Someone will go down with Satyam , Is it a tenable argument that the Auditor, the CFO and the Banks were not in the loop... ? I have a point of view on why it could have been the auditor, but lets wait till PwC is investigated...Lets also hope its not the banker... that’s an industry that cant see another one go down...When Enron went down, one other company followed, it just turned out to be the auditor... Lets see which company Satyam takes down with it....
GG had an interesting line on twitter about this .. he said "This is the end of the SWITCH (#Satyam Wipro Infosys TCS Cognizant HCL). Now analysts will be left with a WITCH. No wonder they are spooked"
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Sunday, July 13, 2008
A Nightmare for the US
A colleague, Gagandeep Anand forwarded me this. The economist in me could not help but post it, Thanks Gagan…
(Could not find the original author, but due credit should also be given to her/him...)
"A Nightmare for the US
The Voice (issue 264 - 11th May) ran an article beginning, ' Iran has really gone and done it now. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub into the Persian Gulf . They are about to launch something much more deadly --next week the Iran Bourse will open to trade oil, not in dollars but in Euros' This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the US people, indeed all for us all, than is imaginable.
Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are bothUS-owned.
The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War II. During that war the US supplied provisions and munitions to all its allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar became the one undisputed global reserve currency -- it was treatedworld-wide as `safer than gold'.
The Bretton Woods agreement was established.
The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars,paying forever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the world over. You see, thisdid not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well, maybe for a forest or two.
Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends many more dollars abroad that at home. Analysts pretty much agree that outside the US , of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in gold and all currencies -- that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in US dollars!
In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics at Ohio University ) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971 . While popular spin told the story of `severing the link between thedollar and gold', in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945 Bretton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.
The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929.
The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petrodollar. The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for dollars only - it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep dollarsto buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the world, free of charge.What a Houdini for the US ! Oil replaced gold as the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.
Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad. The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world'sproducts for next to nothing. More vaults were built.
Expert, Cóilínn Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de-facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two thirdsof all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in dollars. Inaddition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.'
Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demandfor the dollar `artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased military spending andconsumer spending on imports. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as the US has no serious challengers, and theother states have confidence in the US dollar, the system functions.'
Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe.French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free cake too.Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999 against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe , especially from Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded.
Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only -- breaking the OPEC agreement. Iran , Russia , Venezuela , Libya , all began talking openly of switching too -- were the floodgates about to be opened?
Then aeroplanes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this another Houdini chance to save the US (petro)dollar and the biggest financial/economiccrash in history? War preparations began in the US . But first war-fever had to be created -- and truth was the first casualty. Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil in euros. In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros. A few months later, the US begantheir invasion of Iraq.
The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in the first oil currency, or petrodollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in Baghdad not bombed wasthe Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many people are murdered-- for the US , the petrodollar must be saved as the only way to buy and sell oil -- otherwise the US economy will crash, and much more besides.
In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US ). On 12 April 2003, the US-supported business leaders and some generals in Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against this and the Armyfollowed suit. The coup failed. This was bad for the US .
In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever, and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched trading back todollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries and the euro rises sharply. In the winter of 2003-4 Russian and OPEC politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made nodecision to turn to the euro -- and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York , and again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.27 and has been climbing of late.
But matters this month became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling oil in eurosfrom abroad -- they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil! In Chavez's recent visit to London ; he talked openly about supporting the Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela , Chavez prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.
Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London 's International Petroleum Exchange. Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars. The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe, which buys 70% of Iran's oil. It makes sense for Russia , which sells 66% of its oil to Europe . But worse for the US, China and India have already stated they are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.
If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on - deja-vu - `weapons of mass destruction' in Iran , who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and more, being bombed too?
And worse for Bush. It makes sense for Europe , China , India and Japan as well as all the other countries mentioned above -- to buy and sell oil in Euro's. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US--there is no way out..
The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's dollars -- it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with it, especially Britain .
To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US , needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it can't.' This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery, to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this will not happen.
What will happen in the US ? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution, but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement will emerge.
Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US ? Their vaults are
full to the brim with dollars.The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of the world since 1945. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every dollar in everyvault in the world.
Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into the war in Iraq , behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the Sunni Vs Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war. However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know that this could be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will establish a euro-oil-exchange,perhaps in Brussels .
There is one `solution' -- scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency for the US . This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street and Pentagon.
Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany , to win hearts and minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam. So, how is the US going to escape this time?
The only global arena of total superiority left is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead. A new world war is one tool by which the US could discipline its `allies' into keeping the dollar in their vaults. "
(Could not find the original author, but due credit should also be given to her/him...)
"A Nightmare for the US
The Voice (issue 264 - 11th May) ran an article beginning, ' Iran has really gone and done it now. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub into the Persian Gulf . They are about to launch something much more deadly --next week the Iran Bourse will open to trade oil, not in dollars but in Euros' This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the US people, indeed all for us all, than is imaginable.
Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are bothUS-owned.
The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War II. During that war the US supplied provisions and munitions to all its allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar became the one undisputed global reserve currency -- it was treatedworld-wide as `safer than gold'.
The Bretton Woods agreement was established.
The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars,paying forever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the world over. You see, thisdid not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well, maybe for a forest or two.
Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends many more dollars abroad that at home. Analysts pretty much agree that outside the US , of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in gold and all currencies -- that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in US dollars!
In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics at Ohio University ) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971 . While popular spin told the story of `severing the link between thedollar and gold', in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945 Bretton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.
The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929.
The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petrodollar. The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for dollars only - it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep dollarsto buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the world, free of charge.What a Houdini for the US ! Oil replaced gold as the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.
Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad. The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world'sproducts for next to nothing. More vaults were built.
Expert, Cóilínn Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de-facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two thirdsof all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in dollars. Inaddition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.'
Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demandfor the dollar `artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased military spending andconsumer spending on imports. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as the US has no serious challengers, and theother states have confidence in the US dollar, the system functions.'
Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe.French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free cake too.Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999 against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe , especially from Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded.
Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only -- breaking the OPEC agreement. Iran , Russia , Venezuela , Libya , all began talking openly of switching too -- were the floodgates about to be opened?
Then aeroplanes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this another Houdini chance to save the US (petro)dollar and the biggest financial/economiccrash in history? War preparations began in the US . But first war-fever had to be created -- and truth was the first casualty. Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil in euros. In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros. A few months later, the US begantheir invasion of Iraq.
The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in the first oil currency, or petrodollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in Baghdad not bombed wasthe Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many people are murdered-- for the US , the petrodollar must be saved as the only way to buy and sell oil -- otherwise the US economy will crash, and much more besides.
In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US ). On 12 April 2003, the US-supported business leaders and some generals in Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against this and the Armyfollowed suit. The coup failed. This was bad for the US .
In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever, and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched trading back todollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries and the euro rises sharply. In the winter of 2003-4 Russian and OPEC politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made nodecision to turn to the euro -- and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York , and again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.27 and has been climbing of late.
But matters this month became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling oil in eurosfrom abroad -- they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil! In Chavez's recent visit to London ; he talked openly about supporting the Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela , Chavez prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.
Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London 's International Petroleum Exchange. Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars. The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe, which buys 70% of Iran's oil. It makes sense for Russia , which sells 66% of its oil to Europe . But worse for the US, China and India have already stated they are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.
If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on - deja-vu - `weapons of mass destruction' in Iran , who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and more, being bombed too?
And worse for Bush. It makes sense for Europe , China , India and Japan as well as all the other countries mentioned above -- to buy and sell oil in Euro's. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US--there is no way out..
The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's dollars -- it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with it, especially Britain .
To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US , needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it can't.' This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery, to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this will not happen.
What will happen in the US ? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution, but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement will emerge.
Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US ? Their vaults are
full to the brim with dollars.The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of the world since 1945. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every dollar in everyvault in the world.
Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into the war in Iraq , behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the Sunni Vs Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war. However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know that this could be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will establish a euro-oil-exchange,perhaps in Brussels .
There is one `solution' -- scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency for the US . This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street and Pentagon.
Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany , to win hearts and minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam. So, how is the US going to escape this time?
The only global arena of total superiority left is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead. A new world war is one tool by which the US could discipline its `allies' into keeping the dollar in their vaults. "
Thursday, May 22, 2008
America on a "Rebound"
Most young adults have been through some kind of relationship loss. Be it breaking up with a loved one or loosing a family member. Each one grieves in a different way. Some find solitude in rationalization others in crying and still others in the bottle. One common thread that runs through everyone’s process of grieving is the proverbial “Rebound”.
The rebound helps one tackle with the loss of someone who played a significant part in his / her life. The person going through the rebound looks for someone (or something) to perform the role of that lost person. A rebound seldom works out to be a long term self sustaining relationship. People on a rebound try and make the new person fulfill the role of the person lost which often ends up in tragedy for all concerned.
For the longest time I believed that the “Rebound” is concept only seen in the realm of individuals. This was right up to the point when I came across the case of the America. I venture that the whole country is suffering from one big rebound.
This is a country that has been built on fighting against the bad guy. For the longest time this enemy was the USSR. The big bad “Communist” who represented everything that was not the “American Way”. Political leaderships sang about how “they”(the communist) were the cause of all evil and the urban middle class lapped it all up.
Hollywood got onto the band wagon, for this made the ideal plot for spy movies. “They” were the enemy and everyone had grown up knowing that “we” had to fight “them”.
Come the 1980s and 90s with the collapse of USSR and the fall the Berlin wall and there was no bad guy any longer. The communist were all but reduced to an insignificant force.
End Result – We have lost our bad guy!
Call it political gimmickry or just opportunism, but leadership after leadership in the post cold war era has been on a “Rebound”. George Bush (Sr.) told the American People it was Iraq. Clinton continued with it, and George H. W. Bush found him an Osama! The American People were looking for someone to hate and their leadership handed them the bad guy.
In the process though, the government had to create a sense of fear. For we need to “fear” the bad guys in order for them to be bad. 9/11 was the perfect catalyst to launch this campaign on fear. Which has been successfully done right through the current presidential regime.
Be it when America labeled the Taliban as Enemy Number One, or when they invaded Iraq and assassinated (yes assassinated) Sadam Husain. These were all “cow boyish” quests to find and kill the bad guy.
Unless America is able to get past this quest for an enemy there is little or no way in which it will be able to build lasting relationships within the global community. Hopefully good sense and maturity would prevail when the new president comes in.
Only time will tell if the next president is able to get over this Rebound and build lasting global relationships.
The rebound helps one tackle with the loss of someone who played a significant part in his / her life. The person going through the rebound looks for someone (or something) to perform the role of that lost person. A rebound seldom works out to be a long term self sustaining relationship. People on a rebound try and make the new person fulfill the role of the person lost which often ends up in tragedy for all concerned.
For the longest time I believed that the “Rebound” is concept only seen in the realm of individuals. This was right up to the point when I came across the case of the America. I venture that the whole country is suffering from one big rebound.
