Reblogged: The Art of Making Simple Things Complicated

Glimpses into Life: The Art of Making Simple Things Complicated

Blog moved to sammysthoughts.wordpress.com 

My name is Khan .... and u deserve it

There have been very few movies (especially Hindi) which have touched me enough to make me cry and "My name is Khan" is one of them. A movie with such a simple message "There are only 2 kinds of people in the world - Good or Bad" and a message not drilled into ur head by long speeches but by the adorable characterization of Rizwan Khan is simply amazing.
This movie also has a great similarity with the latest Marathi movie doing the film festival rounds "Harishchandrachi Factory" -- the similarity of Determination. In HF Dadasaheb Falke the first indian filmaker (Raja HArishchandra) a man of modest means is determined to make a movie,so strong ins the determination that he is undaunted by the fact that it requires 10,000 Rs just to travel to London to understand the art (in 1924 10,000 was equivalent to todays 3 lakhs) and more importantly undettered by the fact that his wife is expecting. Similarly in MNIK Rizwan dreams of speaking to the President irrespective of the odds. We may discount this as "it happens in movies" or actually learn that NO Dream is impossible provided we have the passion to pursue.
I have often heard from my friends that they want to start a business however not without quitiing what they have or maybe in 10 yrs "when they have money" or when they are a "bit stable". After watching both these movies i guess the real thing lacking is not money or stability but the passion and the readiness to bear the brunt which this passion brings.
For all those of you who have been holding back for a "muhurat" to start ur business or take the dace class or hit the gym --- go watch MNIK and HF --- maybe u will get inspired and it would ignite your passion!!!

BTW - after watching MNIK i believe

1. Shiv Sena must be made to watch the movie and they would clearly have no justification for the "Goondagiri" then
2. There were a lot of claims that Shahrukh did a publicity stunt at the airport recently and that his engagement with Shiv Sena is also to garner support -- MNIK doesnt need this cheap publicity.

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I closed my Facebook Account Today

I logged out of Facebook today for the last time -- I am off the "lay my life bare" phenomenon. Some people may gasp and consider this brash in the world of today which is all about being connected and others may feel my white hair are getting to my brains.
Let me clarify this is not a symbolic gesture or a launch against Social N/w in any manner. I simply didnt feel it was adding in any utility to my life and in fact it was getting a bit irritating. Here is an example - One of my friends recently commented that he intends to come back to India after 10 years in USA. Great!!! By the way this "Friend" is someone i havent spoken to in those 10 years and not because international calls were costly. Anyway good to know via Facebook that he is back, but then the continuous messages of all comments posted to this message were on my facebook from people i dont know!!!
When i open my Facebook page I have peoples horoscopes and photo's of completely unrelated people whom someone from my friend list may have commented. I also have zillion update on what stage and heroics my friends have completed in Mafia wars and Farmville -- though most of them would give a thousand reasons for not going for a drive to the countryside on a weekend ;-)
But the most imp reason for switching off was UTILITY. We all lead a busy life in real world and several new web tools have made life interesting. There are RSS feed readers which makes keeping track of news easier, various Firefox widgets which make browsing/ blogging easier but what has been the benefit of Facebook to me in the past 1 year? 
Reconnecting with old friends - well yes i did find some of my old school colleagues on Facebook - we said hi, how are u ?, exchanged nos. but thats it -- after that its back to Mafia wars and horoscope updates.
Making New Friends - The supposed utility of meeting new people and supporting new groups again didnt work for me and i think there are enough opportunities in real life to meet people.... not choosing who "seems" interesting based on "profile" but simply interacting and let the chemistry decide if u click. Anyways u never know if the Profile is what it says and people who would consider acquaintances on internet as "Friends" are unlikely to be my type anyways - Friendship is much more than being neighbors in Farmville.
Being part of groups - Havent been much successful here --more sucessful going to Mocha Cafe and be a part of the film club or joining a trekking group , going paragliding.
Being in touch with distant friends economically - Well with the international call rates being what they are i guess the monthly Broadband connection costs more than making an occassional call to the distant friends and then there is always Skype, Gchat etc -- well if u really want to be in tocuh that is.
Great games -- Duh!!!

