↓ gdgt a place for geeks

A social network for gadget geeks or a gizmo database for professional use? … both. Rojas (founder of Engadget, Gizmodo…) and Block (Engadget’s former Editor-in-chief) came up with this user-generated gadget Wikipedia idea and unveiled it last Wednesday, the result?

We surely have to thank people like Rojas, Block or Lam who have made the gadget world a bit more understandable and less nerdy, more accessible for normal consumers willing to keep up with technological evolutions…. (Well not really, their blogs remain quite geeky to some extent).

As Rojas says there was a big gadget-opportunity on the internet regarding databases. Creating a serious referent site with pertinent information (and not only biased opinions) about consumer electronics is something geeks have been waiting for several years.

The same way Jinni is trying to kill Imdb by adding social features or Pandora with Cddb, Gdgt aspires to make us list & review every single device out there and become this way the next entry point for anything related to electronics.

The move is intelligent we have to admit it, a clear business model with ambiguous advertising (is the gadget I’m evaluating an ad or just a photo?); sponsored links , price comparison charts for retailers with direct links to their shops and of course … omnipresent ads & banners by Google all over the page.

Luckily for us this huge geek review social network doesn’t look like a place for geeks. A minimalistic and intuitive design makes this gadget sn a welcoming and extremely usable site.

Let’s get social

The community plays the most important role here. Users basically do all job for Rojas & Co (hope there’s an editorial team verifying every single review behind… ). But after participating in any discussions or adding some friends you quickly find the hermetic gdgt proposal:

Ok so we can find detailed info about gadgets, track, review, compare and then discuss how cool or uncool the iPhone 3GS is or the Nintendo64 was.. nothing less … but nothing more.

Gdgt remains simply a database with a forum and some poorly social features. Certain limitations like no integration with other social networks or having to visit external sites (Cnet, Engadget…) for professional reviews makes it a bittersweet experience.

Maybe this is the geeky way of saying… we only want technology maniacs ! But hey… will this kill gadget blogs? Probably not.

If you didn’t get the idea they’ve put a video with Veronica Belmont explaining the concept:

Personally I think the site has huge potential, however it’s us the community who have to make it live.

See you @ Rennes