Important: As far as I know, the device called Buddy does not exist in the year 2005. The name, design, concept, features and functions of the gadget named Buddy (also referred to as My Buddy) are the intellectual property of Libran Lover alone, pending patent processing. Any unauthorized use of the name, design, concept, features and functions of the Buddy will be in violation of the law governing patents, copyrights and goodwill. If anyone wants to turn the concept of this fantasy device Buddy into a reality, they are welcome to contact Libran Lover.
Notes from the Future - 1 (My Buddy)
My Buddy as a Universal Phone:
My Buddy is the coolest phone you have ever heard about. For starters, it is a VoIP cum old-fashioned conventional phone. Since we have Wi-Fi Net access throughout the city, all my calls get routed directly through the Internet. When I am in areas with no Internet access, Buddy functions as an old-fashioned cell phone. The calls placed through the Internet are all free. No kidding! This is the day and age when Internet phones are the rule, and conventional phones are the rare exceptions. Literally everyone I know uses an Internet phone. So, calling them on the Buddy is free, no matter where they are in the world. It is like the free voice chat of the old days. Except, the clarity of these phones are like no voice chat you'd experienced in 2005.
The second cool thing about phones these days is that, we no longer have phone numbers. That's right. When all the phones moved to the Internet, there was no need to be tied to hard to remember numbers, based on country codes and area codes. All you need is a person's chat id, and you can call them on your phone. The address book on My Buddy is full of people's chat/email ids. Absolutely no numbers. I don't need anything else to get in touch with people. And, as long as the person I want to talk to is logged on to the Net using any device - a cell phone, a home phone, a computer, a handheld computer, a music player, a Buddy, whatever device, and s/he is logged on using the chat/email id I am trying to reach, I will be able to reach her/him.
Gone are the days when caller-id on the phone meant displaying only the person's name. Today, when I receive a phone call, I can see any information about the caller that she/he wishes to reveal. It is a caller-profile. Not just a caller-id. The caller-profile could include her/his picture, base location, current location, current status (in class, in a meeting, sleeping, travelling, out of reach, whatever), her/his business card, blog, website, entire history!
The phone functionality of My Buddy is no different from the chat clients of the old days. In fact, the phone interface on the screen even looks a lot like the olden days chat clients... only it's more ditzy and feature-rich. Needless to say I can use the Buddy to not only talk to friends who are afar, but also to send text messages, multimedia messages with pictures, music, video, even live video! I can do everything but teleport myself or my caller through My Buddy.
My Buddy is my phone wherever I am. It is my cell phone, it is my home phone, it is my office phone and my car phone. It is truly a universal phone.
My Buddy as a Universal Modem:
A lot of people use the Buddy, coupled with a wireless router, as a universal modem in their homes. When they are home, they just place the Buddy in a dock of their wireless router. The wireless router then connects every device in the house - every computer, conventional-type phone, camera, TV, music system, even the cooking range and oven, dishwasher, refrigerators, washing machine and drier - to the Internet.
You may wonder why we need a modem and a wireless router if every corner of the city and every room of the home is already blanketed with wireless broadband from our Internet Service Provider. This is where the concept of needing less number of static IP addresses comes into the picture.
We are charged for our Internet access based on the number of devices with static IP addresses we use. I already told you that I pay 50 bucks for 5 static IP addresses. But the number of Internet-connected devices my 4-member family has in our home and in our pockets, could easily be upto 15! I do not want to pay $150 for 15 static IP addresses. I don't need so many static addresses either. This is where the Buddy steps into help us.
My wife, our two kids and I have a Buddy apiece, each with a static IP address. We have an old Buddy at home - my very first Buddy - which always sits in the wireless router's dock. This device has our fifth IP address and uses it to connect every other device in the home to the Internet. My faithful old Buddy channels enough bandwidth for all the devices in my home to share! The is why it is our universal modem.
