It's about Apple FLOP in India - Soon China follow...

iPhone came to India with a bang. That bang lasted only for the night of the launch. Since its launch it has been weighed, tested and found wanting.

Here are the 7 reason why iPhone did not work in India.

• Cost is too high for a phone which offers no new features except the touch screen. Priced at Rs31, 000 for 8GB and Rs36,100 for 16GB most of the phone buyers felt it’s not worth it.
  

• There is no 3G network yet in India. Though the 3G auction process is complete and the spectrum is allocated it takes a while for the service providers like Airtel and Vodafone to roll 3G enabled services out. It could be in early 2009, which is a good 6 months away. So why pay for a service which cannot be used?

• People are waiting for Nokia N96. Seriously, most of my colleagues have said that Nokia N96 is a better phone and they will wait for it rather than going for iPhone. Sure the iPhone’s touch screen is good and its iPod music playing capability is awesome but I would rather not spend my money for just that. I want more. Besides, the brand value of Nokia in India is pretty strong and Apple has to work really hard to break that. iPhone did not give a compelling reason (other than the touch screen) for people to leave their N series phones.
  

• Hygiene factors are missing. Many features which are a given in a phone that costs you Rs4, 000 are missing in iPhone. I am not sure why they were but, video recording, cut paste, sms forwarding (how can you miss this) options are lacking.

• Consumers are waiting for the price to drop. This has been the case for a while now. I bought a 4GB iPod Nano for Rs.18, 000 in March 2006. I have checked backed into apple store after 6 months and for the same price they were selling 30GB iPod video. It is an apples and apples comparison and they did not match. So, I think apple will cut its prices and people are waiting for that.

• Alternative routes to acquire the phone at a cheaper price. iPhone crazed are the people who mostly work with technology. They usually know what the going rate of iPhone overseas is. So, it is not hard to get an iPhone 2G for $200 and unlock it for Rs. 1000 here in India. I am not sure if this route will work for 3G. Since there is no difference between 3G and 2G right now in India this would be a steal. Even the rising dollar would not be a factor here.
  

• Apple’s monopoly did not go well with Indians. Apple has ingenuously designed products and equally ingenuous monopoly. Indian consumers do not want contracts. They would like to change phones, change numbers whenever they want. They do not want to be married to a number and a phone. Besides, when you buy a phone at such an exorbitant price, how can you justify the fact that you cannot change your phone for a different number or a different vendor? I am finding it hard to justify. Only Steve Jobs can answer that but until then Nokia might rule the roost.
  

iPhone in India has a long way to go. Unless the prices are slashed and apple ties up with other GSM service providers it might never take off. We just have to wait and see if rolling of 3G services might give it a second life. A price of Rs. 20,000 would find more takers at least for the 8GB version.

Taken from trak.in article.

This is why a company / a product / a service should cater to the local need of their mass

It's about 3rd World Country - Indonesia Learn 2009

Indonesia and any third world country should learn from the experience of one village in India called Tilonia. First appearances can be deceptive. Tilonia, a remote village in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan, looks like its not changed in the last 100 years. But spend some time there and you will realize why this tiny village has made its mark on the world map. The village is home to the Social Work and Research Center and the Barefoot College founder Sanjit Roy also known as Bunker Roy.

Set up in 1972 the Barefoot College believes that solutions to rural problems lie within the community and trains people who often have had no or very little formal education and teach them skills through the process of learning by doing. The college does not give out any paper degree or qualification after the course.

It has a campus spread over 80,000 square feet that has residences, a guest house, a library, dining room, meeting halls, an open air theatre, an administrative block, a small hospital, pathological laboratory, teacher’s training unit, water testing laboratory, a Post Office, STD/ISD call booth, a Craft Shop and Development Centre, an Internet cafe, a puppet workshop, an audio visual unit, a screen printing press, a dormitory for residential trainees and a 700,000 litre rainwater harvesting tank.

The village and the college are electrified through solar panels designed and manufactured by the villagers. The college serves over 1,25,000 villagers in the district.
“When I went into a village in 1967, I dint know what I was going in for. But I said if I don’t do it now I’ll never do it. People didn’t think I would last. Even I didn’t think I would last,” says Bunker Roy.

