GC: It’s like what YC is saying, you have to go and get the information so you got to be in the know. You need to have your fingers on the pulse. Secondly, you need to have contacts who will tell you.

Q: Sometimes reviews can be quite subjective so how do you determine whether the reviews you wrote are fair?

GC: All reviews are subjective. When we say fair, we’re looking for balanced reports. Essentially you must know the technology. If it is a Smartphone, what makes a Smartphone tick? Is it a slow processor, is it fast, can it multitask and so on and so forth. You’ve got to compare it to what other Smartphones are and therefore you must have some knowledge about the product. One way to check for a benchmark is to check what other people have written about the product.

Q: What do you usually look out for in a product? Specifications, aesthetic appeal or user-friendliness?

GC: It’s a combination of things. The geeks may not want it too pretty because they will not be seen dead with it, whereas the fashion conscious or the status conscious person may want to have a very pretty thing.  We will take everything into account and use various criteria.

Q: When you usually review products, would you choose a combination of products that can appeal to all target groups?

GC: It depends on what there is available. Every day, there are tens of new notebooks and netbooks being launched. We want to review the hero products; the ones that will set the benchmark that others will follow.

Q: You mentioned that to write reviews, you will read other reviews. Do you think that your viewpoints will be changed after you read those reviews?

GC:  I don’t think so. I think it’s just to benchmark yourself where you are.

YC: I think different people review products differently. Some people try not to read, but some people want to read first, so I think it’s really very…

GC: It’s subjective again

 YC: Yes, reviews are very subjective but I think the fairness comes in doing your homework before that. If you’re reviewing Smartphones, you need to know how every Smartphone works, not just one Operating System. You need to know everything so that you can compare in a fair way but it doesn’t mean that you can be totally impartial because to review something you need to say whether you like it or not, otherwise there’s no point because it’s just a listing of all the functions.

Q: When you do a review, do you just talk about it from your perspective or do you try to think from perspectives of the audience and the crowd that the product is targeting at?

GC: I think it is your review. But for example if you use the Blackberry, you know that it is targeting mainly for an office crowd. If it has other functions like social media kind of features, then you can say that the Blackberry is now trying to reach a wider audience. So it is your conclusions that are important, not what you think.

Q: Has working in Digital Life influenced your choice in devices?

GC: No, not really. I know what to buy for my own use, so it doesn’t really affect my personal choice. Increased exposure to technology gives me solutions to my needs. So I know what technology is able to provide me with.

GC: Yes. And yes we do have straight links to Apple and to other companies too. Building contacts is a very important part of a journalist’s job because how good your contacts are is how well you can do your job.

Q: What kind of people do you rely on to get professional opinion on some tech topics? Do you ask companies or do you ask technology analysts or…?

GC: It’s a combination of people that you go to. You know who the experts are, and you know who will not give you just the marketing path, but give you honest opinions about the technology. We go to third parties, neutral parties, researchers, analysts, and even competitors just to get an idea of the entire thing.

YC: I think you can learn a lot from everyone. The important thing is that we interview these people but they also teach us a lot. We also need to learn about their industry from them because at the end of the day we’re reporters. We collect the information, and they are the ones who give us the information because they are the experts in that area.

GC:         We try to be news worthy, so if there are things that are timely, we need to cover them.

Q: How hard is it for you to constantly keep up with technology?

YC: You would need to read a lot. Also, I think that we learn a lot from the people we interview and the newsmakers that we meet. That’s how you get insights into the industry on to trends and things that are coming up. You need to surf the net a lot and read other publications as well. Nowadays it’s not just like magazines and newspapers, but there are also blogs, forums and sites that in the US are very fast with getting certain gadgets because things happen over there. So that’s also how we keep up.

Q: So you guys constantly are on the alert for new tech related news?

YC: Yes we have to constantly be on the lookout. I think this goes for all types of news, not just technology news and IT news. Maybe in terms of technology, there are always many new gargets, but some of the trends have cycles. So I wouldn’t say that it’s so fast moving that we cannot catch up.

GC: It’s a two-way game so the people who create the new products or create the new technologies would also be interested in putting up the information. They put up information through press releases and press conferences so this is also one way to get the information. This is a pull and push way of getting information. Sometimes its push to us, but sometimes we “pull” in that we go out to look for the information.

GC:         It’s a long and narrow plank that we walk on every week. We’re trying to geek up now, making the stories more techie and more in-depth, but it does not mean that you have to use technical jargons. You need to use language that is accessible to people. This is what we strive for.

