Once again, a salute of respect to my commitment in bringing forth the most-wanted bloggers/faces captured at 125 Elite Blogs running this revolutionary channel of blogosphere. The engine running SlashGear is my celebrity guest today as it stands high amongst 2007 Elite Technology blogs along with PCMag, HipTechBlog and many others.
Having launched FedoraForum, one of the largest open source forum devoted to Fedora Linux, he is now the face behind Aradius Network together with partner Vincent Nguyen. Launched in 2005, the Aradius Media Network in its course of past three years have matured visible and today enjoys the readership of over 1.5 million unique visitors monthly. The network concentrates on numerous leading websites with topics ranging from phone technologies to the latest and greatest in digital lifestyle. Currently running a tech and gadget blog site SlashGear founded by him in Jan 2006, he is always seen revolving around many open source project viz. FoxServ, PostNuke, BlueLinux, and txtSQL. But who is HE?
Patience! Without mystifying it further I would now make you familiarize with the person behind all this. He is Ewdison Then, a young-man happily married to Satsuki and knows his roots well to take his business in right direction. Judie Lipsett blog GearDiary also fall amongst their affiliates and did I tell you the threesome (Ewdison, Vincent and Judie) alone can rock the party.
Besides standing on heels for open source projects and populating the blogs falling in Aradius network by playing 40 plus posts across all verticals, Ewdison is fond of food and cooking and takes pride in having bought up in Singapore where Food is everything. This born fighter loves taking challenges and devoted counted four hours to blogging and scheduling rest of the time for other activities. On a softer side, likewise any other blogger Ewdison wishes to spend more time with my family but cribs being workaholic. The first geeky toy where Ewdison finger rested upon was a Goldstar 8088 PC in 1985. He recalls saying: I remember the chassis gave me electric shocks every time I turn it on.
Here I give a green signal to Ewdison to talk to my readers’ at length.
Introduce yourself to my readers and pen down your flow of day at work.
I’m Ewdison Then, president of Aradius Media Network, a company that operates and owns several blogs such as SlashGear, PhoneMag, SlashPhone, iPhoneBuzz, Simply Craving, and etc. I see myself more of an entrepreneur rather than a blogger. My day-to-day task includes business relation/development, editorial calendar, technical backbone, and of course blogging.
Is Aradius Network owned by you? When was it established? How do you manage time to look after all the blogs? How many posts you manage to play on each blog?
Yes, I co-own Aradius Network with my partner Vincent Nguyen. It was established in 2005. The key of running multiple blogs is time management and of course having dedicated staffs help. I’m grateful to have Chris Davies as our managing editor as he’s one of our best blogger that we personally consider as a partner in crime. We write around 40-50 posts daily over the network, and if you see on our blogs, we posted a minimum of three paragraphs per entry rather than a quick snip. SlashGear being our flagship site usually have 18-25 new posts daily depending on news load.
Aradius network captures news from gadgets, technology, phone, food, travel, and lifestyle industry. Which one amongst these is your most popular blog? In near future can we see your network entering into other diverse sectors?
As I said above, SlashGear is our flagship site and our most popular site with over half million unique visitor monthly as of Jan 2008. We definitely look into expanding our network into diverse sector as we recently did by launching Simply Craving.
Is blogging the sole thing you are into? If not, which is that second thing that keeps you engrossed?
Not quite, while Aradius is my full time job, I also operate FedoraForum.org, the official Fedora Linux forum that I founded several years ago. My hobby such as Linux Kernel hacking also keeps me busy.
How did Slash Gear started?
I can barely remember the details, but we started SlashGear US in December 2005 with the ideology of bringing cutting-edge news about consumer electronics and technology – and we added SlashGear Japan to accommodate Japanese readers in August 2006.
What should be the ratio of style specks to tech features that manufacturers should consider while developing any gadget?
There are no fixed formulas, but I do prefer gadgets that have better usability over features and style.
What’s the coolest device you’ve ever reviewed (even if it isn’t cool anymore)?
There are so many of them, but recent one was MacBook Air it’s an art of engineering.
At EliteChoice, we have captured a list of 80 world’s most expensive things including gadgets. At personal front, how open are you for inking pricey deals for outlandish gears?
I’m quite okay with it, as long as it serves its purpose. I’m not much of an impulse buyer.
Can my readers know: Which are those three gadgets (one fashionable) that a technophile like you doesn’t skip to carry while stepping out?
I try not to carry too many gears when I’m out, but traveling wise, I would always have my BlackJack II or iPhone and my MacBook Pro.
What is the business model of Aradius Network? From where do you tag monetary innings?
Advertising and ecommerce.
What are your top tips for getting a blog ranking well in the search engines?
Many SEO experts would tell you this and that, but good content and targeted title will place you well in a way or another.
Your views on Traditional Journalism V/S Blogging.
I think traditional journalism will not disappear from the web – I see blogging as a complimentary platform for traditional journalism to allow author to speak their mind without being too formal.
How you would like to be known as and why?
a) Product reviewer
b) Blogger
c) Technophile
d) Entrepreneur
I would like to be known as an Entrepreneur I enjoyed blogging and reviewing new products, but I always have the thirst to learn more about the business side of the deal.
Pen down your daily online-reads.
SlashDot, Gizmodo, Forbes, GearDiary, Consumerist
What is the USP of the Slashgear? What can be pointed as one factor that attracts readers come to your blog besides gamut of technology driven blogs?
SlashGear delivers more than just fast pace tech and gadget news, but also engage in conversation with our readers and brings exclusive coverage of events and stories such as our MacWorld and Apple’s press event livecast.
Your tips to bloggers with running gadget and technology driven blogs so that they can also make big.
Be persistent and don’t lose your optimism when readership does not grow as fast as you would want it to be. Everything can be accomplished with hardwork.
One Hidden Truth
What’s hidden stays hidden I honestly have nothing in mind right now J
Some weird things about you pointed by people around you. It could be number of computers you own, gadgetry nature of toothbrush you use, amplifiers attched in your carry bag or ..
My computer desktop is always clean and empty (never saves anything to my desktop). I even hide the HDD icon on OSX desktop.
Where do you see your blog after five years from now?
Anything could happened between now and the next five years, but I can only see myself improving upon what our blogs have achieve.
What piece of advice you would have given yourself five-years ago?
Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. It can be pretty interesting and failure makes you better; it’s a lesson that you can’t pay to learn.
What core tips you practice to strengthen your network against gamut of networks?
Competition is what makes us a better blogger, and with that in mind, we always have to step up beyond our A game.
Give us your honest views on EliteChoice
I like what EliteChoice has been doing, especially with the interviews; it gives many bloggers the chance to introduce themselves not only as bloggers but another netizen.
Your turn! Can ask me one question.
Would you come to SlashGear party in Dallas if we plan one?
It purely depends upon your scheduled date.
We wish luck to Ewdison Then, Vincent Nguyen and Satsuki for their future endeavors and thank Ewdison for entertaining my elite readers.