My Buddy as a Universal Media Player:
My Buddy has a sophisticated sound system built-in. This sound system makes my voice calls great. But to really appreciate it, you have to listen to its musical output. This palm-sized unit is one of the best music systems ever created by humans. The same is true for the Buddy's video system too. The sound and video systems, combined with the versatility and portability, make the Buddy a true universal media players.
With the Buddy, there are no hassles of downloading and storing any music or video files. Most of the times I play multimedia directly from the Internet. All the radio stations now broadcast on the Internet waves. I can choose to play only the audio or the audio-and-video content.
I can listen to the music, holding the Buddy upto my ear like a phone. I can listen through the ear phones. I place the Buddy in a dock which is connected to speakers which can blast you away. I have such a dock and speaker system in my office. At home, my speaker systems are already connected to the Buddy through the wireless router.
I have a dock for the Buddy in my car as well. I don't need a separate music player for the car. As soon as I enter my car, I place the Buddy in the dock and play anything I want on the car's speakers. I can even route my phone calls to the car's speakers, with a mic built into my steering wheel. When there is an incoming call and I wish to answer it, the Buddy automatically mutes the music and routes the call to the speakers. It is really convenient.
Incidentally, the Buddy is also my GPS navigation system. I avoid using that functionality when I am on the road. I study the map before setting out. Once I am on the road, I just let the road take me where it goes. My wife teases me about being a typical man who will not take directions from his own Buddy! :-)
I can watch video on the Buddy's sharp and clear screen. Or, I can choose to connect it to my TV or computer monitor via a dock, and watch the video on an LCD screen. Like the speaker system, all the TV and computer monitors in my home are connected to the Buddy through the wireless router. And like music, all the video these days is available on the Internet. All the movies and music videos, as well as all the TV programs, and sports. DVDs, VCDs, VHS tapes have all become obsolete. Nobody keeps any sort of disks in their homes. Businesses like Blockbuster and Hollywood video have completely gone online and serve their movies through the Internet. And, we stream it into our TVs via the Buddy.
My Buddy as a Universal Remote:
I can use my Buddy to control any, I literally mean any device in my home. When I bring home a new device, like say a new TV, I download the remote control software for the TV onto the Buddy. Voila! My Buddy can now function as the TV's remote control. The touch-pad screen of the Buddy displays a picture of the TV remote, and I can touch it to control the TV. We can do that for pretty much every device in our home including the cooking range, the washing machine, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, etc. We can turn on or turn off the stove in the kitchen, while we are in the living room watching a movie.
In my home, we have stored the remote control software for all the devices in my old Buddy, which acts as the modem. All the other Buddies in the house can now interact with the old Buddy to access the remote control interface of any device. So, we don't have to store the remote control software in every Buddy we have in our home. Yet, we can control any device using any Buddy.
My Buddy as a Personal Computer:
For most of my computing needs, I don't require a big computer with a powerful processor and lots of memory. The memory and processing power of the Buddy, combined with its powerful web browser, are quite adequate. This is true for most other people as well. My Buddy has put the "personal" back into PCs (personal computers). How much more personal can you get with computers than the Buddy? Unless you embed a computer within your body!
Gone are the days when people stored their data files on personal hard drives. Most of the files are now stored on the Net. We have all our emails, media files (music, pictures, video), work data files (documents, spreadsheets, databases), etc. on the Internet. Even many of the software applications which are needed to work with these files are not installed on our personal machines. Web-based applications are all the rage now. I can do word processing, spreadsheets, database functions, graphics, etc. using free applications which are served to me over the Internet. As such, I hardly use 50% of the 100GB flash memory available on my Buddy.
We have only one conventional desktop computer in our home. We have it because my kids and I play a lot of computer games, which require more processing power and memory. Sometimes I use that computer as my software lab. We have LCD monitors or TVs with wireless keyboards and mouse devices in almost every room in the house, except for the kitchen and the bathrooms. We use these to connect to the Internet through our wireless router and the old Buddy, or to work with our personal Buddies. So, our Buddies pretty much take care of all our computing needs.
