Jason Dunn
03-27-2003, 08:00 PM
The following interview of Pocket PC Thoughts founder Jason Dunn was conducted via email by <a href="http://www.mckenzieink.ca/">Grant McKenzie</a>, a writer for <a href="http://www.businessedge.ca">Business Edge.</a> This interview was conducted as part of a <a href="http://www.businessedge.ca/ViewNewsItem.aspx?NewsItemID=2722&editionID=1">Pocket PC accessories article.</a><br /><br /><b>GM: Are you based in Calgary?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> Yes - I work from my home. I'm a born and raised Calgarian - been here all my life.<br /><br /><b>GM: What inspired you to start Pocket PC Thoughts? </b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> At the time, I was doing a lot of paid writing for Microsoft's PocketPC.com site. And although we had a lot of editorial freedom on the site, there was a certain degree of detachment I was required to have. I wanted a personal site where I could rant and rave about Pocket PC issues, and thus Pocket PC Stuff was born. Thankfully, I quickly realized how much that name sucked, and it was renamed Pocket PC Thoughts within a month. It was launched in October 2000, at a time when blogging was just starting to take off, so the concept of having a personal site where people came to read your thoughts was still a fairly new one.<!><br /><br /><b>GM: Is it more of a hobby or commercial venture?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> It started out as a hobby, but it has slowly turned into a commercial venture. It was easy to start up the site in the beginning - I ran it using <a href="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger</a>, put it on a shared Web-hosting account where I had ten other Web sites, and didn't need to worry about advertising because I had no costs beyond my time. But as I spent more and more time updating the site, the instability of Blogger grew frustrating (this was back when they had no money and everyone was on one server). So I moved it to a system called <a href="http://noahgrey.com/greysoft/">Greymatter</a>, which was great for a time, but ultimately I outgrew it too. I also outgrew my Web host when I received a bandwidth bill for $450 - it was time to find a new host!<br /> <br />As the site continued to grow, it required more and more of my time to keep running. I've assembled a wonderful team of volunteers to assist me, and they help keep the site running day to day, but ultimately there are dozens of things that I need to look after, which takes time. The more time running the site takes me, the more money it needs to make to pay my bills, because unfortunately I don't have someone paying me to write content. That sure would be nice though...<br /><br /><b>GM: How many visitors do you get daily?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> Right now we get around 27,000 visitors per week day. In January 2003 we broke 700,000 visitors and 12 million page views over the month. Now if only I had a paying advertiser for every page view - then I'd be laughing!<br /><br /><b>GM:</b> How many participants do you have signed up for the forums? <br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> We just broke 8000 registered members. We started up these forums in February 2002, just over a year ago, so I'm very pleased with the rate of growth. We're rapidly approaching 90,000 posts in our forums, so we have a vibrant, thriving community.<br /><br /><b>GM: What is your age?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> I turn 28 this month.<br /><br /><b>GM: What is your profession?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD: </b>I gleefully dance under the umbrella of "self-employed" - which means my career changes quite often. I've been a Web designer, public speaker, computer teacher, trade show worker, writer, graphics designer, and that's only recently. Right now I have three main jobs: I'm the Vice-President of Marketing for <a href="http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com">Spb Software House</a>, an awesome Pocket PC software development company. <br /> <br />I run Pocket PC Thoughts, and I continue to write books and tech edit. I finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735618739/jasondunn-20">Faster Smarter Digital Video</a> recently, so that's my latest writing accomplishment aimed at people who want to jump into digital video but don't know where to start. I'm also focused on launching <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com">Thoughts Media</a>, a parent company for Pocket PC Thoughts and the forthcoming <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com">Digital Media Thoughts</a>. Thoughts Media will be the nexus for launching future Thoughts sites, and for commercially selling the technology that drives Pocket PC Thoughts, the Thoughts Media Engine.<br /><br /><b>GM: When you began was it a one-man show, two-man show, etc.?