With the great response we got with Wired GadgetLab’s editor Rob Beschizza’s announcement, we thought of thanking our readers once more for showing their constant interest in our Cool Geek series. And, now without taking any time, we present you with the much-awaited second phase of the interview. So, Enjoy!

1). Thomas: How did you get involved with Wired?

Rob: Joel Johnson. I’d once been on his shortlist for a similar job at Gizmodo, but another dude, Brian Lam, got the position. A while later, Joel was at Wired in a comptroller-of-blogs position, and needed someone with a background in writing and tech to take the helm at Wired’s equivalent blog, which was then called Gear Factor. (Shortly thereafter, it was merged with the Gadget Lab ‘ which used to be edited by Lam! ) I took the job, and found Wired a great place to work. The “telecommuting” element is a challenge, but everyone here is nice, and Wired is hungry for good news and feature writing as well as front-line blogging. So the bigger challenge is in finding the time to build a better workflow, from the moment something interesting is spotted for the blog, to turning it into a full-scale news story.

Joel has now moved onto his own blog, dethroner, which is highly recommended. And Lam’s Gizmodo shouldn’t be missed either.

2). Neil: You are a full-fledged web designer & programmer too, so what attracted you to gadget blogging?

Rob: I’d imagine the same as everyone else in this particular niche: we love the toys. There’s always an ambivalence, sure, because gadgets and personal technology are drenched in lifestyle hype, and are always seeing incremental revisions that never actually go anywhere. A part of that comes from how the makers avoid innovation and risk. But another part of it is that gadgets are also sold as fashion accessories. So, you have to *love* the technology to put up with the headache of how it’s marketed, or you’d go completely insane writing thousands of words a day about it.

3). Kunal: With the increasing number of blogs, do you think the focus of blogging has changed from opinion-based blogging to mere re-blogging articles?

Rob: Blogging has always been about adding something new, regardless of whether the subject at hand comes from original research or aggregating via other blogs. A good blog will take the work of others and compete with it by producing better, more incisive, more interesting commentary on the same subject. But it will also cultivate its own obsessions, targets, bugbears, and what-have-you, starting its own fires. You know you’re re-blogging when you’re just aggregating without adding anything new, simply to have “caught the
news.” If you’re not interested enough in something to blog it without having a strong opinion on it, your readers aren’t going to, either.

4). Stella: After iPhone & Apple TV, what do you think Apple would present next?

Rob: I don’t particularly care. Apple makes superior gear, and I always look forward to what they’ve got in the pipeline, but it’s also become an institutionalized attention-magnet to the tech press and I’m trying to participate in it as sanely as possible. Whatever pearly-white miniaturized box of love comes next, it should be a surprise, the way Apple products used to be. It’s great that they kicked the cellular industry in the nuts with the iPhone, but at the end of the day, they did it simply by being slightly more innovative than their boring, complacent competitors. They’re not revolutionaries.

5). Ankit: Do you foresee a future Engadget or Gizmodo or will the pioneers continue to lead the blogging scenario forever?

Rob: I’d like to see specialization. Different blogs take different angles, and target different readerships. We’re building Gadget Lab for our own readership, first and foremost, not that of other blogs, and take our cue from Wired’s traditional focus on future living and strong writing. Wired’s readership is educated, very sharp, and long-
established. It’s very much its own thing. I don’t think they’d be reading us if we cloned something they were already reading elsewhere.

6). Livi: Though technology is going green, but do you think the eco-friendly gadgets would ever make it mainstream?

Rob: Eco-friendliness is as much a PR bullet point as anything else. Technology should be as harmless to the environment as possible, but I think it would take a specialist manufacturer centered on it to do much more than head in the direction of least resistance.

7). Nandini: What’s your say on the HDTV war that has started since Panasonic introduced it’s 103-inch Plasma TV? We have now 208-inch LED TV from Technovision. How far will this get?

Rob: The war at that end isn’t much of a war: those things are for the rich alone! Giant panels are custom made for marketing coups at trade shows and for a tiny market of specialist buyers. The real battle is in figuring out what the mass-market wants in the 30-60″ space and being able to crank out desirable products as profitably as possible. The winners there will be the same old names, but there are occasional rumblings that the faceless Asian megacorporations that actually manufacture the panels will rise to claim their place in the sun. That might be a nice change of scenery.

8). Nandini: Your views on BornRich & newly-launched Instablogs Network?

Rob: I’m a reader of bornrich, but haven’t checked out the other blogs on the network (at least, I haven’t been aware they were Instablogs...) Bornrich is a good example of what I was talking about earlier, about specialization. It isn’t another generic tech blog.

RAPID FIRE ROUND:-

1. Biggest Software Bugs/Blunder Ever
a.) Windows 95, Y2k Fears, Vista or Internet Explorer Bugs?

Rob: IE, because it embodies Microsoft’s traditional approach to security.

2. Coolest Programming Language
a. Ruby, b. PHP, c. Java d. Perl?

Rob: Ugh, what a choice! PHP will rule the world, but it ain’t cool.

3. Any three Web Comics you love to read?

Rob: I’ve been reading Girl Genius and Penny Arcade lately.

4. Futuristic Inventions You will hate to see Become Real
a. Invisibility Cloaks b. Human Cloning c. Virtual Reality Sex
Partners d. Meals in a Pill (e) All of the above?

Rob: Human cloning is a little scary, but therapeutic cloning is going to be a medical revolution.

5. Things you hate to spend Money on in desc. order
a. Gas b.Video games c.(Ex)Girlfriend d. College e. Taxes?

Rob: Taxes, Gas, Video Games. I don’t have to worry about the others, as I’m married and have no college debts!

6. Best Present for a Girlfriend/Wife
a. Jewelry b. Flowers c. Lingerie d. Anything Handmade e. Negative HIV Test?

Rob: D! Though, of course, I can imagine the appeal of (e) to those
concerned about that kind of thing...

7. Best song/lyrics/theme for all these situation. Put any song that comes to your mind instantly.
a. Breakup Song

Rob: Freak ‘em out with “Hazard.” It’s a dreadful Richard Marx song about guy suspected of murdering his girlfriend.

b. Song to Get “Pumped-Up”

Rob: Old chiptunes.

c. Song That Remind You of Fall

Rob: Probably something old, slow and majestic, like Holst.

d. Anime Theme

Rob: The horrifying intro to some robot girl show my niece used to watch.

8. Most Useless Gadgets
a.iPod b.Electronic Toothbrush c.Electric Razors d. Portable DVD player?

Rob: Portable DVD players.

9. Top Arcade Video Games you wasted days playing on
a. Pac Man b. Donkey Kong c. Mortal Kombat d. Mario Brothers e. Doom (f) Double Dragon?

Rob: Double Dragon

11. Worst Sony Product
a. Playstation 3 b. Bluray c. PSP d. Memorystick e. Walkman Mp3 Player?

Rob: PSP.

Finally, we thank Rob for enthralling us with this wonderful interview and wish All-the-Best for his future!