This is a country that has been built on fighting against the bad guy. For the longest time this enemy was the USSR. The big bad “Communist” who represented everything that was not the “American Way”. Political leaderships sang about how “they”(the communist) were the cause of all evil and the urban middle class lapped it all up.
Hollywood got onto the band wagon, for this made the ideal plot for spy movies. “They” were the enemy and everyone had grown up knowing that “we” had to fight “them”.
Come the 1980s and 90s with the collapse of USSR and the fall the Berlin wall and there was no bad guy any longer. The communist were all but reduced to an insignificant force.
End Result – We have lost our bad guy!
Call it political gimmickry or just opportunism, but leadership after leadership in the post cold war era has been on a “Rebound”. George Bush (Sr.) told the American People it was Iraq. Clinton continued with it, and George H. W. Bush found him an Osama! The American People were looking for someone to hate and their leadership handed them the bad guy.
In the process though, the government had to create a sense of fear. For we need to “fear” the bad guys in order for them to be bad. 9/11 was the perfect catalyst to launch this campaign on fear. Which has been successfully done right through the current presidential regime.
Be it when America labeled the Taliban as Enemy Number One, or when they invaded Iraq and assassinated (yes assassinated) Sadam Husain. These were all “cow boyish” quests to find and kill the bad guy.
Unless America is able to get past this quest for an enemy there is little or no way in which it will be able to build lasting relationships within the global community. Hopefully good sense and maturity would prevail when the new president comes in.
Only time will tell if the next president is able to get over this Rebound and build lasting global relationships.
Friday, March 07, 2008
MICROSOFT KILLED THE MOBILE MARKET?
In the early days of the personal computers, manufactures like IBM supplied operating system software as part of the bundle to run the computer. To the average consumer, software was something that you added to make your personal computer do something specific. And even the software that you loaded was shared freely within the techie community. This was also the time when programmers were a set of benevolent techies who wrote code for code sake.
It was not till the advent of Microsoft and DOS that people began to get acquainted with the thought of having to pay money for software. Software was no longer something that came free, but was often as expensive as or more expensive than the hardware it ran on.
A concept which at first was ludicrous to most computer owners soon became a way of life. More and more businesses and home users were willing to spend money on computer software that could be bought off the shelf and that worked on their computer. In today’s world, the software you are using to read this could probably cost more than the value of the computer you are reading this on. This shift started around the late 1980s and took a little under 5 years to become a reality. That’s how quickly markets change.
Fast forward to 2007 and we are on the verge of a similar shift in the mobile phone market. Until today, you and I were used to having the likes of Samsung, Nokia and LG sell us a phone with software loaded on it. However with the advent of phones from manufacturers like HTC, O2 and Dopod which run on Windows Mobile, the distinction between the phone vendor and the software vendor has begun.
For phone hardware manufacturers its time to take a punt. If they begin to support Windows Mobile aggressively there will be little differentiation between hardware manufacturers and hence to the consumer, the experience of using an LG or a Samsung or a Motorola would be close to identical.
If however they chose not to support Windows Mobile, they lose out on a significant consumer base which looks to buy a business phone that integrates well with their office computers and networks.
Both models have been tried in the past, one more effectively than the other.
While IBM began to support DOS, so did other computer manufacturers. Thus there was little to chose from between various brands of PCs that supported DOS. Fifteen odd years later IBM sold off its PC business to a low cost manufacturer like Lenovo.
Apple Inc however went its own way and continued to sell its computers with Mac OS (a proprietary software) and thus carved a niche for itself as a high end computer manufacturer. Apple used innovative product design, performance and branding to ensure continued consumer interest. However, it still had a very small market share in the home computer business.
The way I see it, this problem will continue to plague most mobile phone companies over the next few years. Nokia has already publicly declared that it would be looking at restructuring in line with a strategy to focus around software and content. But has the rest of the industry responded effectively to the market change…. Only time will tell.
It was not till the advent of Microsoft and DOS that people began to get acquainted with the thought of having to pay money for software. Software was no longer something that came free, but was often as expensive as or more expensive than the hardware it ran on.
A concept which at first was ludicrous to most computer owners soon became a way of life. More and more businesses and home users were willing to spend money on computer software that could be bought off the shelf and that worked on their computer. In today’s world, the software you are using to read this could probably cost more than the value of the computer you are reading this on. This shift started around the late 1980s and took a little under 5 years to become a reality. That’s how quickly markets change.
Fast forward to 2007 and we are on the verge of a similar shift in the mobile phone market. Until today, you and I were used to having the likes of Samsung, Nokia and LG sell us a phone with software loaded on it. However with the advent of phones from manufacturers like HTC, O2 and Dopod which run on Windows Mobile, the distinction between the phone vendor and the software vendor has begun.
For phone hardware manufacturers its time to take a punt. If they begin to support Windows Mobile aggressively there will be little differentiation between hardware manufacturers and hence to the consumer, the experience of using an LG or a Samsung or a Motorola would be close to identical.
If however they chose not to support Windows Mobile, they lose out on a significant consumer base which looks to buy a business phone that integrates well with their office computers and networks.
Both models have been tried in the past, one more effectively than the other.
While IBM began to support DOS, so did other computer manufacturers. Thus there was little to chose from between various brands of PCs that supported DOS. Fifteen odd years later IBM sold off its PC business to a low cost manufacturer like Lenovo.
Apple Inc however went its own way and continued to sell its computers with Mac OS (a proprietary software) and thus carved a niche for itself as a high end computer manufacturer. Apple used innovative product design, performance and branding to ensure continued consumer interest. However, it still had a very small market share in the home computer business.
