The Google Story

An apt title says it all. So you know what you will end up with, when you finish reading the book – The Google Story. It’s a must read for my generation for whom testing an internet connectivity meant hitting the google page too. Trust me till date I and so many many others are always trying to hit the google homepage when they want to see if they are really connected to the internet or not. What could be a more practical example for a internet company, that the very existence of internet is checked by seeing it.

I wouldn’t say that it’s a great book or the writing style is great, but it’s kinna okay if you are really serious about knowing how google came into being. Although i feel the author has magnified some things at junctures, but all in all it seems to be a fair narration, but i really don’t like the unintentional intent of the author  of weighing Google above Microsoft. Every company which has been successful has been described as great as Google, so it’s nothing new, and that’s the way America runs.

So, if you are really curious as to where Larry and Sergey came from, how they started it, how they were just focussed on search and not on earning money at all (I felt this was echoed too much), how a company hired a Chef to have custom food prepared everyday for it’s employees and how the Google guys got into the habit of doing everything differently from the name to fame, to the doodle on the homepage, the IPO etc, then you should read it.

It’s interesting really, if you wanna own a company and hire some employees, you will get some nice ideas and phrases to talk to those prospective employees.

Why no iPhone in India ?

iPhone – Did any mobile ever seduce so many people on earth at a time? Yeah, it does looks pretty. You see it and and you turn back to see it. It’s like you’ve just  spot a new model in a TV ad. And it’s an iPOD too, wow. Apple seems to be the branded tag for some time now, unleashing sleek gadgets that redefine lifestyle.  They do it through technology, marketing, pricing and what not and everything seems to go in their favor because Apple is earning more. Apple seems to be a cult not a company.

Although the iPhone is not sold in India by Apple but it seems to be popping out of pockets now. Almost 10 guys in my office own an iPhone and none of them bought it from the grey market. But, why is it that Apple is not launching it in India, they think they will be too smart doing that. All MBA’s in Apple will devise models and strategies for an India launch sometime next year. Jesus, i can’t stop laughing at them.  Wish there were some Indian guys up the ladder there. This is the time, guys trust me… we are buying and by the time you launch in India, almost all of us who want to own it would have almost used it for an year.
iPhone costing 440$ with taxes i suppose is not a big deal for any Indian, A 300$ phone is a middle class purchase in India now. So I think if I am gonna buy an iPhone and I am getting pretty close to it… I am gonna buy it straight from the US and have one my friends carry it over to India and enjoy it. If Apple does not launch it soon, it will face the same history that iPOD did in India. Everyone who could, bought an iPOD long before Apple launched it in India. I don’t even remember when they launched it in India. Every damn Indian owns a mobile, they wouldn’t know how to put their signatures on paper, but they all know what Nokia stands for. Apple is not known that well in India but they could be the most visible company with iPhone but i think they think otherwise. So, while they keep thinking and get paid to do their homework for an India launch next year, i am thinking of owning it now seriously. Apple could be a cult in India too with iPhone but now.