So who’s this guy anyway?
Kostas Farkonas was born in 1973 in Athens, Greece and has been spending most part of his – spare/not spare – time with computers, gadgets and games since the age of 10. Not your typical example of a Panteion University Mass Media & Communication graduate, he focused on IT, telecommunications and home entertainment from day one of his journalistic career. Twenty nine years later… not a moment of regret about that.
That career began with articles published in a Greek magazine called Professional Amiga in 1991, but it was really in 1992 – by starting reporting for the second largest Greek daily newspaper, Eleutherotypia – when things got rolling. In 1995 that newspaper introduced the first Greek tech-focused inlet for its extremely popular Sunday edition, called Info. There was ample opportunity for mainstream and/or specialized tech reporting in that, helping Kostas establish a permanent presence in Eleutherotypia for many years. It was not until 2007 that he chose to leave Eleutherotypia and move on.
From 1996 to 2009 – while reporting for Eleutherotypia and after leaving it – he regularly contributed to other Greek tech, lifestyle and business media. Those ranged from weekly to monthly publications, like neo, Cyberweek and Kiniti Tilefonia to Know-How, Infotainment Arena, Athinorama and Ey Zhn. He was a columnist and features/reviews editor for the Greek editions of magazines such as .net and Computer Arts (Future Publishing), PC World (IDG) and PC Magazine (Ziff Davis). He worked on TV as part of the team of Greece’s first weekly mainstream tech show, Infohora (1996-1997), by contributing script and video for reviews on PC programs, multimedia apps and games.
Kostas’ love for the Internet has always been stronger than his interest in traditional media or TV, though. He started using it in 1991 – through the “Ariadne” Greek universities network – and pursued every opportunity to utilize it ever since. In 1996 he designed and developed the first Greek Web site focusing exclusively on computing, telecoms and home entertainment: Homo Digitalis. A group of investors, forming a company called MediaOne in 1999, took note of that effort and proposed the development of a new Web portal along the same lines. That portal, Gamelife, was one of the first commercial media of the Greek market focusing on digital entertainment. In the next 4 years – until 2004, when Kostas chose to move on – Gamelife became the definitive source of information on its subject matter, respected by its audience and all major companies of the home entertainment sector.
Kostas has also been a business consultant in various roles from 1999 onward. In this capacity he worked for Microsoft as a press office consultant on hardware and home entertainment products for 4 years, for Sony as a press office collaborator and project manager (overseeing the development of the first Greek PlayStation and PSP Web sites) for 5 years, as well as for Nintendo (overseeing the development of its Greek Web site and curating the relevant product/press material). He also worked as a contractor for a number of other non-tech companies in the Greek market, mainly as a project manager and quality assurance manager on their Web sites and/or intranets.
Since 2009 Kostas is the general director of Athinorama Digital, the part of Athinorama – one of the most popular Web sites in Greece – that focuses on personal technology and the home entertainment market for a broader audience. He’s also the editor of Athinorama Tech, the section of Athinorama.gr dedicated to mainstream tech coverage and commentary, as well as the owner of Farkonas.gr where he often blogs. He’s still selectively undertaking the management of projects related to the Web, mobile/tablet and smart TV platforms as a consultant, while exploring opportunities in the custom content space.
When he’s not spending time on computers, the Internet, video games, gadgets and home cinema equipment, he makes an effort to keep away from tech (even successfully on occasion). What free time remains in weekdays and weekends is spent on his family, books and movies. Music accompanies whatever he does in daytime, TV watching is strictly limited to series, films, tennis and snooker, traveling is part of the job (he loves it anyway), good wine is always appreciated (more so when it’s white and fruity).
As one would expect of an individual that “is on the Internet” for more than 25 years, Kostas can be found in almost all the popular Web places. His Facebook page can be found here, his Twitter account flows here, his LinkedIn profile resides right here, his Instagram photos can be viewed here, his music video clips are published on YouTube here, while the wallpapers he’s making from time to time are included in these Flickr collections. Visits and comments, all welcome in any of the above!
Farkonas.eu 