The way I see it, this problem will continue to plague most mobile phone companies over the next few years. Nokia has already publicly declared that it would be looking at restructuring in line with a strategy to focus around software and content. But has the rest of the industry responded effectively to the market change…. Only time will tell.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
B vs C
The sporting rivalry between XLRI Jamshedpur and IIM Calcutta is infamous on the Indian Business School circuit. The 2 schools till last year had an annual sports meet called the XL-IIMC (or IIMC – XL depending on which school you belonged to) sports meet. Every year this event was punctuated with interesting incidents that happened on and off the field. These translated into anecdotes of honor and victory which were passed down from batch to batch.
A closely guarded secret before the event each year was the T shirt slogan that was to be used by the players. Given the amount of underutilized grey matter on either side there was always an interesting pun involved. So while XL used slogans like “Only XLence matters the rest is IIMmaterial” IIM-C would go with slogans like “Always a size bigger than XL”
After a series of particularly explosive events over the last 2 years (one involving an IIMCian dropping his pants in full public view) the event has been suspended. From this year onwards IIM Calcutta is experimenting with the feasibility of running a similar event with IIM Bangalore.
The Interesting thing is that IIM C has decided to stay with the T Shirt tradition. Here is a quote that came off an XL Yahoogroup.
Trust the jokArs (IIMCians) to come up with something like this....!!!The IIMC tshirt for the " B Versus C" (IIM-B vs IIM-C) meet this year had following slogan:"And we thought there could B no one worse than XL....",And just below that it was written :"IIM Calcutta". ;-)
I guess the last laugh goes where it is due…
A closely guarded secret before the event each year was the T shirt slogan that was to be used by the players. Given the amount of underutilized grey matter on either side there was always an interesting pun involved. So while XL used slogans like “Only XLence matters the rest is IIMmaterial” IIM-C would go with slogans like “Always a size bigger than XL”
After a series of particularly explosive events over the last 2 years (one involving an IIMCian dropping his pants in full public view) the event has been suspended. From this year onwards IIM Calcutta is experimenting with the feasibility of running a similar event with IIM Bangalore.
The Interesting thing is that IIM C has decided to stay with the T Shirt tradition. Here is a quote that came off an XL Yahoogroup.
Trust the jokArs (IIMCians) to come up with something like this....!!!The IIMC tshirt for the " B Versus C" (IIM-B vs IIM-C) meet this year had following slogan:"And we thought there could B no one worse than XL....",And just below that it was written :"IIM Calcutta". ;-)
I guess the last laugh goes where it is due…
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Penile Judgment!
Robin Williams put it aptly when he said:
“…God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.”
In late Jan 2007 Todd Thomson resigned (or if WSJ is to be believed “was fired!”) under suspicious circumstances. The word is that he was fired because of his “lapses in judgment”. And while WSJ had a field day with the expose this is what Michael Lewis at Bloomberg had to say:
“…On Jan. 22, Citigroup issues a press release announcing Thomson's resignation, in which Thomson declares how much he's ``looking forward to exploring new challenges.'' The next day, citing three Citigroup insiders close to the situation, the Wall Street Journal reports that Thomson didn't resign but was fired by Citigroup CEO Charles Prince for ``lapses in judgment,'' including ``the inappropriate use of company aircraft.''
All Maria, All the Time
Three days later the Journal, drawing on what apparently is a direct line into the Citigroup executive suite, conveniently supplies a list of Thomson's indiscretions: flying CNBC journalist Maria Bartiromo to Asia on the Citigroup jet, then bumping Citigroup execs from the return flight so he might fly back alone with her; bankrolling Citigroup functions that feature Maria Bartiromo; using $5 million of his marketing budget to sponsor a TV show on the Sundance Channel hosted by CNBC journalist Maria Bartiromo, and naming Maria Bartiromo to a board he created inside the Wharton Business School.
Thomson also ``installed a wood burning fireplace in his office,'' but my guess is that he would have been forgiven that small romantic gesture if he hadn't made the others. I'll bet, also, that he would have been allowed to waste even more millions of dollars on causes only loosely related to the bottom line, if he had only wasted them less systematically. He was, after all, the boss of Citigroup's fastest-growing business. You don't kill the goose for spending a few of its golden eggs.
Let's Be Clear
Thomson's capital offense, obviously, was to use his status at Citigroup to underwrite his relationship with Maria Bartiromo. The Journal strongly implied but never came out and said that something more than business was going on between Thomson and Bartiromo, no doubt simply reflecting the off-the-record opinion of Citigroup's executive suite. To make its innuendo as clear as possible the Journal pointed out that after a Citigroup executive spotted Thomson dining alone with Bartiromo, Prince warned Thomson about getting too close to her. And I doubt he much cared who paid for the meal.
No, the executive in charge of the fastest-growing business at the world's largest financial company lost his mega-million dollar job for pulling strings to keep his female journalist friend happy. (Or, at least, impressed.) …”
So this Valentines Day before you try and use company time and resources to take that office romance to the next level… just remember the tale of old Todd!
Happy Valentines Day !
“…God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time.”
In late Jan 2007 Todd Thomson resigned (or if WSJ is to be believed “was fired!”) under suspicious circumstances. The word is that he was fired because of his “lapses in judgment”. And while WSJ had a field day with the expose this is what Michael Lewis at Bloomberg had to say:
“…On Jan. 22, Citigroup issues a press release announcing Thomson's resignation, in which Thomson declares how much he's ``looking forward to exploring new challenges.'' The next day, citing three Citigroup insiders close to the situation, the Wall Street Journal reports that Thomson didn't resign but was fired by Citigroup CEO Charles Prince for ``lapses in judgment,'' including ``the inappropriate use of company aircraft.''