Within two years the villages in the block were electrified. ”After coming here I feel it’s not necessary to be educated. Even an illiterate person can learn to test and assemble solar panels,” says Kailash who makes solar panels in Tilonia.

He is a class eight drop out, who initially came to Tilonia from a neighbouring village to learn how to make circuits and electrify his village. He now trains many African women on how to make intricate solar circuits for products and has helped electrify villages around Tilonia.

After being replicated elsewhere in Rajasthan, the Tilonia model has now spread to 10 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Engineers trained by the Barefoot College have solar electrified over 200 communities in India, bringing light to over 80,000 people. And that is not all. The village also trains women to make solar cookers and has 25 to 30 solar cookers made by women.




Taken from www.livemint.com
Part of plan for future initiative "Indonesia Learn 2009"

It's about Spiderman

BANGKOK - A Thai firefighter dressed as Spider-Man to rescue an autistic boy who climbed onto a third-floor balcony and dangled his legs over the side because he was nervous on his first day of school.

Firefighter Somchai Yoosabai was called in after the 11-year-old boy's teachers and mother failed to coax him off the ledge on Monday, he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"He was nervous about the first day at school, and he was asking for his mother," Somchai said. "He cried and refused to let any of us get close to him."

Overhearing a conversation between the boy's mother and his teachers about his love for comics and superheroes, Somchai rushed back to the fire station to change into a Spider-Man costume before swinging into action.

"I told him Spider-Man is here to save you. No monster will hurt you now," Somchai said. "Then I told him to walk slowly toward me. I was very nervous that he might have slipped if he got too excited and ran."

Somchai, who keeps costume of Spider-Man and a Japanese superhero Ultraman to liven up fire drills at schools, said the teary-eyed boy broke into a smile and started walking into his arms.

Taken from AP, Associated Press news...

It's about Having Fun part 2

It's been a while since I post an update to my blog. This is because I have been busy with many things lately. One is caused by my work. For few previous weeks, we have to perform major reorganization in our client, so it took most of my attention and time. In the end, it works fine in general. There is still room for improvement though. Well, at least we know now how to do it well and expecting the reorganization for other department.

Other things that taking my attention is the way I'm having fun lately. I notice that I play game a lot these days. My weekend is mostly comprised of going out to to town in the afternoon, and playing game in the evening. That way I still keep the balance of socialized life :)

I just bought a Nintendo Wii with 2 cool games ( I consider cool!!! ). One is the House Of the Dead Overkill, an arcade shooting game made by SEGA. It's a famous shooting game where it's first came out on 1997 or 1998. The current release of House Of the Dead series has entirely different format. The game has a character of Quentin Tarantino game, with a lot of blood, rude language, and cut scene-like movie. It's resemble close to a movie called Planet Terror. I bought the hand cannon package with the Game DVD. Take a look the packaging.

Beside this game, I also bought a set of Guitar Hero World Tour band package. God, it cost me a lot of money, but it's worth to buy. I enjoy playing music games. It's relaxing as if you are playing real instrument.

The band package comes with a drum set, a wireless guitar, a microphone, and the Gutar Hero DVD. I was not feeling really well on the day when the band package arrived. So I have to put it in my living room, waiting to play with it if I'm feeling well.

Having feeling well, I want to try the new toy that I just buy. I try to play with the drum set, and I must admit it feel really good. It has the feeling like you are playing with an electric drum. So kudos for the producer of Guitar Hero. The game contains almost 80 songs from famous band in the world, like for example:

• Metallica
• R.E.M
• System of a Down
• Van Halen
• Black Sabbath
• The Rasmus
• Beastie Boys
  

And some famous singer that we know such as Michael Jackson and Ozzy Osborne. Below you can see the picture of my latest collection :D

I let my friend to record the video where I play the guitar while she sings. She was embarassed when I asked her to upload the video to youtube :) So instead of embarassing myself, I will show you the trailer of Gutar Hero World Tour ;)

It's about Singapura

Singapura oh Singapura...

Pretty island sets in the sea

Singapura oh Singapura...

