Profile: Mihai Anghel, Gecad: Without e-mail, 70% of my activity would be �corrupted�

1.What gadget's in your pocket, at hand?

Nokia E61i

2. What was the first gadget you had?

I think it was a walkman, in ’87.

3. What was the last tech product you bought?

A 500GB external hard drive

---

3. The most unpleasant gadget-related incident

I had to do a demo presentation at GSMA World – for a new application – prototype developed by our company.

The plane was leaving on Sunday, and on Saturday at noon, right before I left, the cell phone where all the necessary data and applications for the demo were stored, broke down.

So, it took me all day long to find the same phone type and I spent all night doing the necessary setup… I was lucky I had a back-up to all data and that I still had 24 hours to fix things.

---

5. How much would you be willing to pay for a cell phone?

Around 500 euros.

6. What features would your ideal phone have?

I think that the current features of Nokia E71 or N97 are enough… but it wouldn’t hurt anybody some extra speed, storage space, or pixels.

7. What was the first cell phone you’ve used?

It was an NMT called “Dancall” something… It weighed nearly 400-500g and you could keep it in the back pocket if your jeans. It was a breakthrough at that time.

---

8. What mobile phone brand do you prefer?

At this point, I still recommend Nokia. Even if it has lowered the quality standards, it remains the mobile phone maker with the best price/quality ratio. Nokia phones combine in the most intuitively manner business and consumer features, but at the same time, it offers connectivity support via the most protocols and security policies.

---

9. Your favorite tech brand and manager?

Google for the business lesson offered to the whole tech industry. Silviu Hotaran (photo) who proved that unfortunately even here in Romania, you can keep your professional and human integrity even if you have daring objectives.

10. The most useless gadget you found on sale?

I’ve never understood who would use the querty keyboard attached to a mobile phone, which is usually the same size as the phone it’s attached to.

---

11. If money were no object, what gadget would you buy?

I don’t think there is such an expensive gadget (except probably Vertu) that any passionate consumer couldn’t afford.

But to answer the question, I would make a gadget that would serve as smartphone, laptop, docking station, multimedia station and many other that could make my father turn off the air conditioning at a single keystroke.

12. What type of websites do you access regularly? What is your favorite website?

I generally access tech news websites, online networking and forums. My favorite website is of course axigen.com…:)

---

13. What was the last acquisition made online?

The same external hard drive of 500GB

14. What is internet to you?

To me, internet is an extension of my real life. Or I could say I’m living a double life.

A part of my everyday life is here, in Bucharest, among cars, offices, blocks and supermarkets, and through the internet it extends into an abstract reality that allows me to do around 60% of the things I normally do, but faster, more accurately, without frontiers and without long and tiresome travels.

---

15. How would a day in your life without internet look like?

On one hand, everything would be slower, which means lower productivity. But on the other hand, as all the research and decision-making process would move slower, it would be more relaxing.

I don’t think it would be so bad if the internet stopped to exist. After all, 15 years ago, neither the internet nor the mobile phones were used on a large scale. And people could still work and live just fine. But if e-mail stopped to exist now, nearly 70% of my work would be “corrupted”.

16. What do you find attractive in a notebook: its performance or its mobility?

I think the ratio between the two rests in the key of persuading the consumer. But if I were to choose between the two, I would probably go with the most performing, even if that would imply carrying few hundred grams more.

---

17. Where will innovation go? What gadget would you create that's not been made so far?

The new technologies are moving towards more compactness, miniaturization of existent IT solutions. I think we have all the required technologies in place to create the first generation of cyborgs. It’s just a matter of standardization and improvement of existent technologies until the virtual and the real environment merge into an independent unitary system.

---