Carroll Gardens Couple Tackles Tech Tips For Newbs

It's a conundrum for the oughts: You buy a shiny new thing—such as an iPhone, tablet, or home video system—but after living with your gadget at home, you realize that you don't understand how to use it.

Worse yet: You are afraid to ask anyone for help, for fear of being overwhelmed by technical terms or judgmental power-users.

Well, now there is a place you can go to suss out your smart phone or movie-streaming minus the mockery. Say hello to "Here's The Thing," a new blog launched by Luquer Street's Ben Patterson and Susan Leopold, which offers tech tips for the average Joe.

"When it comes to technology journalism, you have your Engadget or Gizmodo, and they are really high tech and aimed at early adopters," said Patterson, sitting in his home office while his 2-month-old daughter Claire softly cooed nearby. "But there are a lot of beginning users who don't care how to jailbreak their phone and just want to understand the basics so they can use their gadgets in an efficient way."

To that end, a "Here's The Thing" tip more typically covers territory like:

• How To Decline a Call With a Text Message
• How Big is a Gig (GB), Anyway?
• How To Take a Break From Your Netflix Subscription

Why trust this site's advice above others? Tenure, for one. For the past 15 years, Patterson has written about gadgets and technology for Yahoo! News, TIME, All You, PC Magazine, Wired, Men’s Fitness, Computer Shopper, Mobile Magazine, Mac|Life, and InfoSync World.

The couple, who met while both were working at CNET, soft launched the blog using Wordpress a year ago, after Patterson noticed the connection he had with the new-user audience.

He now writes for the blog full time in addition to taking care of Claire. Leopold maintains a day job at AOL, but she is currently on maternity leave. [Ed note: AOL is the parent company of Patch.com. However, this story was not assigned or sponsored.]

"We've worked within these roles around each other before," Leopold said. "So we're used to it. It's not unusual for us."

For her part, Leopold inspired the name of the site and occasionally also vets topics to determine if something is too in-the-know. She also liaised with the new designer who is helping HTT prepare for a relaunch, redesign and newsletter.

"This should be a simple, catalog of tips and how-tos that are timeless or evergreen as opposed to newsy and jargon-filled," she said. 

Which is not to say that Patterson won't address a hot-button topic—such as the recent redesigns on Gmail or Facebook—and lend advice on how to make the most of or bypass various changes.

But one thing the couple will never abide by is snark or negativity on the comment boards.

"We want 'Here's The Thing' to be a friendly place where men and women feel comfortable coming for simple, straightforward advice," said Leopold. 

"This is not a place for flaming the iPhone versus the Android," added Patterson. "There are plenty of other sites where you can do that."

In the future, the couple plans to film how-to videos and to help create user groups in the area, where neighbors could share problems and questions about certain gadgets that they would like "Here's The Thing" to address, such as 'How To Control the Sight Switch' on Your iPad (so it stops readjusting its orientation).

"That turned out to be one of our most successful tips," said Patterson. "And I never would have even known it was an issue for people until a friend reached out to me." Other recent gems have been inspired by his own mother.

"You and me and our parents are digital immigrants," summed up Leopold, referencing a recent McGraw-Hill article. "This kid [pointing toward her daughter] is a digital native, and she will not, by the way, need 'Here's The Thing.'"

But in the meantime, an awful lot of other people seem to.