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Showing posts from 2011

Kodak Easyshare - not Easy..

First to be fair to Kodak , Thank You for making available 5MP+ cameras to retail consumers . But you are still stuck being a product company. Now it is all about experience. And sadly, even though your cameras are great, cheap and selling, the end experience leaves some to be desired. Now its great, that with the later versions of EasyShare software you got on the 'social' bandwagon, provided facebook etc. options but please understand that countries like India, your average user (currently in 2011 and atleast a couple of years more, which if not managed properly can be damaging permanently) is still going to sync with the computer and that is where the Kodak easyshare is not at all easy ! Some problems - 1. the display does not indicate file types while selecting for download to your computer, so if someone has shot a 100 mb movie in between pictures, you are stuck while transferring. And thats exactly what happened, some videos were shot which were around 10 t

Body Guard

Ok, So one of the channels decided to show BodyGuard at 9 pm. yesterday. Had heard the movie wasn't that great. Had found Wanted crazily hilarious, so switched to the movie sharp at 9 pm.  The movie started with a scene localized for consumption from Rajneeti (Sorry, Rajneeti localized GodFather, and now Rajneeti gets a mention.) Why on earth would they start a movie like this ? Well that was it. The movie lost 80% of my interest then. Still hung around even though most of the going ons were nonsense. Finally switched channels when Salman Khan did a SpiderMan (no it was Robot) to jump out of the local train onto an express going in the opposite direction. Good thing the jump was before 13 Nov 2011, else, post the switchover happening today from DC to AC, a man standing on the train is likely to be pulled into the overhead wires. Last thing, please change the name of the movie to Body-Spider-Father-Man !! Sounds dumb ? That's how the start looked to me. Disclaimer:

Did Ayn Rand screw the world !

For those who enjoy reading a lot, you must know who Ayn Rand is. Her characters like Howard Roark are charcters you dont forget a lifetime. Her characters usually had a high level of ego, and she propagated the 'selfish motive'. While her characters and writings are honest in some sense, she has sadly glorified the egotism, and the self centered-ness, justifying that only a selfish man can give the best to the world A high number of mid to senior executives have read her writings, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and I am sure, were deeply influenced to be egotistic !! This in a world of complete interdependence. She is also supposed to be one of those who influenced the US of A for its strategy of consumerism..

India's population a strength ?

This topic is probably been done already before, but I will state some simple thoughts. Am open to answers..  Many future predictions, specially HSBC and Deustche bank predictions mention India's GDP growth to surpass all other countries by 2045/2050, largely considering the India's population as its strength ! Did anyone know, we would all be chatting away on Facebook 25 years back ? Anyways, I doubt whether the population is a strength. Here's why.  1. Food : Already the vegetable rates are interesting, wonder where they will go. All the big shots Pranab Mukherjee, PM Manmohan Singh etc. have said this is due to change in dietary patterns. I have my doubts. I think it is largely due to politically powerful intermediaries holding Indians at ransom. But if these politicians are right, just think what direct cash transfers will do. 2. Water : Already the average distance a rural Indian woman travels for fresh data water is in kilometers. Wonder where they will

Yennovation, Monopoly

I have been wondering, and Yes, I do know that I do that a lot !! Wondering, about Dominant Design. An alternative name for a Monopoly !!  No, not a monopoly in the orthodox sense of an enterprise, but the monopoly of a particular dominant design. Why do we have only electricity and no other 'city' after that. A random google search (what else ) tells me humanity has known electricity for over 2500 years, analyzed and have been capable of generating it for almost 300 years. But isn't someone trying to discover an alternate form of powering us up instead of just alternate forms of electricity generation methods !! Dont we loose a lot in transformation ?? What about wheels. Sure it maybe 1 of the most important discoveries / inventions ever, but doesnt anyone think of changing the fundamentals of transport. Arent we advanced enough to stop having wheels as the dominant design. What about planes that jump up like a frog, instead of the runway, before t

India achieves Six Sigma !

Of course, it isn't news. But it's the truth. Isn't it ? Most commonly we say, it is the system. Well, more recently, we have gained an understanding that we are the system. We know that we are born paying bribes (think about the pregnant woman in the gaon who wanted to get admission in the government hospital for her delivery) and die paying bribes (dont forget the guy who sits at the cemetery who helps with the death certificates, and God forbid, if you are a special case in any way.) So what can be defined as corruption. In the above cases it was very straight forward to identify, but there can be vague instances as well. A businessman, who is a bank customer giving sweets on festivals to bank employees, expecting  on the side, fast service, when the need arises. Some might want to call this good will, but make no mistake. This is corruption. So what exactly is corruption : When entity1 gives something extra to the entity2 for getting something in return whi

Street Side, Street Smart, Sales Strategies/Tactics.

Couple of months back, I saw something interesting on the streets in Mumbai, where women were selling some wares. Observed some more, and here it is... Hot Shots This tactic is visible in restaurants, mainly Udipi restaurants and also the steetside pavbhaji/tava pulav vendors in Mumbai. Does it happen in your city/town/village as well ? The bhajis, specially the red coloured gravy ones: bhaji from pao-bhaji, veg kolhapuri, veg patiala, bhendi masala etc. are cooked using a mix of masala which stings on the tongue, and most of us eat food in such places when the temperature of the food is hot to lukewarm. This combination of hot taste and hot temperature confuses the average human being's reflexes: While eating such bhajis, ability to discern hunger and taste decreases, thrist, and eating speed increases. This generally results in you eating a pao-bhaji quickly, not understanding how much of your hunger is appeased, and generally resulting in a side order of a carbona