In Conversation with the Tech65 team

From talking about the latest technology trends and how it impacts Singapore, the Tech65 needs no introduction. A group of young and passionate technology geeks, the crew has managed to bring to us as many as 55 episodes of podcast plus the recent one which they did on the CES show happening in Las Vegas, US last week. So, through a long chain of emails and BL’s guest starring stint in the Tech65 shows, we have managed to lock Daniel, Jerrick, NTT, Farinelli and Kai Yi down for a fun and interesting interview and let them share their passion and interest about technology with our readers here.

BL: Thank you for agreeing to an interview with SG Entrepreneurs. How did Tech65 got started?
Crew: Tech65 began with a simple love, the love to bring to others the joys of Tech, in both Gadgetry and just cool new inventions of the day. In fact, Tech65 is actually Daniel’s 3rd attempt to get a project like this off the ground, and as they say, Third time’s a Charm. TThere is something to be said about the possiblity for interaction and the simple fact that our team is so dedicated and commited to the Tech65 endeavor.

BL: We understand that 65bits is a podcast produced by your team. What’s the focus and the content about the podcast?
Crew: 65bits is really just a show where we talk about technology from a Local perspective. It’s a simple as that, we’re 5 guys who love technology, and we get together to discuss Tech, in a relaxed, informal, often, rude and R-rated setting. That is the main focus of the show. Particularly the R-Rated bits.

65bits started as a matter of convenience to both us, and the listeners. They didn’t have to spend so much time writing, and listeners could bring the podcast around with them and listen to it on the go. If you had listened to our earlier episodes, you would have found them terrible comparitively, but they were also intended for a slightly less tech-savvy audience. As time went by, it begun to get more and more technical with the arrival of more hosts. We do have another show in the works to cater to everyday consumers.

With regards to our content, we really try to base our podcasts on the principle of interest. What interests us as a group and personally, and if we’re interested in it, can we make our friends and hopefully our listeners interested as well. That’s really the key to our show.

BL: What are the initial challenges and barriers in producing the podcast? How did you grow the team?
Crew: Quite interestingly, 65bits was a solution to a problem we had with the first year of Tech65 where we didn’t have time to sit down with a big cup of coffee and write up new and original content every single day. So 65bits solved that problem by letting us just come together once a week to record our show. The biggest problem at the beginning was definately getting comfortable with the mic.

Our team’s development however came much more naturally. NTT was the first guy who ever attended one of our shows, and with his enthusiasm, we invited him on board (I’m sure a bribe of coffee was part of the deal). Farinelli serves as part of the sound crew in the church where I serve in the video crew. He found out about the podcast, happened to know NTT through Ping.sg, and hopped on to join the ride. Jerrick and I knew Kaiyi since secondary school where we had this unofficial Palm Pilot fan club. We lost contact after we moved on, and he stumbled upon the podcast and volunteered to join the team too.

BL: What are the most enjoyable parts in generating the content for your podcast? Have you learned anything interesting in the process?
Daniel: Wow, just recording the show is really enjoyable already. The most enjoyable part? Definitely the passionate discussions.

Fari: I think for all of us the debates during the recordings of our episodes are quite one-of-a-kind. We may love poking fun at big companies but usually afterwards we’re on our knees begging them to take our suggestion. Personally I find multimedia editing an irresistable challenge, and I never would have improved my skills, had I not joined the T65 team.

Jerrick: For me, its the simple fact that no matter how geeky you think you are, there’s someone out there geekier than you.

BL: Looking at the current technologies popping up from Silicon Valley, which are the recent inventions that you guys find most interesting?

Daniel: Let me start. The Amazon Kindle. [Jerrick rolls eyes] I mean, c’mon! An ebook reader that doesn’t need a computer? I think that’s awesome! At least that’s interesting to me.

NTT: There are many really interesting techologies poping up in SV in the recent few months. I am really excited about Andriod and Google entering the mobile devices space, since that is one area where a lot of innovation can take place, and we should be able to see some of these very soon.

Jerrick: In my uninformed and wholly humble opinion, social networking is the big fad right now, these technologies have been available for decades but it is only now really that it has blasted into the mainstream with such widespread and abundant acceptance. The emergance of ultra realistic gaming like Crysis is another area I’m keeping my eye on. That could mean the second coming of Virtual Reality.