However, we also recognize that there’ll be certain people who only read certain kinds of stories. Some will like game reviews but others will not. Some will like stories on security of cyberspace, but others may not. We can’t please everyone, but we try to impact people’s lives with our topics.

Q:           Do you know who your audiences are?

GC:         As a newspaper, we always do reader surveys, which tell us who our audiences are. These reader surveys are quite detailed, providing demographics like income levels, age, genders, residency, frequency and preferred choices of reading. Straits Times does this every 6 months.

Q:           What kind of readership base does Digital Life have?

GC:         Usually the more techie and tech savvy ones. These people are a little bit above average income-wise because they’re all gadget freaks. They are usually people who stay in five-room flats, condominiums and private properties. There are usually more males than females, and the age group is between 25 and 45.

YC:          We try to have staggered datelines because there’s a whole process, where the reporters would go out, interview, come back, brief the editors and then the journalists write the story. After that, the editor still has to go through it to check if we’re missing any information. Then we still need the copy editor to clear the story and make it nicer. After which, we have people designing the pages. So if all our stories come in on the same day, nobody can finish their work. Hence we try to stagger the deadlines.

GC:         For every week’s issue, which is published on Wednesdays, all the stories should be in by Friday. The planning process is a 2-to-3-week process. We’ll have story meetings every week where we’ll talk about the kind of stories that we want to write. People contribute ideas and we will put the dates to these stories. Then the reporters will go out to get the stories. If there’s a problem with that story, we can delay or bring it forward. The process of collecting information, writing it and then publishing it is quite a tedious one.

Q:           Is it a stressful job or a rush job?

GC:         It’s not a rush job. You work to your dateline. If you have a process in place, if you know how to collect your information then it should not be a last minute job all the time. They have an 8-hour dateline, so when they come to work at 9.30 to 10 o’clock in the morning, they’d have to deliver their stories between 4 and 8 pm. But because we’re a weekly publication, our dateline is a little longer. Yet it does not mean that they wait until the last minute to write, because they need to talk people and gather information.

The stories that we write are generally features, which are longer pieces than news stories and requires more interviews with people. This takes time because people may not be there when you want to talk to them. If you pace yourself, you should be able to finish your stories on time. Of course, the stress would be when people are not available to talk to you and you have to wait until the last minute for them. If that person is someone important, you have no choice but to wait for them.

Q:          Do the journalists get to choose what they work on in Digital Life?

In a sense, yes, because it’s a natural inclination and it’s always easier to put people where they like because then it doesn’t seem like work, it’s seems like play.

GC: It started 18 years ago as computer times and became digital life about 5/6 years ago. The reason why we changed the title was because we wanted a publication for everyone to read. Technology is about lifestyle and its impact on people’s lives.

Q: So originally this computer times was slightly limited to just about computers, and now with the change of title and name, you have expanded it?

GC: In some ways it is true. When we started 18 years ago, computers were basically just computer PCs. With the internet we have convergence, with telecommunications, its computer and communications. With the communications came mobile phones. With mobile phones we are able to do work on it. So your mobile phone became sort of a computing device. And with that everything becomes a lifestyle rather than just computing. We wanted to represent that rather than just saying it is just computing in its strictest sense.

Q: Was Computer Times expanded because it was foreseen that there’ll be a digital tribe now, where technology would be widely used?

GC: Naturally, because otherwise we wouldn’t have started it. 18 years ago, computing was a hobby or only for the enthusiasts and for office work. The penetration of computers in homes was very low. Today the penetration is something like 8 out of 10 homes will have PCs.

Q: Has Digital Life become more popular over the years as technology became more popular?

GC: You can’t equate the popularity of technology with the popularity of a publication. With people becoming more aware of what technology can do for you, they want to find out what are the things out there that can help you do your work or how you can use it. That is what digital life caters to be. Like all newspapers, it aims to educate; to inform; to entertain. But here, informing and educating is very important.

YC: 18 years ago Digital Life was more like a niche publication because not so many people had computers or needed to find out about computers but whereas now technology and IT is part of our lifestyle. It permeates every aspect of your life so naturally more people will be interested in it.

GC: Windows, by far, is still used by the majority, and so it is still a very successful franchise. Linux and Mac OS are growing, yes, but they are only eroding the grip the Windows has. They are only biting the toe of the giant, not toppling the giant. They’re all successful in their own right. Windows 7 has many features and functionalities. Hardware that can leverage on the software is now beginning to come out, like touchscreen capabilities. The Microsoft model is that they make a product, and license it out. Due to Microsoft’s position, they can dictate the pace. Whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows, many companies must ensure that their product can work on it.