All Maria, All the Time
Three days later the Journal, drawing on what apparently is a direct line into the Citigroup executive suite, conveniently supplies a list of Thomson's indiscretions: flying CNBC journalist Maria Bartiromo to Asia on the Citigroup jet, then bumping Citigroup execs from the return flight so he might fly back alone with her; bankrolling Citigroup functions that feature Maria Bartiromo; using $5 million of his marketing budget to sponsor a TV show on the Sundance Channel hosted by CNBC journalist Maria Bartiromo, and naming Maria Bartiromo to a board he created inside the Wharton Business School.
Thomson also ``installed a wood burning fireplace in his office,'' but my guess is that he would have been forgiven that small romantic gesture if he hadn't made the others. I'll bet, also, that he would have been allowed to waste even more millions of dollars on causes only loosely related to the bottom line, if he had only wasted them less systematically. He was, after all, the boss of Citigroup's fastest-growing business. You don't kill the goose for spending a few of its golden eggs.
Let's Be Clear
Thomson's capital offense, obviously, was to use his status at Citigroup to underwrite his relationship with Maria Bartiromo. The Journal strongly implied but never came out and said that something more than business was going on between Thomson and Bartiromo, no doubt simply reflecting the off-the-record opinion of Citigroup's executive suite. To make its innuendo as clear as possible the Journal pointed out that after a Citigroup executive spotted Thomson dining alone with Bartiromo, Prince warned Thomson about getting too close to her. And I doubt he much cared who paid for the meal.
No, the executive in charge of the fastest-growing business at the world's largest financial company lost his mega-million dollar job for pulling strings to keep his female journalist friend happy. (Or, at least, impressed.) …”
So this Valentines Day before you try and use company time and resources to take that office romance to the next level… just remember the tale of old Todd!
Happy Valentines Day !
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Poverty and the Haj Subsidy
Look around in India and it is not difficult to see the shades of economic prosperity. The picture you see is only a few blocks away from my house in Bandra (considered one of the more uptown locations in Mumbai). In a country where it is estimated that only 1 of every 100 rupees that is spent on development actually percolates down to the needy there is much merit in being prudent with developmental expenditure.Yet ours has been a country famous for its vote bank politics (and hence expenditure). Be it the freebees that have become the hallmark of Tamil Nadu politics or the Haj Subsidy that has been the center of debate in this country for years.
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court regarding the legality of the subsidy being afforded by the government to Haj Pilgrims. The petitioner is questioning the constitutional validity of the Haj Committee Act, 1959.
To quote article 27 of the Indian constitution, which this act seems to contradict
“Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.- No person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.”
In a country that still has poverty of starvation deaths is it necessary to be paying out over 250 crores to one community.
Liz Mathew had written an interesting article on this
While Muslim intellectuals fiercely oppose Haj pilgrimage, the government argues that it is only assisting poor Muslims to fulfill their dream of a Haj pilgrimage and upholding the country's secular credentials.
"For those who are going for Haj, it's a life time dream. The government is giving only travel subsidy to those who cannot meet the expenses - its not cash in hand," Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, who is in charge of Haj affairs, told IANS.
"The presence of Indian Muslims is felt in big way in an international congregation. Now the world realises that India is home to the second largest Muslim population. It upholds our secular credentials," Ahamed added.
But academicians like Firoz Bakht Ahamed rubbished the argument.
"This is an argument that supports the compartmentalisation of people into religious groups. India is not going to enhance its status by sending more Haj pilgrims," said Feroz Ahamed, a grand nephew of freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
"Going for Haj is a desire and it should be done keeping in view the economical status also. The government is not helping Muslims by providing subsidy when the community lags behind in all social indicators. It is just vote bank-politics.
"Instead, there should be a concrete plan to uplift the community, especially in girls' education," he said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government last week decided to pay the round trip fare to 10,000 more Haj pilgrims every year, taking the total number entitled to the subsidy to 110,000.
The government has spent nearly Rs.1.80 billion on the last Haj and the increase in the number could push this expenditure by at least 10 percent.
Muslim intellectuals point out that even Saudi Arabia, home of Mecca, believes that any subsidy for the Haj goes against the spirit of the Shariat, the Islamic law.
They say Haj is a religious duty only for those who can afford it and that the pilgrimage may not be 'accepted by god' if money spent on transport to reach the holy sites and on food is not the pilgrim's own.
Pakistan discontinued Haj subsidies to pilgrims as well as goodwill delegations after a 1997 court ruling that any expenditure defrayed by the government was contrary to the Shariat.
Syed Shahabuddin, former diplomat and a community leader, also opposed the idea. "I am against subsidy," Shahabuddin told IANS.
"I have told successive prime ministers that this Haj subsidy is there because of their political need, it has never been our demand," he said.
Hopefully the courts will once again step in to favor good reason!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Wagging the Dog
Wag the Dog (1997) , a movie by Barry Levinson, tells the story of a press campaign being run by operatives of the President of the US to distract public opinion from an evolving scandal in the run up to the presidential elections.
While many of us at the time brushed it off as just a movie, years later one cant help but see it happening in real life. Be it the blatant bias seen on news channels like Fox (watch the movie Outfoxed for more on this) or the current war on "natural justice" that the US government ran right through the occupation of Iraq and the murder of its president.
And through all of this people have remained silent. Many in the US even believed that Bush was right to occupy Iraq and few know the real story about the trail of its president.
Some facts from an Article by Praful Bidwai
The US rejected the legitimate and reasonable demand for an international tribunal, similar to that established for trying Slobodan Milosevic. Washington knows the Iraqi legal system can't deliver justice. Recently, Iraqi judges have summarily pronounced harsh verdicts after 15-minute trials. As The New York Times reported: 'Almost every aspect of the judicial system is lacking, poorly serving not just detainees but also Iraqi citizens and troops...'