BL: So, where do you see the future for Tech65? Are you going to produce more shows?
Crew: We do have a whole truckload of ideas, but we are extremely cautious about pushing things before their time. So for now we have one show in beta, and we will just concentrate on improving our techniques and interaction on 65bits. Its quite easy of course to get stuck in a rut and not move on, so we do have some other ideas in the afterburner. Examples include, a Food Podcast, and a podcast geared towards women. If not for the greater interaction with the feminine gender, then to stop Jerrick from hitting on all the iPods he lays his hands on.

Daniel’s fetish with Gadgets and gadgetry has rubbed off on us. So what can we do but provide more hands on shows in the future where we get to fool around with more tech. Its a dream of ours to help people get the most out of their technology and we hope to do more such shows in the future.

BL: Our favourite question: What are the three most important attributes for anyone involved in technology and innovation?

Farinelli: Passion Passion Passion.

Daniel: I’d like to correct that Fari. It’s Passion for Technology, Love for your customers and Favour or rather, Charisma.

Jerrick: Nono, Dan you’re Wrong. Its FLAVOUR with everything. Like Seasoning. For me its, Liberte, Egalite, iPodite. Translated: Liberty (free knowledge of all things tech) Equality (Equal and unbiased opinions offered on all things tech) and iPodity (A complete and uncomprehending love for the iPod and all things Apple.)

And here is our Bio (and their team photo!)

Daniel Tsou is our fabulous host, who decides mostly what we talk about and basically calls the shots, Yes, he does. I, writer of this bio on Mr Tsou is very much afraid that by commiting this post to words, I will be dragged off in the night by a black Truck, or a Segway more like. Other than that, Daniel is attached, tall, lived for a period of time in Venezuela, and is enthusiastic for all things tech.

Jerrick Lim is our rather large other podcaster, who takes up much space, not only physically but virtually as well, due to his having three blogs. He also imagines that he has a Corgi, lives alone in an apartment that looks awfully like a bachelor pad, much to the chagrin of his mother. He is also single, taller, lived for a period of time in the Chinese city of Suzhou, and is only marginally less enthusiastic for all things tech.

NTT is our Indian podcaster *Tech65 is an equal opportunity employer and we welcome people of all creeds, orientations, Operating Systems* We recently welcomed him to our Tech65 family and could not have been more happy with this adoption. NTT brings with him a knowledge of things Podcast, and things Tech and once in a while even gives us free publicity with which we are immensely grateful for! NTT also brings to this podcast facial hair, which our Chinese podcasters are sorely lacking in.

Farinelli is the new host who can rival Jerrick’s largeness. He has five blogs, but is only ever really updating one blog, thus leading us to believe that he is part of a huge conspiracy to use up all the virtual space on the net with his other blogs, leading to an international shortage of…Hmmm, We probably don’t make very good conspiracy theorists. As evidenced by his screen name (what, did you think it was a given name? *Ed: Of Course, what mother wouldn’t want a son named after an Italian Castrato?*) Farinelli appreciates all sorts of music, from obscure Russian Romanticists to black metal. This conveniently made him an audiophile like NTT, and somewhat disables his ability to resist earphones with three-figure listed prices. Farinelli also dabbles in the dark arts of media editing, proving an indispensible part of our crew *read: Underpaid & Overworked* and he hopes to excel in working in multiple platforms, though we all know only Fruity platforms matter;)

Kai Yi is our youngest podcaster and has motor oil for blood. His voice of moderation and general inability to resist a nice cuppa has also resulted in him becoming our first Tech65 casualty, bravely sacrificing his laptop to the evil menaces of spilt hot coffee. Not the kind we find in certain video games, but actual hot coffee, Courtesy of Geek Terminal, Empowered by Technology, Inspired to Achieve. (Ed: Can we have our free coffees now?) His motor oil blood has been good for distracting NTT from his PHP talk, and whatever else it is the purist geeks talk about and also makes a very interesting party conversation starter. His youth has also ensured that he is always the one picking up stuff for us that our old backs can hardly manage anymore, and he is also expected to support us into our old age, when we are infirm and unable to attend to ourselves at a ripe old age of 25.

Catch the Tech65 team every week on their technology podcasts through their website

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