Meet the Digitante…

• dig·i·tal - Pronunciation: \ˈdi-jə-t^əl\ characterized by electronic and especially computerized technology

• dil·et·tante – Pronunciation: \ˈdi-lə-ˌtänt, -ˌtant; ˌdi-lə-ˈ\ a person who dabbles in a branch of knowledge

About 6-8 months ago, I was sitting around, reading an article about something or other related to electronics and I got to thinking, ‘Why do I read all this stuff?’ The short answer was that I loved all the subjects I was reading about: cell phones, computers, HDTVs, cameras – technology in general. I was confused as to why I would read all this stuff, be excited about it, and then go on with this rest of my life like it never happened.

One day, I was reading a post by Ramit Sethi, founder of I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He was talking about a new book coming out called Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim (she has a website by the same name). The book started off talking about how cubicle life in an office is an inspiration killer. It moved on to strategies to starting your own business and finally, actually jumping out and doing it.

I was inspired. I was also very lucky because the idea that I had was one which involved very little capital investment. On the other hand, it was going to require a large amount of time investment. I took inventory of what I would need: a website, business cards, content, some marketing.

Something was missing though. A name. I read a ton of blogs and they all have great, memorable names: The Boy Genius Report, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Technorati, Ars Technica. I struggled with the naming for a long time. The good names already had their web addresses taken. The ones that had web addresses available were just plain terrible names. Then one night in the shower, it hit me – I had to name my business The Digitante, pronounced ˈdi-jə-ˌtänt.

It fit me perfectly: a dabbler or dilettante in all things that are digital. I don’t claim to be a subject matter expert at any one thing, but my breadth of knowledge is huge. I can sit down with most electronic gadgets and figure out what is going on in a few minutes. If I can’t, I’ll search the internet and figure out what I need to know. I always want to know more.

That night, I ended up staying awake till 4 or 5 in the morning, signing up for a twitter account, buying a web address, and all kinds of odds and ends. The next few weeks were spent getting a website host, setting up the blog, designing logos and business cards, and all the other little things you need to do to start a business. As normally is my way, I didn’t know a thing about hosting a website, designing a website, designing a logo, or designing at business card, so I decided to learn. I first programmed a web page in HTML. I then learned how to host a WordPress blog. I learned to use a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop graphic design software called GIMP.

Since that time, I’ve gotten a few clients, I’ve focused on writing a blog post each weeknight, and I’ve come up with a couple of nice features such as Friday Night Links and In Action!

So now you know about The Digitante as an idea that blossomed into a nice little business, now let’s learn about The Digitante as a person. My name is Andy and I live near downtown Indianapolis. I have a wonderful wife who is very forgiving and understanding when I come home from Fry’s Electronics with $100s of stuff I don’t particularly need. I have two little daughters who are little socialites, even at 7 months old. In addition to my love of gadgets and electronics, I run and bike. I love watching movies, but that has pretty much slowed to a crawl since the little girls came along.

Finally, I want to thank my readers. Tell your friends about The Digitante. If there is something you want to see, ask. I feel like I’ve has some pretty interesting topics thus far, but I’m always on the look out for real life questions that people have.

And as always, if you have anything you need to discuss with me, The Digitante, you can always contact me by heading to the About page and from there you can send me an email or give me a call.