'Palm pilot was my first crush'

TECHNOPHILE: Alok Kejriwal, CEO, Contests2Win

What's in your pocket?
Two Nokias "" the first is a 'classic' "" a seven-year-old Nokia 7110 that was my first phone post starting my company. It works perfectly and reminds me of the days when life was a struggle.

The second is a Nokia 3660 with a round dial, which I love because it's a challenge to send SMS's blindly (without looking) on a round dial First crush?
A transparent Palm Pilot that made me learn a new language (the Palm shorthand) after school days!

Your True Love?
The iPod undeniably. It just exemplifies everything that technology should and could be.

Latest squeeze?
I want to buy the new Nokia 8800 that has a movement using a ball bearing which is used in Porsche cars.

What makes you mad?
Why all the technology armies of the world cannot stop something as simple and stupid like spam in the inbox. I think the first effective spam solution provider can scale into becoming a Fortune 500 company

What would you most love to see?
Immediately, a simple 'dictate an SMS' feature on my cell phone. I'm tired of bruised thumbs and Web to SMS options that don't work.

Your biggest tech disaster?
Contests2win was such a garage setup that we had MS Access as the platform for our database! When we scaled up, one very forgettable day, the database just crashed and became inoperable. We migrated to SQL within 48 hours, and the site remained closed. That was a horrible nightmare. Each minute of those 48 hours seemed like days.

If money was no object?
Nah, I think the best things in life do not come free but are relatively inexpensive.

PC or MAC?
Both "" how can one take sides of such great powerhouses of technology.

Linux or Windows?
Windows for smaller applications, Linux for the bigger solutions. Again, in the technology world, there is no point taking sides or becoming close minded.

Google or not?
Of course! It's like saying "" living in India and having chai or not?

How wrong have you been?
I overestimated the technology absorption speeds in India. I thought the Internet would have been double the size of what it is now.