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Korg KAOSSILATOR 2: There are no wrong notes Latest Gadgets interview: The Gadget Show’s Jason Bradbury on teaming up with eXpansys
Online tech retailer eXpansys is bored of just selling gadgets. Starting now, they’re going be to talking about them, too. Teaming up with Jason Bradbury, the site will embark on a new eXpanse – weekly video tech previews presented by The Gadget Show’s front-man.
We spoke to Jason in the fittingly eclectic surroundings of Sketch London to discuss his new venture, factual previews, favourite gadgets and tech fame.
“Because of the stuff I do in other areas, lots of adrenaline and physical stuff, it’s nice to get my hands on tech and do a straight-forward review. And that’s why the stuff you see on eXpansys is straight. It’s not spectacularly well-lit or edited, or even has music. It’s just me waxing lyrical about tech that eXpansys has managed to get hold of.”
“I asked the guys if we can get hold of a Windows 7 phone and they were like ‘yeah, we’ll do that next week’. So in that sense it’s really nice. It is different from what I normally do. It’s not even about reviewing, it is introducing the features. A preview of the feature set – just providing people with a way into it.”
“There was research recently when they ask loads of young people around the country what their favourite search engine was, and the majority of them said YouTube. That’s why there is merit in doing little virals, short stabs at gadgets at eXpansys, because you can find them via search.”
“And we’re not going to avoid any topic. I’m just going to pick up a bit of tech and play with it for a while, hopefully a morning. And then I’ll just say whatever comes out in as short a space as possible. Although you’ve got to be a bit careful giving an opinion on something you haven’t had a lot of experience with.”
“Whatever I say, it always goes on Twitter or on the web, and it always gets argued about and pulled apart. It’s important to note that there is nothing ‘true’ in all this, it’s only subjective.”
“The Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example – it is the first contender to come along and sit alongside the iPad and not look half bad. But do I want it more than the iPad? No. The iPad feels more real-time, more straightforward, more real, more organic. But that debate, if I said that on Twitter like I did this morning, the response is incredible. I guess I’m only a figurehead for a debate that everyone is having anyway.”
So with Jason’s work at eXpansys moving away from the high-octane adventures of The Gadget Show, does this mean we should expect a dull, just-the-facts rendition of a technical blog post?
” When specs are written on a piece of paper – or a digital screen, which is more likely now – for the likes of you or I, that has meaning. So when it talks about the processor and the RAM, or the megapixels, or the HD 720p, that has meaning to us.”
“But for a lot of people, that doesn’t mean anything. There are two ways you can approach that. One is that you can conceptualise something, and that’s what I do in my other work. But the other thing is to vocalise that, to tell you it in a sentence. And that in itself has a great deal more meaning.”
“For instance, I talked about HSDPA+ in the Milestone 2 video – if you read HSDPA and you weren’t a savvy tech-head, it would just past you by. But I talked about the speed of it, which most people could understand because their home internet is supposedly 8 meg. I mentioned that the ‘Milestone is 10 meg, 10.2 at theoretical maximum, which means I could download this video game very quickly.’ That is pretty entry level stuff, video gives you that, conversation gives you that. Spec sheets on a blog post don’t.”
“I am aware there are [famous] people out there that are genuinely into their tech, that have a perspective and can genuinely talk about it in a lively way. But there are not that many. Stephen Fry is, and Jonathon Ross is a real tech-head. I can see there is a bit of a gap though, which is where I’d like to think I come in.”
We know there’s a Milestone 2 preview, then. But what else is there to come from the Jason and eXpansys team?
“I’m open to anything really, but the HP Slate. And Windows Phone 7 – I haven’t played with it yet and I want to enter my Xbox Live details.”
“We’re trying to get hold of the HP Slate. Although it is difficult – it’s like Gran Turismo 5 – will it ever be released? And anything by HTC I’m always interested to see. They have the DNA to produce a genuine iPhone butt-kicing device.”
“Here’s the thing: I absolutely love my iPhone, I adore my iPad. But do I want alternatives? Hell yeah! Please, get that iPhone out of my hand; I’m bored with that whole world. I think it is great, but I’d love to be able to pick up a Microsoft-originated handset and get the same experience, get the same joy, pleasure and instant interactivity that I get from an iPhone. Or an HTC Desire. Or an Android 2.3 operating system that delivers on the promise of Android.”
“And I do believe that Android will ultimately be the phone of choice for most of the world, because it is so inexpensive and because of the open nature of its development process. The closed shop that Apple prefers to give you is a very polished and luxurious product, but it doesn’t make for mass consumer devices. It makes expensive designer devices.”
As good as it is to have another popular tech-head on the web; it would be a real shame to lose Jason’s trademark adrenaline in his transition to web-video champion. Thus, we quick-fired some impulse questions his way to see if he’s softened up yet. No such luck – that Gadget Show energy seems equally invested in this eXpansys project:
Windows 7 or Mac OS X? “Windows 7.” Google or Bing? “Google.” Gmail or Yahoo Mail? “Gmail.” Xbox 360 or PS3? “Both.” Nintendo DS or PSP? “Undoubtably the Nintendo DS.” Kinect or Move? “Do I commit? Kinect – because it has Dance Central on it. My only worry is that there is not enough of that on it – there is a lot of animal jianimals on it. Xbox, if you’re listening – a Kung Fu game, on the Kinect.” iPhone or Android? “iPhone.” iPad or Something else? “iPad. iPad. iPad. iPad.” What laptop? “You mean, the laptop that I hardly ever use ever because of the iPad? It’s a Macbook. A Blackbook – old black one. Sweet as.”
