Book review – Art of Innovation

Art Of Innovation by Tom Kelley is an excellent book for anyone who wishes to be a man of his own will, looking forward to create new, simple solutions in this world. Why do you need an anti gravity pen when you a have pencil which is damn cheap.

It is an excellent collection of stories and narration about IDEO, America’s leading design firm and how they have managed to make so many things simple and trust we as a lay man would have never imagined that it takes so much creativity to design a toothbrush for kids with broad handles and a rubber grip or a pop up cap for the toothpaste. Product by product description and how different teams at IDEO keep on churning new revolutionary products or make existing things much more fun to use.

It pretty much focuses on the environment which blossoms creativity, which no doubt is essential for any firm today. Consider a mail pop up in your inbox about just another meeting and man you start yawning… but what if you guys never had hierarchical meetings in the company but just brainstorming sessions . Sounds good but i feel it’s applicable too just that we never look forward to changing things too much around us. So, if you are a small company looking to make a big impact i think this ones a must for you guys. Happy reading…

Internet radio / Online Music

CD’s, disks, memory cards full of music but still there is something missing… It’s not dynamic. I usually know what’s in there and what will play next. So, we usually look forward to a countdown or radio. Radio has always been entertaining especially if you are alone for some time of day, week, month or year . Some voices are so so pretty or they at least make you feel so.

My recent passion has been listening to radio or music on the internet and that too for free. I tried Yahoo music (too much ads and pretty heavy), Youtube(but you gotta search) and many more radio stations both underground and overground until i stumbled upon live365.com

Yeah i love www.live365.com – there is always scope for better on earth and there may be one but i have been listening to it for quite sometime and i am pretty satisfied by the mix, the quality and the ads too, they aren’t too intrusive. And for someone like me who is always interested in being connected to US… I don’t know for what? this is the best medium, you hear american voices, ads and some good music . So if you are one those who likes online radio i suggest give live365 a sip, maybe you like it and there is so much in there to listen to. Get Live365, Get Live.

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.

Ricky Ponting – Hug me or Get Lost !!!

Thank God !!! I am not Ricky Ponting. Superstars, Holly/Bollywood stars all do charity, auctions but this was a stunning one. A guy buys all the charity and pecks a kiss on Ricky’s face. Man… he must have had 10 vodka shots before getting onto the podium to do that.

Watch the whole fiasco – http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=17490

I am not sure if Ricky will do any more charity in India. The man forgot that the event was for charity and not for proving whether English discriminate us or not. They do and will always continue to do, you don’t have to kiss someone  in public to get rid of that. And what difference does it make, first get rid of the crap in your country – quotas, reservations… that’s a blessing not a discrimination? and what not just to prove democracy, secularism, upliftment of the poor.

The worst part was that he tried to prove, that he can buy anything and Ricky has to accept it or GET LOST. He feels they have a culture of hugging and kissing so hwy can’t he hug and kiss me. What a thought !!! You have to be out of your senses to behave that way. Only a pig who lives in shit and enjoys shit can behave this way. Had it not been for charity, this guy wouldn’t even have been able to buy even Ricky’s used underpants, forget a bat.

So BEWARE !!! next time you or wife are invited to a charity event and you guys land on stage, someone may bid and plant a kiss on your wife’s rosy cheeks, and he too could say Hug Me or GET LOST.

I know a majority of Indian’s and political parties would support him, make him a hero because he used the word discrimination, but it’s a shame, such people should go to an auction not to a charity event. One thing which i have not understood till date is when will my fellow countrymen know the meaning of the words/phrases – BEHAVE, STANDING IN A QUEUE, POLITE, RESPECT OTHERS PROPERTY. If you see guys using words like sex, fuck, ass blah blah in their language, Indians would mostly feel bad, shy about it but when on road or in a public place causing any degree of annoyance to someone would not affect them.  I have not understood what is that the term so often used ‘values’ refers to ? Maybe India needs to get practical before valuing it’s values. Go to a charity for charity not for hugging, kissing or thinking that a hug from Ricky would help you get rid of the discrimination.

Harry Potter – A billion $ boom

Harry Potter… Finally i had to tolerate him .

Yeah tolerate is the perfect word i would use. I had evaded him till date but as a muggle could not escape his magic forever. I know he has a great fan following, children and adults swear by him, he is the new age GOD. Credit to Rowling for being able to ride waves of success all over the world till date but what’s the difference? It’s has turned out to be another billion $ startup that too out of a single employee.