SICT was set up by the occupying powers, which rigged its rules of procedure to favour the prosecution. Most of its judges were imparted special legal 'training' in Britain, an occupying power. SICT wasn't even remotely sovereign, independent, impartial or legitimate. This is the opinion of the United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, WGAD, established by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1991. WGAD received its mandate from the General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.
WGAD's final opinion, delivered in September, determined that 'the deprivation of liberty of Saddam Hussein is arbitrary, being in contravention of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, to which Iraq and the US are parties.'
The accused were denied the elementary right to defend themselves. Hussein didn't have unimpeded access to his lawyers, nor adequate time or facilities to prepare his defence. WGAD says that 'the presence of US officials' at his meetings with lawyers 'violated his right to communicate with counsel,' mandated by ICCPR's Article 14(3).
Two of Hussein's lawyers were assassinated, in October 2005 and June 2006. This 'seriously undermined his right to defend himself through counsel of his own choosing.'
SICT's first chief judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, resigned because of political pressure to prevent a fair trial. Judge Abdel-Rahman, who delivered the final verdict, was totally biased. He abruptly, arbitrarily ended the trial in June 2006. He made 'statements incompatible with impartiality and the presumption of innocence enshrined in Article 14(2) of the ICCPR.'
According to WGAD, Hussein couldn't 'obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same condition as witnesses against him.' His right to do so, guaranteed by the ICCPR, was 'undermined by the failure to adequately disclose prosecution evidence to the defendants, the reading into the record of affidavits without an adequate possibility for the defence to challenge them', and the trial's sudden termination.
WGAD says it's impossible 'to verify whether (the concerned) judges meet the requirements for judicial office, whether they are affiliated with political office, whether their impartiality... is otherwise undermined.' Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both say the trial was a mockery of justice.
One of Hussein's defence lawyers, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, was ejected from court for saying that the trial failed to meet international legal standards.
Even before the trial ended, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki demanded that Mr Hussein be hanged. More recently, he declared the hanging would take place before the end of the year, thus usurping the judiciary's prerogative to set the date. The final procedural clearances were obtained in unseemly haste and secrecy.
More to come on this....
While many of us at the time brushed it off as just a movie, years later one cant help but see it happening in real life. Be it the blatant bias seen on news channels like Fox (watch the movie Outfoxed for more on this) or the current war on "natural justice" that the US government ran right through the occupation of Iraq and the murder of its president.
And through all of this people have remained silent. Many in the US even believed that Bush was right to occupy Iraq and few know the real story about the trail of its president.
Some facts from an Article by Praful Bidwai
The US rejected the legitimate and reasonable demand for an international tribunal, similar to that established for trying Slobodan Milosevic. Washington knows the Iraqi legal system can't deliver justice. Recently, Iraqi judges have summarily pronounced harsh verdicts after 15-minute trials. As The New York Times reported: 'Almost every aspect of the judicial system is lacking, poorly serving not just detainees but also Iraqi citizens and troops...'
SICT was set up by the occupying powers, which rigged its rules of procedure to favour the prosecution. Most of its judges were imparted special legal 'training' in Britain, an occupying power. SICT wasn't even remotely sovereign, independent, impartial or legitimate. This is the opinion of the United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, WGAD, established by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1991. WGAD received its mandate from the General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.
WGAD's final opinion, delivered in September, determined that 'the deprivation of liberty of Saddam Hussein is arbitrary, being in contravention of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, to which Iraq and the US are parties.'
The accused were denied the elementary right to defend themselves. Hussein didn't have unimpeded access to his lawyers, nor adequate time or facilities to prepare his defence. WGAD says that 'the presence of US officials' at his meetings with lawyers 'violated his right to communicate with counsel,' mandated by ICCPR's Article 14(3).
Two of Hussein's lawyers were assassinated, in October 2005 and June 2006. This 'seriously undermined his right to defend himself through counsel of his own choosing.'
SICT's first chief judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin, resigned because of political pressure to prevent a fair trial. Judge Abdel-Rahman, who delivered the final verdict, was totally biased. He abruptly, arbitrarily ended the trial in June 2006. He made 'statements incompatible with impartiality and the presumption of innocence enshrined in Article 14(2) of the ICCPR.'
According to WGAD, Hussein couldn't 'obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same condition as witnesses against him.' His right to do so, guaranteed by the ICCPR, was 'undermined by the failure to adequately disclose prosecution evidence to the defendants, the reading into the record of affidavits without an adequate possibility for the defence to challenge them', and the trial's sudden termination.
WGAD says it's impossible 'to verify whether (the concerned) judges meet the requirements for judicial office, whether they are affiliated with political office, whether their impartiality... is otherwise undermined.' Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both say the trial was a mockery of justice.
One of Hussein's defence lawyers, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, was ejected from court for saying that the trial failed to meet international legal standards.
Even before the trial ended, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki demanded that Mr Hussein be hanged. More recently, he declared the hanging would take place before the end of the year, thus usurping the judiciary's prerogative to set the date. The final procedural clearances were obtained in unseemly haste and secrecy.
More to come on this....
BlackBerry Thumb!
What next stylus hand ? :)
Reuters
Updated: 7:08 p.m. ET Jan 12, 2007
NEW YORK - When massage therapist Grace Macnow first heard the term "BlackBerry thumb," she didn't know what it meant. Now, treating it is a new and booming part of her spa business.
