Today Yahoo launches its technology channel, an ambitious undertaking that incorporates and takes advantage of Yahoo's prodigious resources in search and answer technology, personalization and
community, shopping, and social networking features.
Positioned as "tech for the rest of us," Yahoo Tech will, among other things, attempt to make tech easier for the rest of us--easier to
choose and use the products and services in our daily lives, according to Pat Houston, general manager, Yahoo Tech, and former editor in chief of CNET. All too often, regular people, yes, non-tech
geeks like this here Minute, find ourselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, brands, prices, features, you name it. What to do about that next notebook PC purchase, or digital camera, MP3
player, or flat-screen TV? "Tech remains overwhelming to most people; our goal is to make it less intimidating," Houston observes.
Yahoo Tech's "tech for life" gambit will feature three
buckets of content: aggregated content licensed from the likes of Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, and The Dummies books published by John Wiley & Sons, and others; user-generated
content in the form of reviews, ratings, and experiences that people can share, swap, and access liberally; and original content, including tips from tech guides representing various demographics and
video programs like "Hook Me Up," (more on that in a minute).
Yahoo Tech, according to Houston, was "built from the ground up" for people who don't have time to plow through tons of reviews
chock full of speeds and feeds. It's designed to be accessible to a broad audience that has been underserved. The launch period, spanning May through July, "represents the power of Yahoo in its
totality. It exemplifies Yahoo 2.0 in content and functions," Houston adds.
Receiving a private demo of the new channel, the Minute noticed that Yahoo makes the most of shopping integration
functions that enable people to purchase products from a variety of retailers. At launch, the channel will offer 300,000 tech products complete with user-generated reviews and ratings. The channel
leverages Yahoo's Answers feature, inviting users to enter tech-related questions; then the search technology scans the database for the answer. User-generated questions also go out to the entire
Yahoo community for responses. Yahoo Tech sports a clean, elegant interface with little clutter but plenty of Flash; it also signals the direction of Yahoo's home page overhaul that's set to unspool
in July.
And through Yahoo 360, where users can maintain and store lists of their favorite stuff--music, movies, blogs, etc.--they can also share the kinds of gadgets they own with friends
and family, i.e., "Stuff I own." A "My Tech" function shows recently reviewed products and recent searches, enabling saving, sharing, and comparing.
By the end of the summer, Yahoo expects to
incorporate a social networking function whereby consumers on Yahoo Tech will be able to communicate with one another via IM, e-mail, and more about their tech recommendations and preferences. And
here, Yahoo is surely in the vanguard with the idea of connecting people with their own trusted circle of tech advisors. Think of sharing music playlists in this regard--it's similar with tech.
Friends and family can exchange information on favorite gadgets, make recommendations, get help with hookups and usage, and so forth.
Speaking of tech advisors: Yahoo has set us up with blogs
from several different types--The Mom, The Working Guy, the Techie/Geek (as yet not chosen), The Techie Diva (not to be confused with her male counterpart), and The Boomer. Each of these folks are
down-to-earth and reputable, and they represent various sectors of a broad audience. It's worth noting that The Boomer is Robin Raskin, the former editor of PC Magazine, who will provide
regular coverage on tech for the maturing set. Each advisor will offer up to five blog posts per day. Another help feature we noticed is "Tech 911," yet another venue for consumers seeking assistance
in using tech.
And one of the most interesting pieces of the launch is "Hook Me Up," a kind of tech home makeover show comprised of 3- to 4-minute video segments featuring solutions to
regular consumers' tech problems. "Hook" hits on May 15. Best of all, the episodes are drawn from real user-generated issues. Produced by Michael Davies, executive producer of "Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?" and "Wife Swap," the show will offer one new episode per week for six months. Hosted by Becky Worley, who has covered tech for CNN and ZDTV/TechTV, among other outlets, each episode will
feature an unconventional twist. For example, there's an episode featuring a woman who owns a TV set that's older than she is. That's some twist. Other tech-infused shows are planned.
Launch
advertisers include Hewlett-Packard, Verizon Wireless, and Panasonic, all of which have category exclusivity through July. Yahoo is working with the advertisers to tailor messaging to various
demographics. An unusual Flash-based interstitial ad unit is prominently positioned on Yahoo Tech. We plan to check in often with Yahoo Tech to see where it's going. On this early view, it sure looks
good.