The only utility i see is to stay in touch with my Fans -- that is if i were SRK and people would actually pay me to write blogs so that ad revenue monetization can happen (comeon u dont beleive that Celebrities actually write on blog themselves do u?)

So in this year of the Tiger (in Chinese new year) i take this leap to touch base with the real world and bid adieu to the virtual one atleast for some time till a great app comes along.

Gong Hei Fat Choi
(Happy new year in Cantonese)

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Some improvement at Mumbai Airport

It was a pleasant surprise that finally someone figured out the futility of the Swine Flu declaration form at Mumbai international airport. For the uninitiated whenever u land from an international flight there was a req to fill in a Swine Flu declaration form which asks various questions to determine if u could potentially have swine flu. You then get the form stamped from a medical officer at the airport before u can move out of immigration.
Brilliant prevention measure but the issue being that most of the times the MO stamped your form even without looking at you in the rush effectively defeating the purpose and only adding to the chaos in the small space.
However when i landed last night it was a relief that they finally have automated monitors for you to simply pass thru - No forms,no hindarance -- smooth passage.These monitors were first installed in (where else) - Singapore airport about a year back i guess and while late ultimately they have reached India.

BTW this sense of relief on smooth passage was short lived since as soon as u come out getting a pre-paid cab is a chaos in itself but thats for another time and blog

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The Next wave of Internet : Goodbye "FREE", Welcome - "Show me the Money"

The internet revolution largely has been built so far on three pillars -

1. Customize,
2. Information at finger tips and
3. Free

of which FREE has been the biggest phenomenon. Jog your memory and the biggest debates or "breaking news" bolstering the strength of Internet have been around FREE e.g. Skype, Napster, Torrents, Porn and more recently "justification for Twitter valuation when its FREE".
I remember till some time back there used to be this whole hype around how "internet" and digital medium will make paid models of "Real media" redundant and news papers will die / music industry will cringe and everything will be "ad-supported". Did that happen? To an extent it did but only till a tipping point where they realised advertisements cant support apps which require "customization" once u achieve a certain scale i.e. no. of users or GB of data transfer. So FREE was more of a luring element and NOT a phenomenon to Stay. Its becoming increasingly time consuming and difficult for an average netizen to download songs/ movies from internet for FREE- Yes the geeks or Torrents still exist but you need to be interested in doing a lot of R&D or be aware of virus threats and NOT be behind firewalls to do this. Wouldnt it be easier to download the same for 0.99 cents from itunes?
The Internet world is now moving to "Monetization" by starting to charge for "good" content. The new race is not to bring out as many apps for free so as to drive eyeballs and then earn advt. but rather the race (and long term winners) will be content aggregators who bring apps relevant enough for netizens to feel its utility and hence pay a small sum for it -- the money being made in volumes. So effectively its become a volume game based on "Quality content" with break-even points at millions of downloads. Look around you and all the companies you feel confident about in the internet world (read have black bottom-line) are the ones leveraging this model. E.g. The gaming companies, Amazon Kindle with its e-books, iTunes stores, GPS applications, Tutoring apps and even good porn sites :-)
I know there will be 2 questions asked - What about Google and what about user generated content?
OK firstly Google -- the Holy Grail and originator of FREE --
Today, Google announced a new program to let publishers limit the amount of paid content Google News users can access for free. And Rupert Murdoch endorsed Microsoft’s recently reported efforts to encourage publishers to “de-list” their content from Google through direct payments or other types of beneficial treatment on Bing.
Both these are indicators of Google also bending to the needs of Monetization. To me Google is the gatekeeper who makes money when the Lords behind the gates make money. So all "enabling tools" required to reach the right content/ apps will remain FREE and is googles domains e.g. Maps, mail, Search etc. Also Google will be a key element in enabling "Preview and Test" for most offerings, but once it gets u to the Pearly gates of content, entry depends on the ability of your wallet to spend. This is a marked diversion from prophecy some years back when Google was to emerge as the killer of Real world media and content.

