It’s funny to see Pakistani reaction to recent IPL auction. I mean, common, they should be the first one to get picked. In fact in the name of inclusiveness, IPL should be rechristened (this word may be blasphemous to the Islamic state of Pakistan!)as PPL – Pakistan Premier League. (No relation to Muslim League) They have done so much for the world and particularly for India that snubbing them like this reflects poorly on Indian attitude.
They have worked so hard for last twenty years or so that the least they deserve is a million dollar contract from IPL. Not just the cricketer but each and every one of the Pakistani deserve one million dollar contract from India. The terrorists especially so! They have attacked us in Kashmir killing thousands of our soldiers. They attacked us in Kargil killing, again, thousands of our soldiers. In the mean time they bombed the civilians in Mumbai repeatedly. But we still didn’t get the message. So they had to bomb us in various other cities at various point of time. Still nothing. So finally the decent souls of Pakistan citizenry took matter in their arms and stormed Mumbai with AK-47 in their hands. They had to find their own way in Mumbai! I mean, Indians couldn’t even provide them decent transportation. What kind of country are we?
And now the dastardly auction of IPL. It was final slap on Pakistan. All they want is to kill Indians, destroy our cities and just create anarchy. And in return they are asking only few million dollars worth of contracts on Cricketing term. Why are Indians so cheap? That’s just wrong…..wrong wrong wrong wrong……wrong wrong wrong….it’s WRONG!
On the ‘lighter’ note, the defense secretary of US came to India and pronounced that India can’t be held back if another attack like the one happened in Mumbai takes place again. Interesting comment indeed! Because I don’t remember something on this line emanating from any of the Indian government official. They have maintained their saintly demeanor and decided to not to act against anything or anyone. They are perfectly happy with the situation where innocent Indians are getting killed. But retaliation….now that’s against Gandhian principal, isn’t it?
P.S. – Shahrukh Khan – the superstar of INDIA wants Pakistani players in his team. Dude, why don’t go to Pakistan and start a new team? To this though, in the mean time, Pakistani Cricket board decided not to allow any Pakistani player to participate in IPL. Thanks for showing little decency and self-esteem because on this of border we have none of either.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
The iPod Revolution
Honestly speaking I am not a technology guy at all. I love technology and I follow it quite a bit but my interest lay more in the Sales and Market Share. It’s good to know the OS that my iPhone works on but that doesn’t excite me as much. Yet one thing that stuck in my throat like tiny fish-bone is that during all the hoopla, discussions, articles and blogs over major events of last decade, Apple iPod did not feature anywhere. Granted, iPhone – the more advanced progeny of iPod’s that can dial, was chosen as Time Device of the Year but I think the launch of ipod in early part of this decade was a seismic event in the whole of technological world.
The original iPod, if we are to look at it now, was bulky, squary and rather heavy. But within few months after lunch it was the coolest thing on the mother earth. It had big bright screen and just one button. And attractive white color. Seriously, who knew that White will be hip again? The user interface was out of world and music quality wasn’t bad either. Moreover, the memory could store hundreds of thousands of songs. The whole world of music listeners were turned upside down. The CD players were already heading towards yard sales yet no body thought that the digital music players will shift the gear so quickly that the first generation digital players of Sony et al. will become obsolete too.
The original iPods were, actually, quite heavy on the wallet . Compared to other digital players they were wickedly expensive. I guess that’s why market didn’t pay too much attention to the iPod advances. Moreover, Apple wasn’t pioneer in this market. Sony had good quality digital players in the market for quite some time. I remember me buying my Sony digital player that had no bright screen but worked just fine. But the designing department of Apple stole the show. The single button interface was just too much of a draw and soon whole of young generation decided to go broke to buy iPods.
The seamless interface between iPod and iTunes was another factor that played major role in boosting iPod sales. Apple won over host of music companies and completely upstaged the existing model of selling music. Apple successfully managed to create a viable and cheaper alternative to piracy. The ability to buy a single song for a buck or an album for 10 bucks was incredible. Just by click of a button you could buy your music, put into your iPod and boom, you go.