Therapies to treat workplace woes such as a sore thumb from tapping on a hand-held computer, the aches of "tech neck" from typing on a laptop or even skin irritation from chatting on a cell phone are the latest rage to hit high-end spas, where the weary can seek relief at the end of an arduous
workday.
"It's huge," said Cindy Barshop, the founder of Completely Bare salons in New York, who has introduced Purity Plus facials to help clean clogged pores and breakouts tied to cell phone use.
"I'm pretty shocked," she said about the popularity of the new service. "Everybody's calling me about it. I think a lot of people have that problem."
The Purity Plus facial at Completely Bare, complete with herbal mask, steam treatment and massage, costs $185 and takes roughly an hour.
Joe Silverman, 31, was one of the first clients to sign up for the new tech neck massage at the Dorit Baxter New York Day Spa in midtown Manhattan.
"I've been feeling such pain with keyboards and BlackBerry typing and always being on the go," said Silverman, who owns technology company New York Computer Help. "We don't take care of ourselves, whether it's our posture or just pressure.
"You go home and you go to sleep, and you start to turn over or you are trying to move, you definitely feel it," he added. "It definitely takes a toll."
Macnow, at her spa Graceful Services, started offering specialized massages for BlackBerry thumb and tech neck last month after getting requests from clients.
They've proved to be among her most sought-after services.
"When they first called me, I didn't know what BlackBerry thumb was," she
said. "Now I know."
Her massages feature deep muscle pressure intended to relax the shoulders,
neck and arms.
Named after Ontario-based Research In Motion Ltd's popular personal digital assistant, the stress-related injury BlackBerry thumb was recently recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association as an official workplace malady.
Aida Bicaj, who offers cell phone facials at $225 a session in a townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, says she has found a wealth of clients among stressed-out professionals and office employees who are overworked in competitive jobs.
"With that, you have a lack of sleep and you have stress," she said. "It's identified in your face right away."
Reuters
Updated: 7:08 p.m. ET Jan 12, 2007
NEW YORK - When massage therapist Grace Macnow first heard the term "BlackBerry thumb," she didn't know what it meant. Now, treating it is a new and booming part of her spa business.
Therapies to treat workplace woes such as a sore thumb from tapping on a hand-held computer, the aches of "tech neck" from typing on a laptop or even skin irritation from chatting on a cell phone are the latest rage to hit high-end spas, where the weary can seek relief at the end of an arduous
workday.
"It's huge," said Cindy Barshop, the founder of Completely Bare salons in New York, who has introduced Purity Plus facials to help clean clogged pores and breakouts tied to cell phone use.
"I'm pretty shocked," she said about the popularity of the new service. "Everybody's calling me about it. I think a lot of people have that problem."
The Purity Plus facial at Completely Bare, complete with herbal mask, steam treatment and massage, costs $185 and takes roughly an hour.
Joe Silverman, 31, was one of the first clients to sign up for the new tech neck massage at the Dorit Baxter New York Day Spa in midtown Manhattan.
"I've been feeling such pain with keyboards and BlackBerry typing and always being on the go," said Silverman, who owns technology company New York Computer Help. "We don't take care of ourselves, whether it's our posture or just pressure.
"You go home and you go to sleep, and you start to turn over or you are trying to move, you definitely feel it," he added. "It definitely takes a toll."
Macnow, at her spa Graceful Services, started offering specialized massages for BlackBerry thumb and tech neck last month after getting requests from clients.
They've proved to be among her most sought-after services.
"When they first called me, I didn't know what BlackBerry thumb was," she
said. "Now I know."
Her massages feature deep muscle pressure intended to relax the shoulders,
neck and arms.
Named after Ontario-based Research In Motion Ltd's popular personal digital assistant, the stress-related injury BlackBerry thumb was recently recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association as an official workplace malady.
Aida Bicaj, who offers cell phone facials at $225 a session in a townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side, says she has found a wealth of clients among stressed-out professionals and office employees who are overworked in competitive jobs.
"With that, you have a lack of sleep and you have stress," she said. "It's identified in your face right away."
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Demise of the Organized Music Industry
Interesting Piece of News:
"From this week (7th Jan, 2006), all downloaded music sales are counted in the official UK chart, not just tracks which have had a physical media release. Now, an unsigned band called Koopa is poised to enter the top 40 without any old-world recording, distribution, or production deals"
Read the sky news story here
Seems like the demise of the organized music Industry...and thus once more the Net changes the way we do business! The World is Flat!
"From this week (7th Jan, 2006), all downloaded music sales are counted in the official UK chart, not just tracks which have had a physical media release. Now, an unsigned band called Koopa is poised to enter the top 40 without any old-world recording, distribution, or production deals"
Read the sky news story here
Seems like the demise of the organized music Industry...and thus once more the Net changes the way we do business! The World is Flat!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Mumbai: Yaha to footpath bhi house full hai!
Meet a Mumbaikar on the street and there are only 2 topics of conversation you are sure to agree upon. The most obvious is the traffic snarls and the more interesting being the cost of real estate in the city.
Ironic isn't it. Its a city where you cant stay and you cant go...!
Yet, for those of us who have lived here all our lives there is no place that has the charm of Mumbai.
The city of Mumbai lives and thrives because of its people. For in no other place would you find a more resilient and professional set of people congregated. This is a city that truly rewards an entrepreneur and challenges its corporate citizens.
Yet if the city administration continues to do nothing this city will die its natural death. Only time will tell ...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Saturday, December 23, 2006
The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. - James Baldwin
Something that I chanced upon that is the basis for most employee woes.