Second, User generated content -- the argument there is simple - I wouldnt mind watching a Street play for FREE, if its crappy i can walk home but if i want to watch a quality play in a limited time i will go to Broadway based on reviews and buy my tickets. User generated content is for Leisurely wanting to experiment and so has / will continue to have its own space in this picture. It will always remain as a compliment to the real content - it will have its value as an Opinion medium via Social media, Gossip provider , news breaker but not analyzer, non-utility but interesting data provider, avenue provider to entrepreneurs to help them evolve as the next "money generating" company -- in effect the Street play platform to an artist aspiring to perform in Broadway.

So to me the war of FREE has ended and the war of "Relevant content" has begun - the war of Comcast buying NBC, the war of SONY Reader vs Kindle vying for rights to right books, the war of BING vs Google --- because remember behind the behemoth of content on internet are real people needing real salaries to eat real FOOD (& real cosmetics to look beautiful ;-))

Internet, New world, Mometization, google

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China vs India

Reproduced from Sujai Karampuri blog

There are scores of articles in every major newspaper and every major magazine comparing India with China on various economic progress indicators. There are even books written about Tiger of India pitted against Dragon of China. To those who base their opinions on such reports, articles and books, it looks as though India is posing a strong completion to China, when in fact every measurable economic indicator suggests that China is clearly leading India on all fronts. Moreover the gap between these two countries is only widening with each passing year. And yet, many Indian commentators continue to complacently believe that India has some edge somewhere when in fact none exists.

The tone of these reports and analysis comparing India with China suggest that India is actually inching towards China. That is not the case. In reality China is leaving behind India by a bigger margin every year. It is becoming tougher and tougher for India to catch up. In the last few years, Chinese have built the biggest dam on the planet, built the longest bridges, built the fastest cities, built their own planes, submarines, ships, magnetic trains, and even the highest railways while India continued to lay another layer of asphalt on its decrepit roads after each rainfall.

India is not even showing a promise of catching up. None of its policies suggest this. None of its initiatives give a glimmer of hope. Even the Indian industry is not thinking big. It is still content to play a small game.

Is English really India’s edge?

Indian commentators continue to tell us that all this China-leading-India comments are based in myth, because Indians have English which Chinese don’t have.

Is English really India’s edge? Only when India looks at itself as servicing the West using its BPOs then yes, English gives India the edge. However, if the competitor is bent on actually creating its own technology product industry to take on the West, does English still matter?
When was the last time a Japanese car company could not sell its cars because the makers were not good at English? When was the last time someone in Europe balked at buying a Sony Walkman because its makers couldn’t speak English? When it comes to China, how come their lack of good English not stop Huawei from becoming world #2 in telecom equipment? How come it did not stop Lenovo, Haier and ZTE from becoming leading global brands? Just to give a perspective to Indian readers – 2 telecom equipment companies of China, Huawei and ZTE put together made USD 30 Billion in 2008 while the entire IT-ITES industry of India put together made USD 58 Billion in 2008-09.

China is changing the rules of the games. It is taking on the West where the West has dominated so far, bringing the fight closer to the technology leaders, while India has conveniently told itself that it will not even play this game.

Indians are in self-denial. They foolishly believe everything Thomas Friedman tells them, and they are happy serving their European and American masters setting up BPOs, KPOs, LPOs, software services, helping them do their things in a cheap and cost-effective way, while Chinese are poised to take on these European and American masters head on. It’s as though the Chinese have completely overthrown their colonial inferiority complex.

For many years now, Indians gloated over the characterization that India is good at software services while China is good at manufacturing. This was a convenient characterization that only Indians believed because the books were written in English which only Indians could understand. Chinese blissfully unaware of what Friedman said were not constrained by this characterization and hence clearly violated all hierarchies.

Indians limited themselves to serving the West. When they looked in the mirror, they said, “I am an Indian. I am good at services. I should just stick to it”. That India is only good at software services became a cultural phenomenon with every major industry bigwig repeating it on various forums. Even Indian government fell into this trap where all incentives and subsidies were geared only to promote the software services companies. Go to a hardware park in India and compare it with a software park in India, you will recognize the step-motherly treatment meted out to the hardware companies.

India made no attempts at taking on China in manufacturing. Nor did they attempt to take on the West to go up the value chain to actually deliver technology and products. The Flat World theories told them that they can just concentrate on what they were good at, that is Software Services, KPOs, BPOs and LPOs, giving up on manufacturing forever thereby handing over the race on a silver platter to China, and giving up on technology products thereby continuing to serve the West.

