Sydney — A Netty obsession

San Francisco, September 12: Sydney may be 12,000 kilometres away, but atthe headquarters of Quokka, the digital media sports company producing NBC’sOlympic website, the Games have become an obsession. Beds have been added tothe standard suite of office furniture for occasional naps, temporaryworkers are being hired by the busload and the onsite masseuse is gearing upto ease the stress of overworked employees, for a dollar a minute. For 17days, 24 hours a day, Quokka is going to immerse itself in the Olympics. Itwill monitor heartbeats, stride and stroke rates, collect near real-timeresults, chat with athletes and experts. Alan Ramadan, 42, is the Australianfounder and CEO of the company he named after a relative of the kangaroo.

For Ramadan, following the Olympics on the web is more satisfying thanwatching the Games on TV. Raw data makes sporting events even morecompelling than video. Take Michael Johnson for example. "I have watchedJohnson for 10 years. I have seen him run, but now I think of him as asuperhuman. He takes a two-meter (seven-foot) stride four times a second,"he says. "What computers allow you to do is to display information in a muchmore granular way … using data visualization that really gives you aninsight into what is really going on." NBCOlympics.com will be able to showonly 20 minutes of video clips a day (and restricted to a small number ofusers), due to rules imposed by an International Olympic Committee eager toprotect its worldwide TV deals. Officials at Quokka say this is all to thegood.

"The Web does not need to replace TV," says Quokka Creative Chief OfficerMichael Gough. "Digital media allow you to go to the experience, as opposedto the experience coming to you" The site has already scored big: It wiredJohnson, the world record holder in the 200- and 400-meter sprints, duringthe US Olympics Trials, and was endorsed by Sports Illustrated Magazine asthe best web destination for the Games. When Johnson pulled his lefthamstring, he sent a "spontaneous" e-mail and audio file to some of thesite’s newsletter subscribers vowing that he would never run a 200-meterrace again. It was a scoop for Quokka. (Since then Johnson has apparentlychanged his mind.) According to Ramadan, this communication is preciselywhat Quokka and NBCOlympics.com are about. "That was Michael Johnson talkingas a human being, as opposed to Michael talking in front of a camera. Hewould have never said that in front of the camera. Never! " said Ramadan.

At the America’s Cup challenge in 1995, Ramadan spent his days sitting on alarge power yacht following the Australian team, as he stared at a computerscreen that was collecting data from the boat in real time. He realized thatmost people who came on board were more fascinated by what was happening onthe screen than by the race itself. Quokka was founded the next year. (AFP)