Pretty flower blooms for you and for me

This is a piece of song about Singapura. I visited Singapura few months a go, and it has changed quite a lot since my last visit 4 years a go. For people who wants to travel to Asia, but doesn't have a lot of time, you can visit Singapura. For me, Singapura is a place where cultures from Asian's continent merge with each other. There you can experience a lot of cultural diversity and commodity. Basically, you can found these following cultures: Chineese, India, Malay, Peranakan. Peranakan is a mix culture between chineese and malay. This culture comes from the Chineese people that are born and grown in a malay environment, known also as "Straits Chineese".

During my stay for 5 days, I have taste almost all cultures in Singapura, thanks to my friend Tety Intan Sari for her companionship. At morning we already began scouring the town for continental breakfast. Afternoon is the time to visit different places in town, and tourism sightseeing. In the evening, we prepare our stomach for Singapore's gastronomical delight. I have here a video which shows you a little bit about Singapura:

And a visit to a country like Singapura will not be complete without knowing about its political situation. Its famously known as "fine city" where even bubble gum is forbidden :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

I happen to found a funny video made by Singaporean that shows a bit about Singapura's political situation

It's about mayonaise jar

When things in your life seem, Almost too much to handle,When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.A professor stood before his philosophy class And had some items in front of him.When the class began, wordlessly,He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jarAnd proceeded to fill it with golf balls.He then asked the students, If the jar was full.They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and pouredthem into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.He then asked The students againIf the jar was full.. They agreed it was.The professor next picked up a box of sand And poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He asked once more if the jar was full. The students respondedWith an unanimous 'yes.'The professor then produced Two cups of coffee from under the tableAnd poured the entire contents Into the jar, effectivelyFilling the Empty space between the sand.The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, As the laughter subsided,'I want you to recognize that This jar represents your life.The golf balls are the important things - God, family,children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions Things that if everything else was lost And only they remained, Your life would still be full.The pebbles are the other things that matter Like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,'there is no room for The pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life.If you spend all your time And energy on the small stuff,You will never have room for The things that areImportant to you.

So...Pay attention to the things That are critical to your happiness.Play With your children.Take time to get medical checkups.Take your partner out to dinner.There will always be time To clean the house and fix the disposal.'Take care of the golf balls first --The things that really matter.Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

'One of the students raised her handAnd inquired what the coffee represented.The professor smiled.'I'm glad you asked'.It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,there's always room for A couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'Please share this with other "Golf Balls"

It's about Idea - Business 101 part 1

I consider ideas as God's gift to human. We human have the capability to dream. And this dream in turns gives birth to idea. We encounter ideas in our daily life. The most fundamental ideas that we experience everyday are the way we solveproblems. We need idea to go through daily problem, and from idea we can also make something out of it. Great idea canbe a beginning of good business. Innovative idea can be the beginning of innovative business. In my point of view,innovative business has the advantage of gaining fast market share. Take for example Apple's IPod. When it was first introduced, there are no MP3 player with such sleek design like IPod. In no time at all, millions of IPod were sold world-wide.

My friend told me a story once about how he started a fitness centre. He has this creative idea to put high tech equipment in his fitness centre. The intention of this equipment is not for eye-candy, but rather to assist people better in their training program. According to him, there are three things people need in order to succeed in making business. number one is IDEA itself, number two is money, and number three is marketing. All of these three aspects are unseparated from each other.money and marketing without idea would means burning all your bucks. the same with idea and marketing without money, your idea will not take off from the ground.

So everytime you have idea for a good business, always follow it by assessing the financial aspect. There are a lot of ways to get money for your business, for example from family, bank loan, and investors. Bur rather than looking for investors first, you should before hand know your financial needs. Then know your target. Target determines the way you do marketing.If you do a good assessment of your target, it can make a LOT of difference on your advertisement budget. For example,if you have an online webshop, you will not consider to advertise in the television for start, eventhough you have big startup capital. Instead, you can do your advertisement in the web since people in the web is your target market. For consumer electronic, it is inevitable to do TV advertisement because your target are as much people as you can get.

So, that was basically the beginning of business in my opinion. This blog entry will follow few next coming articles of business 101.It will be more focused on web business and combined with few insight on non-web business. The next article will be about how you give shape to your business and bring them into reality ;)