China not only won the race in manufacturing and consolidated its position, it is now entering the technology product space, the domain held closely by the European, American and Japanese technology leaders. What more, it has started to beat these leaders at their own game. Huawei has recently won the contract to supply 3G equipment in Norway, the bastion of Nokia. While India made feeble attempts with C-DOT and ITI who are not even able to sell into BSNL, China has launched not one but two major telecom companies – Huawei and ZTE, that not only sells within their countries, they sell to BSNL also.

China vs. India

CK Prahlad in his closing comments at Nasscom Summit of February 2009 advised that Indian companies should foster more startups because they are the ones which bring vibrancy to the economy. His advice comes late, and even when it comes, it falls on deaf ears.
Infosys, TCS and Wipro, the giants of Indian software services which Thomas Friedman lauds, did not do much to sponsor or promote startups in India (barring few exceptions).
Their presence in India did not help any startup, except that many ex-employees went out and started companies on their own without any support or encouragement from these parent companies.

Meanwhile, China has launched extensive nationwide program to promote entrepreneurship in China. I was told that even a district head, equivalent to Indian District Collector, could invest up to half a million US dollars to a company that sets up shop in his district. Writing about China, a report says:

An analysis of documenting the tremendous growth of the Chinese entrepreneurial and cultural initiatives since the demise of Communist leader Mao Zedong reveals that this accounts for the Chinese economy’s double digit growth in the last couple of decades. [1]

It is clear to some countries that startups are essential for the growth in economy. Not so, thinks India. Indian has never believed in startups. They don’t think they add up to anything. The government is obsessed with giants because they look at them as employment provider – therefore the bigger the employer the better it is. Not a single major initiative has been taken in the last few years to promote startups in India. While the government boasts of loans to SMEs, when startups actually approach the banks, they feign ignorance of any such initiative.

All initiatives and decision making bodies in India are headed by people who have been good software services and therefore there is not a single policy that actually aids home grown brands, products and technologies. STPI still thinks that software is exported only as floppy, ftp or a CD. If you put that software in telecom equipment, a mobile handset, or a DVD player, then it does not recognize it as software and hence are not given the incentives. If Apple existed in India, there is not category for recognizing it. The prevailing mood is clear – you serve a foreign master you get the incentives; you try to become a master you don’t get any incentives.

Also, there are not many places a startup can raise funds in India. That’s why most startups continue to be family-owned or family-backed. First generation entrepreneurs find it impossible to raise money. The number of VC firms in India is limited while the government funds are small. Most government funds are small and therefore their mandate does not allow them to fund big ideas, while the miniscule few bigger size funds do not fund loss-making companies – which completely rules out startups.

China, on the other hand, is actively promoting startups through various forums and incentives. Though it is a communist country it hosts millions of entrepreneurs and VC firms which is aiding its economy.

China currently has over 200 million entrepreneurs and it houses 200 venture capital firms. The country accounts for 24.6% of the total entrepreneurship activities across the world, far ahead of Indian at 13.9% and the US at 14%, according to a survey by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

About 116 Chinese companies are listed on NASDAQ, as against 2568 US firms, Israel’s 63, and a handful from India, says the study. [1]

China is even popularizing entrepreneurship as a cultural attitude with various initiatives including TV programs.

…a Chinese reality TV show “Win in China” has received applications for entrepreneurial ventures from over 1,20,000 aspirants. Of these, 108 were chosen for prize money and working capital of $5 Million. [1]

Indians don’t know what to do. They are confused. They don’t know if they are socialist or capitalist. The reality is that they are clueless – they are neither capitalist nor socialist. China is both socialist and capitalist playing these two cards really well. The only floating hope for Indians has been their mastery of English. And the following observation should submerge that hope as well.

To give competition to India and other cost-effective English speaking countries like the Philippines, millions of Chinese students are learning English systematically. “China will become the largest English speaking geography in the world by the end of this year”, Compton added.

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Google on Internet in 5 years -- Comments?

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, interviewed at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Orlando 2009
i will add my comments soon but in the interim would like to listen what all of u out there feel

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