My Gadget: Bob Skinstad going social

In the second of our new series of My Gadget interviews, in which we ask opinion leaders in a variety of fields about their favourite gadgets, tools and apps, we feature BOB SKINSTAD, former Springbok rugby captain. He is now a popular radio broadcaster, and one of the few rugby commentators who keeps fans updated via Twitter. Feel free to tweet this!

I am a retired rugbypro, turned broadcaster, happy dadand hubby, small business owner, avid reader and ardent outdoors man.Any gadgets that can enhance those parts of my life will be looked at andlearned about!

1. What is the earliest gadget you can remember buying (when, where, why did you buy it)?

Besides the usual clock calculators,etc, I actually got one of theearliest Palm Pilot PDAs, and remember clearly getting a fewcalendar functions and note-taking lessons in a little shopcalled Van der Merwe’s‚ in Hong Kong!

2. What phone do you use and why?

iPhone ‚ it’s intuitive and fits in with my Apple lifestyle.

3. What is your favourite gadget (aside from the above)?

The iPad has been great, but needs a camera, as I travel a lot and use Skype.For outdoors, the Garmin Forerunner wrist GPS/watch – one on the wrist of arunning partner got me through the Wild Run in the Eastern Cape!

4. What is your favourite online tool or useful site and why?

Sprout Social, which helps me manage and monitor my social media stuff: I like the 37signals products but am not proficient yet: as well as WordPress.

5. What is your favourite mobile tool or app and why?

Twitter for iPhone, easy and quick for managing twitter.

6. What gadget do you wish would just go away?

I have two watches that I don’t use, don’t need to sell and don’t want to have!

7. What is the best piece of gadget-buying or -using advice you can give to gadget consumers out there?

Do the research on any new gadget (they are costly for the environmenttoo), and wait a bit before you upgrade your main ones, as gadgets arebecoming more individual ‚ as in,‚my solution is similar but notexactly the same as yours‚ . So ask a few people!

Bob Skinstad is co-founder, with Ron Rutland, of The Bobs for Good Foundation, a non-profit organisation born out of the need to restore dignity and pride to South Africa’s neediest learners by giving them a gift of hope ‚ a pair of quality leather, locally-made school shoes to care for and call their own. Read about it at http://www.bobsforgoodfoundation.org and follow Bob on Twitter: @bobskinstad