the concept!

< Interviewer: Daniel Sirh >