You see how useful and ubiquitous the Buddy has become in our lives? I bet by now even you have started to think of the Buddy as a "he" or a "she"!
Concluded for now.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
Notes from the Future - 1 (My Buddy)
Important: As far as I know, the device called Buddy does not exist in the year 2005. The name, design, concept, features and functions of the gadget named Buddy (also referred to as My Buddy) are the intellectual property of Libran Lover alone, pending patent processing. Any unauthorized use of the name, design, concept, features and functions of the Buddy will be in violation of the law governing patents, copyrights and goodwill. If anyone wants to turn the concept of this fantasy device Buddy into a reality, they are welcome to contact Libran Lover.
My city is blanketed with cheap wireless Internet access at broadband speeds. I can access the Internet from literally ANYWHERE in the city, even when I am travelling in my car or the bus. Almost overnight, this has revolutionized my lifestyle.
The Wi-Fi Net access is not free... yet. We all know it will be free at sometime in the future. But for now, it is not costly either.
Back in 2005, I used to pay a little over 50 US dollars for my cable broadband service alone. In addition, I had other expenses like a big cell phone bill (for voice and text messages), and a bigger international calls bill for my calls to India. Cable TV services were extra, of course.
Compare that to what I have today. I pay my Internet service provider (ISP) 50 US dollars to access wireless Internet using gadgets, with upto 5 unique IP addresses, from anywhere in the world. And this takes care of all my communication needs. Yes, I do mean all: my cell phone, my long distance phone calls, my home phone, my cable TV and computer.
If I want to access Wi-Fi with more devices, having more IP addresses, I have to pay extra. But as you will see below, 5 IP addresses is an overkill for me. By the way, these are static IP addresses I am talking about. IPv6 has made it possible for everybody in the world and everyone of their devices to have static IP addresses. What's more, intelligent gadget design has actually made it possible for an individual to need fewer and fewer IP addresses. You will read more about it below.
First, I want to introduce you to my Buddy. It (I always have to remember to refer to this gadget as it and not a he or a she like most people do. Irritating!) is actually called a Buddy 6-Gen. We just refer to it as Buddy. And it is an extraordinary palm-sized, cellphone-sized device. I just got the newest sixth generation model for $399. I know that is too much money for a gadget which will probably become old design in 6-8 months, and I did not want to buy it. But my wife bought it for my birthday last month, and I am glad she did. My Buddy is a classy black device, with a FULL screen front. That's right, a FULL touchscreen front. No physical keys (well, except for four). The virtual keys appear on the touchscreen whenever I need them. And the screen is so big, clear and beautiful!
Before you get too bored with the physical description of my Buddy, let me list its functions:
1. It is my wallet - stores my ID, driver's license, credit cards, debit cards, cheque book, library card, club cards, house keys, car keys, desk keys, auto and medical insurance cards, and I don't even remember what else. In short, it stores everything I had in my physical wallet in the old days (including pics of my wife and kids), except physical currency notes and coins.
2. It is my universal phone - cell phone, home phone, office phone, car phone.
3. It is my universal modem - connects every device in my home to the Internet.
4. It is my universal media player - personal audio player, car audio player, home audio player, including radio. But it is not limited to audio. It has video functionality also.
5. It is my universal remote control - for every device in my home.
6. It is my personal computer with a 100GB of flash memory (that's right; no spinning hard disk).
My Buddy as a Wallet:
When I receive a card, any card (credit card, insurance card, library card), I call the issuing organization using through my Buddy and enter the card number. They send back a highly encrypted secure digital key, which is stored in my Buddy. Now my Buddy is as good as the card. I lock away the card in my home. When I need to use the card... for example, when I have to use my credit card at a store, I press a button on my Buddy and it sends out a Bluetooth signal with my encrypted secure key. The store's receiver accepts the key, validates it and completes my purchase. The whole process takes less than a minute to complete.
So, can anybody who steals my Buddy use my credit card? Yes and no. Yes, if I am foolish enough to leave my Buddy open to hacking. No, if I have chosen my security setting with care. The Buddy offers different levels of security which are all optional:
1. You cannot start or use the Buddy in any manner without entering a password or placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor or both.
