Regular Reader – Tom Hancocks

Week 10 and Tom takes his turn at answering the questions

1. As this blog covers a lot of Mac related products what was your first Apple product that you bought?

Well the first Apple product that I, myself bought was an 20GB iPod 4G. I loved that iPod, for the first time I could go out listening to my music! I remember it being one of the first things I bought with my own wages from my summer job.

It wasn’t the first Apple product I had owned or used. We had had a number of Apple computers. The first one I ever used was a Macintosh Quadra, which was also the computer I begun learning to program on. We then had a G3 iMac DV SE Graphite followed by an iMac G4 before I finally got my own 12� iBook G4 just after my iPod.

2. On a similar theme, but moving forward what will be the next Apple product that you buy?

Well having just bought a new aluminum iMac, I hope the buying of a new Apple computer will be a long way off. That said, some of the rumors going around about a new iPhone like iPod are sure tempting. Maybe one of those iPods or an iPhone are on the horizon for me.

3. Do you have an all time favourite Apple product or Mac application?

Now that is a difficult one. I love pretty much everything Apple has done. I think if I had to put my finger on one thing it would be either the original Macintosh or the original “Bondi Bue� iMac. Both were just simply beautiful computers, and showed just how much Apple is willing to break away from tried and tested designs and ideas.

4. The blog also covers other subjects, so do you have any specific interests or hobbies that keep you busy?

Asides from computers? Well I enjoy skiing, but the lack of ski slopes (dry or snow) means I don’t get to do of much of that as I would like. Mountain biking, reading going out with mates for a drink, game of pool and generally having a laugh are all fun as well and help keep my mind occupied.

Unfortunately I seem to have less and less time to do some of these things, but I guess thats life!

5. What would be your all time favourite technology gadget?

iPod. Without a doubt it is the iPod. Its the only thing that keeps me sane on long trips and journeys, in mind numbing lectures and boring days out. Its truly a lifesaver.

6. How do you pay the bills, or if you are studying what are your future plans to pay the bills?

Well I don’t have any bills yet! Or at least I don’t think I do… My plans are first of all to get back in to University with my Mathematics A Level, and progress to do my Software Engineering or Computer Science degree. Not totally sure which one I will do yet, as I have two ideas on where I want to end up.

One is doing Research and Development in the field of AI and robotics. The whole area has fascinated me for some time. Also having spent a year in Sheffield University, and seeing some of the subject areas and research they are doing has also taken my interest. I recall reading a while ago in the New Scientist magazine about a type of computer processor based on light Photonics, which uses light photons to carry information rather than electricity. This kind of processor would truly be ground breaking when it reaches the consumer market, as a processor of 10Ghz plus would be fairly standard. I doubt this will happen any time in the next few years though.

The other is to go in to software engineering and development. Not quite as exciting as the former, but still would be a career I would enjoy and like.

7. What three words or phrases would your friends use to describe you?

Laid back, helpful and insane.

The first two are pretty self explanatory, so I will only explain the last. I have a habit, while with friends of randomly doing funny or stupid things. A few my favorites over the years were jumping in to a swimming pool, wading through, getting out the other side and sitting in my life guards seat as though that was the norm. This was much to the amusement of others. Another favorite of mine, is one I don’t actually remember doing, but remember feeling. Instead of knocking on a door to get back in after going out for the night, I banged my head repeatedly on the door. Perhaps not the smartest of things I have ever done, but still.

8. Anything else you want to share with us?

Not that I can think of.

About These Interviews

A significant attraction for me in blogging is the ‘community’ that it creates. I am never going to be ‘up there’ with the young bloggers – I am not going to be that attractive to your average teenage blog reader, I actually don’t want to be as I find a lot of the stuff that interests them remarkably shallow and insipid, and I am perfectly happy with the slightly more mature (mentally and/or physically) reader that I attract.

I have ‘met’ some great people through the blog, some I communicate with daily, others much less frequently, but collectively they add to the enjoyment and satisfaction I get from blogging.

This series of interviews is a way of you getting to know each other better, and hopefully attract more of you to participate in the blog. I know there are a lot more of you out there that read the site regularly but don’t comment. That is your right of course, but trust me there are a really great bunch of readers around that I am sure you would get on with.

If you want to be included in this series please just email me either with your answers to these 8 questions or with any questions you may have.

And finally, thanks to all the readers who have participated in this series, and thanks to all of you for reading. I will do a long post at the end of the series with all the interviews so you can catch up easily on any that you miss, or get a great overview of some of the common answers, and some of the wildly different answers!