The QnA session at the end is pretty interesting.
05
Feb 10
Talent Vs. Attitude – Harsha Bhogle at IIMA
A must-watch talk on why attitude matters, not talent. Presented at IIM Ahmedabad by Harsha Bhogle, a well known cricket commentator in India.
(Thanks Harish)
29
Jan 10
twtr.im – quickly post to Twitter from a GPRS mobile
I’ve often felt the need of a simple and fast application to let me Twitter from my mobile.
Most Twitter apps download all my tweets when the application starts, which turns out to be very expensive (and sometimes unnecessary) when I am connected on GPRS and all I wanna do is post a simple update to my followers. The same goes for Twitter’s own mobile site too.
You may find http://twtr.im useful incase you have come across a similar situation. twtr.im’s homepage is only about 1 KB in size and posting a tweet would add another couple of KB’s to your bill. In short, it’s simple, fast and dirt cheap.
The app works on all GPRS enabled mobile phones.
28
Jan 10
Why the iPad is a #FAIL
The launch of the Apple tablet was possibly the biggest marketing hype I have seen in a long time. However, when I saw Steve Jobs holding the “iPad” for the first time, I could immediately sense that something has gone horribly wrong. Here are my top 8 reasons why I reckon the iPad will be a failiure:
1. As someone who owns both an iPhone and a Macbook, I wonder why I would want to carry a third “something in between” device with me.
2. The only possible reason i may want to use the iPad is to play App Store games on a larger screen. But why did this need arise in the first place? Because those games aren’t available on a Mac! Seriously people, if Apple really cared, they wouldn’t make you buy new hardware to play the same old games.
3. I’ve never used a Kindle and still don’t get the point of lugging around a dedicated e-book reader. There is a practical limit to the number of devices I can carry with me when I am travelling – and an iPhone + laptop should suffice most of the time. Hence, the iPad being projected as a “Kindle killer” may not be such a big deal afterall.
4. If the iPad screen is similar to a Macbook, why not read your e-books on your laptop instead? The iPad screen, no matter how good still cannot beat Amazon’s e-ink technology.
5. The iPad seems too big (and possibly fragile) to carry around all the time. Does the package include a casing?
6. A full fledged browsing device and no Flash? What were you thinking Apple?
7. Still no support of running multiple apps simultaneously. No way I’m going to close my browser each time I want to copy some text into my text editor.
8. (BONUS) The iPad is a silly name – Sounds like a feminine hygiene product to me!
26
Jan 10
What time is the Apple announcement on 27 January?
The event begins at 10AM PST on 27 January, 2010.
Hoping all the Apple Tablet rumors come true.
23
Dec 09
e-Waste disposal and recycling in India
I always thought that e-waste disposal and recycling was a non-existent concept in India, till I came across these companies-
1. Attero
2. Ecoreco
3. E-Parisaraa (Thanks Ambuj)
Like most Indian households, even my house is filled with tons of old and obsolete gadgets which I no longer use.
But, Indians typically refuse to let go of anything unless they’re paid for it. Even if it means that it’ll continue to lie around their house for ages. Yes, they did pay a hefty sum for it when it was the hottest thing around. But giving it to the local kabari wallah, who has no idea what to do with it except weighing it in kilos and giving you a few pennies in exchange, is not the correct way to dispose it.
Considering the rapid innovation and ever decreasing “shelf life” of electronics, it’s time we also take responsibility of correctly disposing what we owned.
21
Dec 09
How Social Media is growing
This is how fast the Web 2.0 bubble is swelling:
Obviously this data is not real-time, but still provides a relatively accurate representation in terms of the average growth.
Do you think you can keep pace? 
21
Nov 09
Roundup of Tech TV shows in India
There are lots of TV shows to catch up with the latest technology and gadget headlines as well as interesting gossip and discussions. Here’s my roundup of the best ones I know-
1. Gadget Guru, on NDTV Profit, hosted by one of my favorite TV hosts – Rajiv Makhni
2. Tech Guru, on CNBC Awaaz hosted by Ankit
3. Cell Guru, on NDTV India (with re-runs on NDTV 24×7 and NDTV Profit)
4. Sony Style TV Magazine, on AXN hosted by Oli Pettigrew. Partially dedicated to Sony’s innovations but still a must-watch.
5. Tech Mantra, on IBN 7
6. Tech Toys, on CNBC 18
7. Click, on BBC World News
If you watch any other TV shows which deserve a mention here, please add them as a comment.
19
Nov 09
Credit Crisis Made Easy
This is one of the simplest videos I’ve seen which explains the current credit crisis.
19
Nov 09
Why Apple products sell
The market is flooded with hundreds of laptops and mobile phones, each one claiming to be the latest, the fastest and the most feature rich. Choosing the right one is a difficult thing. Some people would rather prefer to stay out of the chaos and be happy to pay a premium to help them decide what is the best for them.
Apple targets exactly this segment of customers, which by the above description, fall under the “exclusive” category.
Here is Apple’s simple mantra:
1. Make your users feel they have a great product. Obsess over aesthetics or whatever that works.
2. Don’t confuse your customers by giving them too many choices. If you have to give a choice, keep the options easily distinguishable through features like screen size, storage capacity etc.
3. Don’t obsess about hardware specifications. Most users don’t really care how much CPU and RAM they have if their computer is fast enough for their work.
4. Don’t introduce products too quickly. Give your users enough time to boast about their new toy. Nothing works like word of mouth. Let the novelty fade away before you hype up and introduce the “next big thing”. Keep this cycle predictable.
5. Don’t leave any opportunity to bash your opponents. TV ads or whatever that works. People love to hate.
No wonder we call it the decade of Steve Jobs.