Every one of us has gone through the cognitive dissonance related to a new profession. Be it a journalist who is struggling with the concept of advertorials or an ad guy who sees a significant disparity between the product and the campaign. Or the consultant who sees the futility of his advice. In each case there is a significant gap between what is and what should be.
The issue exists more with employees at the start of their careers, much before the cynicism set in. And yet some find a way to deal with it and some find other professions.
What implication does it have for organizations? Can this be managed and preemptively handled? I am still searching for the answer.
Something that I chanced upon that is the basis for most employee woes.
Every one of us has gone through the cognitive dissonance related to a new profession. Be it a journalist who is struggling with the concept of advertorials or an ad guy who sees a significant disparity between the product and the campaign. Or the consultant who sees the futility of his advice. In each case there is a significant gap between what is and what should be.
The issue exists more with employees at the start of their careers, much before the cynicism set in. And yet some find a way to deal with it and some find other professions.
What implication does it have for organizations? Can this be managed and preemptively handled? I am still searching for the answer.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Would You Sign This Petition
As I was walking down the street this afternoon I came upon a group of protesters shouting slogans. Given my command over the native languages it took me a second to figure out what they were saying. While attempting to understand the slogans being chanted, some fairly well educated upwardly mobile women walked up to me. “Would you sign this petition against M.F. Hussain’s representation of the nude mother India” I was asked.
Politely refusing the offer I walked away with a number of thoughts running through my head. I asked how different are these people from those that were against Salman Rushdi for “Satanic Verses” or for that matter the fundamentalists that chose to target the Danish Cartoonist for his strip on Mohammad
What has become of the freedom of speech? In the words of Michael More “Was that all a dream”
I think this debate should be seen in the larger context of tolerance and upholding the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. Today everyone seems to have a gripe about “Those People”. This fundamental intolerance cuts across all sections of society. And if not checked this will kill the spirit of democracy as we know it.
The other day I got a mail asking me to attend a rally against certain movies that have cast aspersions on the catholic faith. In my reply to the mail I asked if people’s belief systems were so shallow as to be shattered by just one other person’s opinion.
My humble submission is that if you spend the time that you would protesting, in doing some work towards a social cause, the world would be a better place.
As I was walking down the street this afternoon I came upon a group of protesters shouting slogans. Given my command over the native languages it took me a second to figure out what they were saying. While attempting to understand the slogans being chanted, some fairly well educated upwardly mobile women walked up to me. “Would you sign this petition against M.F. Hussain’s representation of the nude mother India” I was asked.
Politely refusing the offer I walked away with a number of thoughts running through my head. I asked how different are these people from those that were against Salman Rushdi for “Satanic Verses” or for that matter the fundamentalists that chose to target the Danish Cartoonist for his strip on Mohammad
What has become of the freedom of speech? In the words of Michael More “Was that all a dream”
I think this debate should be seen in the larger context of tolerance and upholding the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. Today everyone seems to have a gripe about “Those People”. This fundamental intolerance cuts across all sections of society. And if not checked this will kill the spirit of democracy as we know it.
The other day I got a mail asking me to attend a rally against certain movies that have cast aspersions on the catholic faith. In my reply to the mail I asked if people’s belief systems were so shallow as to be shattered by just one other person’s opinion.
My humble submission is that if you spend the time that you would protesting, in doing some work towards a social cause, the world would be a better place.
News Arbitrage
The News business serves the function of realignment of the information asymmetry that exists in society due to naturally occurring factors such as geographic locations, and time differentials. One of the earliest forms of news was the hand written accounts of political diktats from Caesar in 59BC.
The newspaper had come a long way from there and at its peak formed the backbone of the information dissemination mechanism till as late as the 1980s. They not only reported fact but were also used to influence opinion through editorials and special interest stories.
Fast forward to today and so much has changed. Given that TV, Radio and the Web cover news as it happens, people look towards newspapers for thought leadership and opinion setting.
Yet every morning when you go through the news paper it is significantly difficult to find legitimate news let alone thought leadership. The newspaper today consists largely of sensationalism, regional supplements, and special topic supplements. Where is all the news gone I ask. I often find myself going through the process of hunting for something interesting or stimulating to read.
I venture that the only use for newspapers given the trash that they publish is for its arbitrage value. The raddi wala (scrap paper buyer) gives you 5-7 rupees for every kilo of newspaper that you sell him. Given that the cost of the newspaper every morning is around 2 rupees I am increasingly inclined to just sell the paper and make profit on it. It is definitely a better use than reading it. Imagine another business that would give you over a 100% profit
The News business serves the function of realignment of the information asymmetry that exists in society due to naturally occurring factors such as geographic locations, and time differentials. One of the earliest forms of news was the hand written accounts of political diktats from Caesar in 59BC.
The newspaper had come a long way from there and at its peak formed the backbone of the information dissemination mechanism till as late as the 1980s. They not only reported fact but were also used to influence opinion through editorials and special interest stories.
Fast forward to today and so much has changed. Given that TV, Radio and the Web cover news as it happens, people look towards newspapers for thought leadership and opinion setting.
Yet every morning when you go through the news paper it is significantly difficult to find legitimate news let alone thought leadership. The newspaper today consists largely of sensationalism, regional supplements, and special topic supplements. Where is all the news gone I ask. I often find myself going through the process of hunting for something interesting or stimulating to read.
I venture that the only use for newspapers given the trash that they publish is for its arbitrage value. The raddi wala (scrap paper buyer) gives you 5-7 rupees for every kilo of newspaper that you sell him. Given that the cost of the newspaper every morning is around 2 rupees I am increasingly inclined to just sell the paper and make profit on it. It is definitely a better use than reading it. Imagine another business that would give you over a 100% profit
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