All this changed the technological market for good. The companies had been playing catch-up with Apple since then. The iPod went through another set of drastic changes, strengthening their iron grip on the market. Suddenly, every digital player had to have a bright screen with minimum number of buttons. The memory had to be in multiple gigabytes. But Apple wasn't done yet. It continued on the path and pulled out another rabbit - iPhones. A phone that can play music or the music player that can dial phone, however way you want to see it. And it had only one key! It was iPhone’s turn to revolutionize the phone industry. Now all the phones had to be smart phones. The phones are getting better and faster. The data, once a costly indulgence, is becoming a necessity. The apps have drastically changed the way we operate in our surroundings.
The whole set of events are so furious in pace that I think people haven’t realized that they went to at least three or four generation worth of change in a music and phone industry in less than one generation. And the pace is only going to pick up. The phones ceased to exist merely as a phone rather it transformed into a palm computer. (if only the original Palms had thought about adding phone to their palms!) And the music player that started it all simply remained just one more feature in an all powerful phone.
Yet imprints of iPod will be unmistakable in everything that’s currently available and everything that will come in the future. The simplicity of the interface, the hip and cool nature of the design and high powered multi-functionality are some of the factors that every future developer has to take into account. What’s important is that the ferocity with which iPod cut through the technology world created only positive ripples. I don’t think any other event in last decade can rival the satisfaction generated by iPod and iPodic products.
A revolution with no side effect is extremely rare and certainly warrants a high place on the pedestal.
The original iPod, if we are to look at it now, was bulky, squary and rather heavy. But within few months after lunch it was the coolest thing on the mother earth. It had big bright screen and just one button. And attractive white color. Seriously, who knew that White will be hip again? The user interface was out of world and music quality wasn’t bad either. Moreover, the memory could store hundreds of thousands of songs. The whole world of music listeners were turned upside down. The CD players were already heading towards yard sales yet no body thought that the digital music players will shift the gear so quickly that the first generation digital players of Sony et al. will become obsolete too.
The original iPods were, actually, quite heavy on the wallet . Compared to other digital players they were wickedly expensive. I guess that’s why market didn’t pay too much attention to the iPod advances. Moreover, Apple wasn’t pioneer in this market. Sony had good quality digital players in the market for quite some time. I remember me buying my Sony digital player that had no bright screen but worked just fine. But the designing department of Apple stole the show. The single button interface was just too much of a draw and soon whole of young generation decided to go broke to buy iPods.
The seamless interface between iPod and iTunes was another factor that played major role in boosting iPod sales. Apple won over host of music companies and completely upstaged the existing model of selling music. Apple successfully managed to create a viable and cheaper alternative to piracy. The ability to buy a single song for a buck or an album for 10 bucks was incredible. Just by click of a button you could buy your music, put into your iPod and boom, you go.
All this changed the technological market for good. The companies had been playing catch-up with Apple since then. The iPod went through another set of drastic changes, strengthening their iron grip on the market. Suddenly, every digital player had to have a bright screen with minimum number of buttons. The memory had to be in multiple gigabytes. But Apple wasn't done yet. It continued on the path and pulled out another rabbit - iPhones. A phone that can play music or the music player that can dial phone, however way you want to see it. And it had only one key! It was iPhone’s turn to revolutionize the phone industry. Now all the phones had to be smart phones. The phones are getting better and faster. The data, once a costly indulgence, is becoming a necessity. The apps have drastically changed the way we operate in our surroundings.
The whole set of events are so furious in pace that I think people haven’t realized that they went to at least three or four generation worth of change in a music and phone industry in less than one generation. And the pace is only going to pick up. The phones ceased to exist merely as a phone rather it transformed into a palm computer. (if only the original Palms had thought about adding phone to their palms!) And the music player that started it all simply remained just one more feature in an all powerful phone.
Yet imprints of iPod will be unmistakable in everything that’s currently available and everything that will come in the future. The simplicity of the interface, the hip and cool nature of the design and high powered multi-functionality are some of the factors that every future developer has to take into account. What’s important is that the ferocity with which iPod cut through the technology world created only positive ripples. I don’t think any other event in last decade can rival the satisfaction generated by iPod and iPodic products.
A revolution with no side effect is extremely rare and certainly warrants a high place on the pedestal.
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