2. You cannot start or use any or all of the software applications or cards stored in the Buddy without entering a password or placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor or both.
3. The password entering and fingerprint sensing can be done on the Buddy or the store's system or on both.
As you can see, there are many levels and combinations of security settings possible. If I wanted maximum security on something, I would do ALL of the following:
1. Setup my Buddy to start only after entering right password and using the correct finger on the fingerprint sensor of the Buddy.
2. In addition, setup my card or software application to be usable only after entering the right password and using the correct finger on the fingerprint sensor of the Buddy, for the second time.
3. In addition, configure my Buddy so that it is necessary for me to use a password and finger print on the store's system, for the third time.
This gives me three levels of protection, using passwords and fingerprints. But most of us don't bother to have such high security. We just use our fingerprints on the Buddy - fingerprint to switch on the Buddy, and fingerprint scan on the Buddy only for financial transactions. We are not comfortable leaving our finger prints on store machines.
Just as every card has an ecrypted secure digital key, our homes, cars, desks... literally anything which needs a lock and key has an electronic lock now. And, each of these locks can be configured to open with a Bluetooth signal from the Buddy and/or our fingerprints. For my home and car, I use the digital key from my Buddy and my fingerprint.
I guess I don't have to tell you how my wife and kids' pictures are stored on the Buddy. In fact, the Buddy has dozens of pictures stored on its flash memory. However, I have thousands more pictures stored on the Internet, and I can access them all using my Buddy.
As for physical currency... I have stopped carrying them. There are still some (mostly older) people who walk around with physical money. I used to do that too during the initial days that I started using the Buddy, but then I found that I almost never had to use the physical money anywhere. So, I put them away in the locker at my home. I think they will be valuable antiques sometime in the future... probably before I die.
Rest of My Buddy's features continued in Notes from the Future - 2...
My city is blanketed with cheap wireless Internet access at broadband speeds. I can access the Internet from literally ANYWHERE in the city, even when I am travelling in my car or the bus. Almost overnight, this has revolutionized my lifestyle.
The Wi-Fi Net access is not free... yet. We all know it will be free at sometime in the future. But for now, it is not costly either.
Back in 2005, I used to pay a little over 50 US dollars for my cable broadband service alone. In addition, I had other expenses like a big cell phone bill (for voice and text messages), and a bigger international calls bill for my calls to India. Cable TV services were extra, of course.
Compare that to what I have today. I pay my Internet service provider (ISP) 50 US dollars to access wireless Internet using gadgets, with upto 5 unique IP addresses, from anywhere in the world. And this takes care of all my communication needs. Yes, I do mean all: my cell phone, my long distance phone calls, my home phone, my cable TV and computer.
If I want to access Wi-Fi with more devices, having more IP addresses, I have to pay extra. But as you will see below, 5 IP addresses is an overkill for me. By the way, these are static IP addresses I am talking about. IPv6 has made it possible for everybody in the world and everyone of their devices to have static IP addresses. What's more, intelligent gadget design has actually made it possible for an individual to need fewer and fewer IP addresses. You will read more about it below.
First, I want to introduce you to my Buddy. It (I always have to remember to refer to this gadget as it and not a he or a she like most people do. Irritating!) is actually called a Buddy 6-Gen. We just refer to it as Buddy. And it is an extraordinary palm-sized, cellphone-sized device. I just got the newest sixth generation model for $399. I know that is too much money for a gadget which will probably become old design in 6-8 months, and I did not want to buy it. But my wife bought it for my birthday last month, and I am glad she did. My Buddy is a classy black device, with a FULL screen front. That's right, a FULL touchscreen front. No physical keys (well, except for four). The virtual keys appear on the touchscreen whenever I need them. And the screen is so big, clear and beautiful!
