About

So who’s this guy anyway?

Kostas Farkonas was born in 1973 in Athens, Greece and has been spending much/most of his time with computers, gadgets and games since the age of 8 years old. Not your typical example of a Panteion University Mass Media & Communication graduate, he chose to focus on IT, telecommunications and home entertainment from day one of his career as a journalist instead of foreign affairs or politics. Twenty eight years later… no regrets about that whatsoever.

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. That offered Kostas ample opportunity for mainstream and/or specialized tech reporting in that, helping him establish a prominent presence in Eleutherotypia for many years. It was not until 2007 that he chose to leave and move on.

From 1996 to 2009 he also 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 in Greece’s first weekly mainstream tech show, Infohora (1996-1997), contributing script/video for reviews on PC apps, multimedia and games.

Kostas’ love for the Internet, though, has always been stronger than his interest in traditional media or TV. He started using it pre-Web in 1991 (through the “Ariadne” Greek universities network) and has been working in projects based on it ever since. In 1996 he singlehandedly developed the first Greek Web site focusing 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 the first commercial media of the Greek market focusing on digital entertainment. In the next 5 years – until 2004, when Kostas moved on – Gamelife became the definitive source of information on its subject matter, respected by its audience and every company 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 collaborator 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 first Greek Web site and curating the relevant product/press material). He also worked as a contractor for a number of non-tech companies in the Greek market, mainly as a project manager and quality assurance manager.

Kostas is the general director of Athinorama Digital since 2009. This is 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 curator of Farkonas.gr (obviously). He’s still selectively managing other projects related to the Web, mobile and smart TV platforms as a consultant, while exploring opportunities in the native content space.

When he’s not spending time on computers, the Internet, video games, gadgets and home cinema equipment, Kostas makes an occasionally successful effort to keep away from tech. Free time found in weekdays and weekends is spent with his family, books and movies. TV watching is strictly limited to series, films and tennis, traveling is part of the job (he loves it anyway), good wine is always appreciated (the white and fruity kind even more so).

As one would expect of an individual who “is on the Internet” (sic) for almost thirty years now, Kostas can be found in many spots of the social Web. His Facebook page can be found here, his Twitter account flows here, his Instagram profile is slowly growing here, his LinkedIn page resides right here, his music videos are published on YouTube here, while the wallpapers he has been making from time to time are included in these Flickr collections. Visits and comments, all welcome in any of the above!