By Mike O’Brien

Hey all, my name is Mike OÔÇÖBrien. You might recognise me as last yearÔÇÖs editor of Quench Technology. You might also recognise me as CSM 2018/19ÔÇÖs Best Critic, or, as your friends might have said, ÔÇÿthat guy in the office is wearing a coat and a turtleneck and itÔÇÖs kinda freaking me out. ItÔÇÖs eighteen degrees outside. The boy ain’t right.ÔÇÖ (He isn’t). Anyway, Quench Technology is dead. I murdered it. And good riddance! LetÔÇÖs face it, stone-cold matter-of-fact technology reportage belongs in a boring place, like a newspaper. So IÔÇÖve relinquished it to its rightful home: Gair Rhydd! If you were at all worried about Quench TechnologyÔÇÖs welfare ÔÇô it is a matter of widespread social concern, after all ÔÇô please, donÔÇÖt worry. In the meantime, IÔÇÖve been working on QuenchÔÇÖs new digital counterpart, and IÔÇÖm chuffed with how itÔÇÖs turned out. IÔÇÖm pleased to announce a whole new section for Quench: something weÔÇÖre calling Download.

Download is a deliberately vague name. Broadly speaking, it encompasses all things digital culture. We all have a relationship with digital culture in some way. ItÔÇÖs a boundless adhesive for our friendships, our connection to events near and far, and for some of us, itÔÇÖs entrenched in the most intimate aspects of our lives. ItÔÇÖs Facebook, itÔÇÖs Spotify, itÔÇÖs Tinder, itÔÇÖs games, itÔÇÖs deepfakes, itÔÇÖs anything that involves our interactions with a digital space. I wanted Quench to have a more expressive and accessible place to talk about digital culture than the somewhat formal ÔÇÿTechnologyÔÇÖ section was, and though IÔÇÖm proud of the ~45% female contributors we achieved last year ÔÇô a record high for the section ÔÇô I think we can work even harder on accessibility. In short, it’s less about explicitly┬áhardcore┬ánerd stuff, and if it is about nerd stuff, it should be readable for everyone. If Quench Technology and Quench Download were friends of yours, Technology would be the nerd who doesn’t know when to stop talking about Dungeons and Dragons when someone mentions┬áStranger Things┬áin passing. Download is the cool nerd who’s fun at parties and helps you choose a laptop without the self-indulgent tangent about how Intel have really been slacking on the CPU front lately, especially given how much traction AMD’s Ryzen brand CPUs have been generating in recent years. But I wouldn’t know anything about that because I’m the cool one.

Tonally, itÔÇÖs a bit of a shakeup as well. Quench Technology had a number of excellently written articles. But there was a certain stiffness about it. At the end of the day, a magazine should feel like a conversation, even if that is a one-sided conversation with a charming friend. Words should be falling off the page as a personable voice, rather than a clinical, strictly unrhetorical argument. Anyone with passion can do it. Just be yourself. Be witty, be acerbic, be expressive. And if you donÔÇÖt know how to be, thatÔÇÖs fine ÔÇô have a go, itÔÇÖs my job to help you find your voice.

Confused? Pitches are out now on the contributors page; they should give you a practical idea as to what weÔÇÖre all about. If none of those really pique your interest, and you’ve got something you want to say about the digital space we all roam, hit me up on Facebook or email technology@quenchmag.co.uk as we roll out the exciting new changes.

Over and out,

Mike