Before you get too bored with the physical description of my Buddy, let me list its functions:
1. It is my wallet - stores my ID, driver's license, credit cards, debit cards, cheque book, library card, club cards, house keys, car keys, desk keys, auto and medical insurance cards, and I don't even remember what else. In short, it stores everything I had in my physical wallet in the old days (including pics of my wife and kids), except physical currency notes and coins.
2. It is my universal phone - cell phone, home phone, office phone, car phone.
3. It is my universal modem - connects every device in my home to the Internet.
4. It is my universal media player - personal audio player, car audio player, home audio player, including radio. But it is not limited to audio. It has video functionality also.
5. It is my universal remote control - for every device in my home.
6. It is my personal computer with a 100GB of flash memory (that's right; no spinning hard disk).
My Buddy as a Wallet:
When I receive a card, any card (credit card, insurance card, library card), I call the issuing organization using through my Buddy and enter the card number. They send back a highly encrypted secure digital key, which is stored in my Buddy. Now my Buddy is as good as the card. I lock away the card in my home. When I need to use the card... for example, when I have to use my credit card at a store, I press a button on my Buddy and it sends out a Bluetooth signal with my encrypted secure key. The store's receiver accepts the key, validates it and completes my purchase. The whole process takes less than a minute to complete.
So, can anybody who steals my Buddy use my credit card? Yes and no. Yes, if I am foolish enough to leave my Buddy open to hacking. No, if I have chosen my security setting with care. The Buddy offers different levels of security which are all optional:
1. You cannot start or use the Buddy in any manner without entering a password or placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor or both.
2. You cannot start or use any or all of the software applications or cards stored in the Buddy without entering a password or placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor or both.
3. The password entering and fingerprint sensing can be done on the Buddy or the store's system or on both.
As you can see, there are many levels and combinations of security settings possible. If I wanted maximum security on something, I would do ALL of the following:
1. Setup my Buddy to start only after entering right password and using the correct finger on the fingerprint sensor of the Buddy.
2. In addition, setup my card or software application to be usable only after entering the right password and using the correct finger on the fingerprint sensor of the Buddy, for the second time.
3. In addition, configure my Buddy so that it is necessary for me to use a password and finger print on the store's system, for the third time.
This gives me three levels of protection, using passwords and fingerprints. But most of us don't bother to have such high security. We just use our fingerprints on the Buddy - fingerprint to switch on the Buddy, and fingerprint scan on the Buddy only for financial transactions. We are not comfortable leaving our finger prints on store machines.
Just as every card has an ecrypted secure digital key, our homes, cars, desks... literally anything which needs a lock and key has an electronic lock now. And, each of these locks can be configured to open with a Bluetooth signal from the Buddy and/or our fingerprints. For my home and car, I use the digital key from my Buddy and my fingerprint.
I guess I don't have to tell you how my wife and kids' pictures are stored on the Buddy. In fact, the Buddy has dozens of pictures stored on its flash memory. However, I have thousands more pictures stored on the Internet, and I can access them all using my Buddy.
As for physical currency... I have stopped carrying them. There are still some (mostly older) people who walk around with physical money. I used to do that too during the initial days that I started using the Buddy, but then I found that I almost never had to use the physical money anywhere. So, I put them away in the locker at my home. I think they will be valuable antiques sometime in the future... probably before I die.
Rest of My Buddy's features continued in Notes from the Future - 2...
Optimum Ecosystem
Consider a young sapling which will eventually grow into a tree. The sapling will flourish and grow into a healthy tree, if it is planted in an ecosystem which will ensure that:
The tree needs an ecosystem which is best-suited for its growth. I call such a best-suited ecosystem as the Optimum Ecosystem. An optimum ecosystem is an environment in which a living being can flourish, grow and lead a happy, healthy life, achieving the best possible life expectancy.
The same concept can be applied to a person who works in an organization. A person will experience good learning and progression, and make useful contributions to the best of his/her ability in an organization which is an optimum ecosystem for her/his talents and career. Such an organization will have the following characteristics:
These are only a few of a long list of qualities which make an organization the optimum ecosystem for a person's career. In addition to being a great working place, an organization has several other important objectives, such as profit-making. It has to balance all these objectives. In the bargain, it may sacrifice some of the qualities which make it a great work place.
