Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

You might know him as “The English guy on TWiT.”  You may know him from “ChannelFlip Tech.”  You might even be following him on Twitter.  He’s been named one of Think Vitamin’s most interesting people to follow on Twitter.  Get to know Wil Harris.

1.  Who are you?

I run a website called ChannelFlip.com, which is a portal for some really cool video content and podcasts about the latest technology, comedy, video games, movies and websites.  I also appear regularly on a podcast called This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte, which is probably how most people know me.  Before that I started a website called bit-tech.net, which was (and still is) geek mecca here in the UK.

2.  Facebook, Twitter, or something else and why?

The phone.  The phone has to be the most underrated communications tool around.  I have friends that own an iPhone and never use it to make a damn phone call.  Twitter is great for just staying connected to people that you otherwise wouldn’t talk to, though, particularly for guys.  I’m never going to call up a buddy and just ask how it’s going, that’s a total girl thing to do.  But with Twitter, I can secretly check in on them.

3.  Gadget you couldn’t live without (and why)?

iPhone.  Since getting one at launch (I got one from New York and hacked it to work in the UK) it’s now become inseparable from me.  It runs my calendar, contacts, email, phone calls, news, games, travel information, everything.  If someone took it away from me tomorrow, I would have no idea what I was doing.  Things (which is an awesome Mac app for todos and project management) syncs onto my iPhone, so between that and my email, I never have to be disconnected.  I left the house without it once, about 9 months ago, and I was practically in cold sweats all day.  What are my friends doing?  What email do I have?  What’s the latest sports score?  What’s the weather like on the other side of the world?  All crucial questions that I need answered NOW.

OK, on a really serious note, the iPhone does a few things really well.  1) I always have up to date contact and calendar information because it syncs with my Mac on a push basis.  2) I can always get at my email and that syncs flawlessly with IMAP on Gmail.  3) I always have my Todos thanks to Things (although this is dying for the 3.0 update to do push syncing).  4) I always have my latest music and podcasts to listen to.  These are the things that I do most each day and having one device - rather than a PDA, iPod and phone - makes my life so much easier.

4.  Most regrettable piece of tech you own [mine’s an original Sony Reader].

Hmm.  I’m going to say Gamecube.  I bought it, played Super Smash Bros to death, and then could never find anything else worth playing.  Bleh.

5.  If you could wish a gadget into existence, what would it be?

An auto-expanding laptop screen.  So a screen that was thin and light and attached to the MacBook Air, but which actually unfolded into a 24” display when you set it up.  Portable and practical.  That would be uber.

Find Wil around the web:
ChannelFlip.com
Twitter