Answer: Our small consumer base is always a disadvantage for any company with any product. But we are also a tech-savvy nation. So when any product comes to Singapore, it will be the first in Asean. Many products are not available here simply because of licensing issues. It’s not just the size (of our nation). Many tech companies do launch their products here as see Singapore as a gateway to the rest of Asia. But naturally you would focus on markets that would make you more money.

Q: How will the rise of China affect the internet?

A: The Chinese have an advantage, and that is that they are one nation speaking the same language. So when you have so many people, it’s a natural market for itself. So China doesn’t need the rest of the world. China has a very self-contained market. China also wants to control. So anything that they deem to be security-related will be monitored closely. So it’s up to the companies to decide if they want to operate in this kind of environment. Google, for example, is not in China because they are against the censorship policies there. Also, China has a lot of their own companies, and those companies have just as many users then other western companies.

Grace Chng (GC): I think it’s the unofficial release of the iPhone. It doesn’t affect Apple’s reputation. Without a single dollar in advertisement, how much publicity has it received just through this?

Yuen-C (YC): Some people are speculating that it’s a marketing ploy, that they purposely left it there. The intrigue, the mystery of the lost iPhone makes it to the front-page of the newspapers and websites, and Apple gets a lot of publicity. So some people think Apple lost the phone on purpose.

Q: What contributes to the success of Apple products?

GC: Apple has the only closed ecosystem to have succeeded beyond words, simply because it is so efficient, so easy to buy songs, movies, audio books and applications. Developers develop programs for Apple because it reaches the greatest audience ever. Steve Jobs makes sure the user experience is so good that it will fuel more people to come back and buy more things from him. When you come back and buy more things, more developers notice. So Steve Jobs has leverage.

Q: What makes Apple different from other companies? Why does Apple succeed when others don’t?

GC: It’s about ecosystem and infrastructure. So you may think that the internet levels the playing field, but it does not. You need to have an ecosystem there for people to buy. It is perhaps the e-commerce infrastructure, the payment infrastructure, for example, that is not put in place. Bear in mind that iTunes is not available in Singapore. It is only the apps store that is available. If you go to Blackberry, you can purchase products, but they don’t make purchasing easy for you. Ovi for Nokia phones is also not that easy to use. So again, it’s  about the usability and user experience. It’s not easy.

YC: And you can say because Apple has a closed system because they can control everything. Different companies have different philosophies, or they want to do things differently. Take for example the Android system, they allow many different phone makers to use their operating system. So naturally it’s going to be hard to control, in terms of how people use it, how it looks and where you can get all your applications from.

GC: So it’s very difficult for Android, because Android operates on OEM kinda – Original Equipment Manufactured, that means you license from me then you go and do your own parts. So it’s a fragmented market. But Apple is not a fragmented market. They are the only maker. So that’s the reason why they can control everything.

Q: Previously you talked about style over substance. I’ve read reports on people accusing Apple of valuing style over substance, because Apple products have a very appealing minimalistic look, but the iPad for example, is truly nothing more than a shinier tablet PC. What are your thoughts on how Apple is just repackaging ideas that already exist?

GC: Is any other company doing it and as successful? Their secret is in their ability to know what users and customers want. It’s a combination of aesthetics, myth, and the sexy products. Their products may not necessarily be the best; they may not have all the 101 features that a geek may want, but do we use 101 features?

YC: When you said substance, it’s not necessarily just specifications. Nowadays especially, when all these gadgets are so common, and people use it for their daily lives, one very important thing is usability and Apple makes their products very easy to use. Windows Mobile came up with a Smartphone a long time ago, but how easy or difficult a gadget is to use also affects whether people will adopt it. You might not be the fastest on the scene with the newest technology, but it’s also a timing game.

GC: It’s also sometimes the right time and right place. There are many instances in history where companies have come up with revolutionary products but it never took off because it was too early, too expensive, or there was no infrastructure. The Palm if you remember, was one of the earliest Smartphones, but why is it that they didn’t they take off? I started using Palm in 2000. It was a device that was all that I needed because it was my diary, my phone, and I could take notes on it.? It had all the makings of a good product, but didn’t appeal to the masses. Blackberry is also a very popular product, but only with the office workers. It doesn’t have that broad base appeal because they are well known for their office email. But the iPhone is across the board. People can use it for everything and anything. YC hit it on the nail when she said it’s the usability.