Recently when i had to finally give in to the pressure to watch Potter in the movie ‘The Order of the phoenix’ at Satyam Cineplex Delhi, i realized that he is no less than God for kids. The ticket vendors were dressed like witches, the whole place was decorated with brooms, yeah brooms and everyone was so happy. One of the guys was so happy he was flying on the brooms in the intermission [see the pic]. Trust me he would never pick up a broom ever in life to clean his house, but Harry made him ride the broom. Every single guy was trying to impress his girl more and more discussing Harry one or the other way. Looking into their girl’s eye they would say – You read this/that, you know Harry wears this, i finished this book in one day, i stood all night on the road to buy that book… and everything they said was Potter way. Man girls are impressed by witchcraft too nowadays, so next time you wanna impress HER talk Bengal ka kala jadoo (Bengal’s black magic) as that is famous too, Sufi baba’s and what not, i am sure she will be impressed. Such has been the effect of potter, he rules kids, college dates, parents have to bear him as kids would kick them if they hated Harry. He has created a billion $ industry from books, toys, clothes to movies.

Although i was and would never be impressed by Harry for what he is but would be thankful to Rowling for creating a billion $ brand. She did all this without much physical resources, labour, factories, any venture capital or seed funding, public listing etc. which is great. Just pen and paper, Dude !!! is all she required to create a billion $ enterprise and everyone from the movie maker to the broom maker earned money. The point to note is that witches, magic have such great effect on people that money falls through the roof for them. That is why black magic, superstition and nukkad babas are so famous in India as this is another unorganized billion $ industry. They are not doing anything good or bad but they too exploit the same way through their own real life Voldemort’s, Dumbeldore’s. I know we all hate the village magic when shown on news, read in newspaper or see some of our friend’s following it but Harry escaped with billion $ and are you sure he did no harm ?

A book or two was ok but seven damn books and he is still alive although he was suppose to die as told by shutterbugs means real business. Not that spiderman, batman or superman could be a part of this case but Harry has brought into light the business which is practiced in society. Truly speaking the only thing i gained after watching the movie was that witches, spells, magic and third world are bound to engage people and will continue to make $$$.

So as per the current trend you are an informed individual if you know Potter’s latest release, your girlfriend is impressed if you can speak out all his tricks in front of her but you swear that you don’t believe all this and the ordinary man on the street is a fool because he wearing five stones to get blessings of his ancestors and keep his family witches at peace. So, if Harry can manage to pick pockets of well educated people, it’s damn easy for the baba’s to have their own fan following. So, the baba’s and the black is magic is here to stay as it’s one the most easiest way to mint money. The baba’s may not be as glorified or well marketed as the nice white round specy Potter has been but that doesn’t mean that education would wipe out baba’s from the system. Witchcraft, superstition, magic are here to stay as entertainment for some, as a religious practice for some and as a business for some.

So don’t be amazed if you see a real life Harry fighting Voldemort in public because Harry is still alive, amazes muggles and i am not sure if the buck stopped at 7 but i surely believe it’s time for another billion $ boom.

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Kites !!! i love them, am crazy after them. Even if i am down with fever 102 Celsius i would be ready to fly kites, such is my passion for them. It may sound exaggerating but when the D day came for flying kites in Delhi – 15 Aug. i never slept the whole night before and prepared and devised strategies for the sky wars next day. I was so damn crazy it brings a smile on my face every time i remember it. Had i been so crazy for studies i would have been a NASA scientist by now.

Frankly speaking the only reasons why i initially chose to pick up The Kite Runner were: my passion for kites, i was a kite runner too and Afghanistan from where my two good friends came. None of them are radicals, they are well settled businessmen now . I had never heard of Khaled Hosseini before. And it turned out to be a great journey.

Its an amazing book starting with the cool, serene surroundings of Afghanistan, hovering around the war and ending in San Francisco, US and the author manages to run his own kite in the end. Very simple asian english, no twsits and turns and Amir recites the story of how Afghanis faced the tumultuous events, the war, life as a refugee in the US and what guilt can do to you? Another great point in the backdrop is the Afghani culture you get to know, very caring, respect and care for all their peer nationals in the US unlike the other nationals you come across in the US.

So if you wanna know kites, Afghanistan, the war, and how a refugee stands up and finally runs a kite in the US… go on and read it.

More apt info – Wikipedia – The Kite Runner

Happy Reading

-vips