In 1981, Easton got his first computer, a ZX81 with 1 kB of RAM. As he was not able to afford the $16.95 needed to buy tapes of games for the computer, he developed his own games. This started his interest in computers and technology. Easton was online in either 1989 or even 1988 at a speed of 2.4 kbit/s long before many others had heard of the internet. In the book The Art of Videogames, which explores how philosophy of the arts theories developed to address traditional art works can also be applied to videogames, the author acknowledges Easton as an "invaluable source of gaming discussion".
Mountain biking
Easton got into mountain biking in 1993 while living in Halfway Bush, Dunedin. A serious hobby developed out of this, and he saw himself flatting with like-minded people. Having a "tendency to break parts of the bike", he took up employment at the Wellington mountain bike shop 'Mud Cycles', where he stayed until 1999.
Vorb
History
In July 2000, Easton set up an email list called “Vaguely Organised – Ride Bikes” to better coordinate social rides with friends. In November 2000, he bought the domain name “www.vorb.org.nz” and set up a small static website hosting some stories and photos of their trips on a dozen pages. It was supposed to be a private site for a circle of friends. Based on feedback and encouragement, Easton transformed the site to a public forum during 2001. In 2004, the site was a finalist in the 2004 NetGuide Web Awards and was receiving 13,000 unique browsers a month. Easton quit his day job and started working on Vorb full-time at the beginning of 2005. By June 2008, Vorb received 74,000 unique browsers a month. Vorb has been available for mobile phone browsing since August 2005. Easton announced his retirement from Vorb in August 2009.
Reputation
Vorb has an excellent reputation. One commentator, criticising a commercial website built for a government agency, referred to Vorb as the prime example of how to set up an internet forum in a way the target community will embrace it. Some quotes from the Vorb forum give further insight about the website's reputation, and that the website's reputation is intrinsically interlinked with Easton's reputation:
Awards
Easton's website Vorb was ranked number one in the Hitwise award in the 'Sports - Cycling' category against other New Zealand websites in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Easton won the inaugural 2007 'Cycling Champion of the Year' category of the Cycle Friendly Awards organised by Cycling Advocates' Network. Vorb has been voted 'Best Sports And Recreation Site' at the NetGuide People’s Choice Awards 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Personal life
Easton is engaged to Heather Bates. They live with their cat Sprocket in Mapua. Easton is currently employed by the Tasman District Council as webmaster.