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> It was a one-man show for quite a long time, but as more and more people sent us in great news, I simply couldn't keep up. At that point I enlisted the help of someone I knew through the Microsoft MVP program, one of my fellow Pocket PC MVPs, Marlof Bregonje (Netherlands). Marlof helped me post news stories and was invaluable in helping me grow the site. Over the next year, I added four more front-page contributors: Andy Sjostrom (Sweden), Brad Adrian (USA), Ed Hansberry (USA), and the most recent addition to the team is Janak Parekh (USA). I'm very particular about the people who join the team, so there's a 90 day trial period where we "see how things go" before they're fully brought on board. <br /> <br />As the site grew, I realized it needed to have certain functionality and a visual redesign, both of which were out of reach for my meagre skills. That's when Fabrizio Fiandanese (Italy) offered to help me out, and things have been amazing since: he's created a powerful and beautiful system that has enhanced the site to an amazing degree. Chris Edwards (Calgary) has helped create some core elements of the site as well.<br /><br /><b>GM: Are you surprised by the success of the site?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> Yes, a little. I've been involved in virtual communities since the early '90s (BBS days), but Pocket PC Thoughts was my first attempt at creating a community of my own. It wasn't intentionally created as a community - it started as a one-way monologue, from me to the readers. Once I added a "comment" feature to the blog, that really opened Pandora's Box - I enjoyed reading the supportive and interesting comments, but anonymous criticism can sting too. I've learned a great deal since turning the site into a real community, and I'm confident that as I launch new Thoughts sites, I'll be able to replicate the success I've had with Pocket PC Thoughts. A huge part of the success of the site is the technical innovations created by my two Web developers, Fabrizio and Chris - without their help, Pocket PC Thoughts would still be stuck back in the blog days.<br /><br /><b>GM: What does the future hold for Pocket PC Thoughts?</b><br /><br /><b>JD:</b> We're going to continue to grow and develop into a community. I hope that I can continue to set the bar high for what I do, and as I launch new Thoughts sites, this first site will always be the benchmark for success. We're going to be launching paid subscriber services soon, which will be an interesting experiment - the "free Web" is mostly dead, and people are starting to realize that if they want a Web site to stick around for more than a year or two, it will require a little investment. I find the social and economic dynamics of the Web utterly fascinating.<br /><br /><b>GM: What do you envision is the future of Pocket PC technology?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> In the short term, Pocket PCs will continue to get faster, thinner, lighter, more functional, and have better battery life. By late 2004, it will be hard to find a Pocket PC that doesn't have some form of built-in wireless. <br /> <br />More long term, I think the Pocket PC will become one of many "information gateway" devices - every portable device will have biometric authentication and high speed wireless access built in, so when you want to check your appointments it will be as simple as picking up your friend's PDA and, after authentication, it will become a gateway to your data. When you put it down, it reverts to being a blank device. People will carry devices primarily based on screen size and input methods - but the data will flow to all of them in the same way. We need to get away from the current paradigm of "Now which device did I put that phone number on?", but that will take a huge jump in wireless technology and computing logic.<br /><br /><b>GM: What is your definition of a geek?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> I'd say a geek is someone who is passionate about technology - playing with it, learning about it, experimenting using it. Pasty white skin and a "monitor tan" also helps identify geeks in a crowd.<br /><br /><b>Do you consider yourself a geek?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> Absolutely. Contrary to popular opinion, geeks aren't all socially maladjusted individuals who go into neural shock when taken away from the high-speed Internet access. Geeks are all about absorbing knowledge, so that makes us interesting guests to have at parties. ;-)<br /><br /><b>GM: Why are geeks suddenly cool?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> Well, with the financial collapse of much of the tech industry, I think geeks have lost a bit of their lustre, but in general I think that as our world becomes more and more computerized, the people who can navigate and function in this world the best will garner respect from their peers. It's natural selection at it's finest. Conversely, I admire people who can build things with their hands, lay carpet, work with wood, etc. - because I sure can't!<br /><br /><b>GM: What IYHO is the ultimate geek Pocket PC accessory?</b><br /> <br /><b>JD:</b> That's a tough one! It depends what kind of Pocket PC user you are - I like carrying gobs (giga-gobs?) of data with me, so my best accessories are <a href="http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/pocketpcthoughts/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1445&pf%5Fid=MP853550&listing=1">large memory cards</a> (512 MB is where they start to get cool, anything less is just mundane). You can also get some beautiful and shockingly un-geeky leather cases from places like <a href="http://www.vajacases.com">Vaja</a>, and I think anything using Bluetooth is a great accessory - if you have the geek mojo to get it working. The best gear though is always a shiny new Pocket PC!