Jeremiah Owyang discusses how web tools and social media enable companies to connect with customers

Justin TV and the other “Asian American Guy” (guess who) on SFGate

I had a great time hanging out with Justin TV today, he stopped by the SF MOMA to say hi to me (I was at my client’s event, HP) and he certainly already had some very avid fans. The SF Chronicle was following us around, they were taking pictures of him, maybe I’ll appear in the upcoming front page article. Apparently, there are some Jeff Yang from SF Gate comments on the Justin TV experience. He apparently was watching while I was touring Justin PodTech and the surrounding Palo Alto:


“As I’m writing this, for instance, it’s March 26, 12:21 p.m. Pacific time, and Kan’s driving a car. Looks like he’s not alone — hey, he’s talking to another Asian American guy. Based on Kan’s handy calendar, I think he’s someone from Podtech Network, a startup that offers videoblogs from the likes of Jason Calcanis and Robert Scoble. “Where are you from?” asks Podtech Dude, from the passenger’s seat. “I grew up in Seattle,” says Kan’s invisible, offscreen voice. (When Kan’s wearing his HatCam, you can’t see him, of course — you’re looking at the world from his first-person perspective. Actually, you can see Kan himself only when he’s asleep, because that’s when he turns the camera around to face his half-naked bad self in bed. Note: This is not titillating in the slightest, unless you get off on dimly lit, low-resolution sleep-lab videos.)

They talk briefly about growing up Asian American: Kan’s grandparents were born here. Podtech Dude is fifth generation — and then Podtech Dude asks one of the two questions that comes to everyone’s mind when they encounter Kan: “How the heck are you going to find a girlfriend if you’re wearing that all the time, dude?” Kan’s response: “I’m looking for a girl who’s an exhibitionist.” Such girls do exist: Kan notes that the other night, he got his first “onscreen” kiss from some drunk woman at a Laughing Squid party.

And then his second. And his third. “

Yeah, that Fifth Generation American Chinese guy from PodTech is me. I should also note that Justin is breaking how people think, both technologically, as well as culturally.

“I never really thought about it from this perspective before, but I guess this isn’t a typical stunt for an Asian American to do,” admits Kan. “If I heard about this in the news and it wasn’t me, and I found out it was an Asian American guy doing this, I’d be a little surprised. But that’s a good thing, right? Maybe this is in a small way breaking down some stereotypes.”

Also, it appears there’s a Justin TV fan site, it’s chronicling the adventures of Justin, from a more mature perspective, unlike some of the chat rooms. I’ll be talking to the creator sometime tomorrow.

2 Comments so far

  1. mdoeff March 29th, 2007 8:37 am

    Hey Jeremiah, glad to see that you discovered Justin.TV Guide. I just joined as a contributor yesterday. Definitely talk to Ryan about contributing. He’s a great guy and I’m sure he’d love to have you as a contributor.

  2. […] Our conversation actually made the SF Gate. After a few minutes, Eddie and Irina show up. […]

Leave a reply