Fan interviews: Ovi presents The Nokia Geek

I’m always very happy to introduce our fans and interview them for the Blog. Today I’m particularly excited because Gareth from nokia-geek.co.uk prepared a particular video for us
This is the result of 5 hours of hard work so make sure you watch the video, read his interview and post your comments below!

-Pino (@haikus)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hi Gareth, who are you and what do you do?
If I ever find out I’ll let you know. No seriously it’s quite complicated. I work mainly from home doing a variety of geeky things like web design, graphics, database management and manipulation, web based forensic work, freelance research projects and fixing bits of tech. Basically I’m usually the person people come to when something’s either gone badly wrong or they don’t want it to in the first place. Think of me a bit like the Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) character in Pulp Fiction, minus the blood and dead bodies of course. I’m also a dab hand at plastering and landscape gardening.

This sounds intriguing What makes you passionate about what you do?
I’m doing it so I can raise my kids well. That’s all the inspiration I need although it’s satisfying to know that I help sort out people’s problems and they appreciate it.

And what do you like to do on your spare time? Do you have any hobbies, pets etc.?
I have 2 small children so spare time is very much at a premium. No pets which is probably best as I’m useless at looking after myself, let alone an animal. I’ve started getting back into cycling again after far too long an absence but a lot of my recreational activities tend to merge with professional ones so generally geeky stuff but spending time playing with the kids and especially Lego with my 4 year old son is a passion. In many ways the tech/mobile blogging is a hobby. I wish I could do it in a more professional context but I often have so many different jobs and things going on at the same time that I have to prioritise things.

Your life looks very busy, how did you find out about the Blog?
I think it was probably through Twitter as I started getting more involved and chatting with people who tweet mainly about mobile related/Nokia issues and gradually got into the community and made new friends. I’d probably been to the Blog before out of having a general interest in Nokia/Ovi matters but it was very much the welcoming nature of the community that pulled me in further.

And how long have you been a Ovi and Nokia fan?
Nokia fan since 1997 when I got my first mobile phone. I also studied at Tampere University in Finland in the late 90′s which had the double edged effect of turning me into a bit of a Finnophile but also because of Nokia’s presence in that city. While I was there I made friends with a fair few people who worked for Nokia which also turned me into a bit of a Nokia fan.
Ovi fan is harder to define because Ovi has developed off the back of previously Nokia branded services like Maps, so as those brands have morphed over to Ovi I’ve pretty much come along with them from the start. In particular I’m a fan of Maps. I often have to use mapping for work and I need maps that are as up to date as possible: this is the case with Ovi. Now, if only the API was opened up, it would be perfect.

What do you like most about Ovi and Nokia?
I like the openness approach of Ovi and Nokia. It’s a different corporate mentality that comes across as typically Finnish. One based more on cooperation, even with rivals like in open standards projects like development and implementation of the SyncML industry standard protocol. I also like the truly innovative nature of Nokia, it’s often not highlighted enough and certainly doesn’t come across in the media compared to other over-hyped brands, but for a connoisseur of tech who reads through every specification of a device there is some great stuff to find that sometimes just makes you say – wow, that’s a good idea, why’s that not been done before. On top of that, which is probably why I started taking more of an active role as regards testing Nokia products, is that I appreciate Nokia isn’t just about some mobile consumers, it’s about everyone. By that I mean, the devices that get the publicity, specifically in the Western media are the high end smartphones but these by their very nature, and price tag are only for a small number of users in relatively wealthy countries. Mobiles have the potential to bring far more people together, on the Internet, communicating and accessing services that enrich their lives. That’s why yes, I personally might own and love the functionality of my Nokia N900 but I also appreciate how services and specifications have been driven down the product chain so that even modestly priced handsets offer functionality that in some cases surpasses that of highly priced handsets from other manufacturers.

Thanks Gareth. What was your very first Nokia device?
Easy, the venerable Nokia 8110 aka the banana phone, aka the Matrix phone. Loved it – even if it did only have the memory capacity to store 12 text messages.

And which device do you use right now?
I’ve got a couple and this will change shortly again. My primary device is the Nokia N900 which I got on its UK release direct from Nokia so I’ve been using one for almost a year now. Always in the background like an ex-girlfriend that won’t go away is my Nokia E90 Communicator. I usually drag her out when travelling, need a second handset for multiple sims or just because despite how good the Nokia N900 is, I still love her and need to remind myself of that fact from time to time. On Friday (hopefully) I will get a Nokia N8 which will of course technically be my wife’s but I hope to play with it if she lets me. This will mean I’ll inherit her Nokia 5800 XpressMusic which I have plans to make into a dedicated bike phone/computer to hook up with the Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve downloaded from Store? Why?
That’s a tricky one because my primary handset is the Nokia N900. As almost everything I have I get straight from the Maemo repositories my actual downloads from the Store are quite light and although my previous handset, the Nokia E90 supported it, the Store was still quite basic back then and I was still in the culture of getting .sis files directly to install. That said, it would have to be Angry Birds for Nokia N900 which has distracted me to an alarming extent but is very handy for getting my 2 year old daughter to sleep.

What were you looking for the last time you used Maps?
1000 Heads HQ in London for the Nokia Meetup prior to Nokia World 2010. Had I followed the person I was with, who will remain nameless and ‘knew’ where to go, we would have gone in the wrong direction. Maps saved us from this happening.

What would you like tell us here at Ovi by Nokia?
Pretty please, can we have cycleways and a cycle option integrated into Maps and where can I get one of those Maps icon themed compasses? One would look ace strapped to my bicycle.

I’ll see what I can do Gareth, thank you very much for your honest and open interview!