Moreover, everybody is not suited to all kinds of organizations. Despite our best efforts, we may not be able to know everything we would like to know about an organization before we join it. There may be times when we discover only after joining an organization that it does not suit us. Also, different organizations suit us at different stages in our career. In modern times, very few people find the same organization to be an optimum ecosystem for their entire career.
Fortunately, unlike plants and trees, we are not rooted to one place. We have the option of leaving and moving on. We must always be conscious about the kind of ecosystem our organization provides for our careers. We must know what our career needs and aspirations are, and be aware of the kind of ecosystem in which we can flourish. We must constantly keep ourselves informed about the kind of ecosystems offered by different organizations. We must make educated choices and not be afraid to move on, if that is necessary.
To stagnate in a non-conducive or adverse atmosphere is to do a great disservice to ourselves. At the time that we are actually stagnating, we may not realize how much it is costing us. However, everything in life is cumulative. What we do in a particular year does not go away easily. The costs and benefits accumulate and influence the rest of our life. That applies to our work life also. Hence, complacency regarding our career ambitions and aspirations must be diligently avoided.
Everything I have mentioned above about the optimum ecosystem for our careers, can be extrapolated to cover all aspects of our life as well.
- It is adequately protected from the forces of nature, including other beings which may harm it. The type of protection the tree needs may be different at different stages of its lifetime.
- It gets adequate water, sunlight and nutrition. Other trees (of the same or different kind) do not take away its fair share of water, sunlight and nutrition.
- If the tree is too crowded in by other plants and trees, it may not flourish. On the other hand, if it is too exposed to the sun, winds and seasonal changes, it may die young.
The tree needs an ecosystem which is best-suited for its growth. I call such a best-suited ecosystem as the Optimum Ecosystem. An optimum ecosystem is an environment in which a living being can flourish, grow and lead a happy, healthy life, achieving the best possible life expectancy.
The same concept can be applied to a person who works in an organization. A person will experience good learning and progression, and make useful contributions to the best of his/her ability in an organization which is an optimum ecosystem for her/his talents and career. Such an organization will have the following characteristics:
- It will be of the right size for the person's energy, drive and opportunities he seeks. Some of us do better being big fish in a small pond, others do better in being a small fish in a big ocean.
- It will provide the right kind of learning opportunities and challenges to the individual at different stages in his professional life. Too many challenges might overwhelm a person and cause a breakdown, too few challenges might waste his/her time, talents, energies and corrupt the person. Too many opportunities might cause confusion and induce complacency. Too few might cause frustration and adversely affect the morale.
- It provides the right quality and variety of colleagues to the person. If most of the people in the organization are no different from the person, s/he is just one of many and s/he may not be adequately valued. It is also important to have colleagues who can guide, coach and inspire. If the benchmarks for talents and performance of everyone in the organization is low, even the new employee will perform at lower levels.
- It will value and reward the person right. Most people usually think they deserve more pay than they are actually receiving. Most organizations are willing to offer a higher pay package to a new hire from outside, than they actually pay to a person within the organization with same/similar qualifications, skills and experience. These are hard facts of today's organizations. Despite these facts, a good organization will not let it's people think that their pay-packet is too unfair, too far below the market rates.
These are only a few of a long list of qualities which make an organization the optimum ecosystem for a person's career. In addition to being a great working place, an organization has several other important objectives, such as profit-making. It has to balance all these objectives. In the bargain, it may sacrifice some of the qualities which make it a great work place.
Moreover, everybody is not suited to all kinds of organizations. Despite our best efforts, we may not be able to know everything we would like to know about an organization before we join it. There may be times when we discover only after joining an organization that it does not suit us. Also, different organizations suit us at different stages in our career. In modern times, very few people find the same organization to be an optimum ecosystem for their entire career.
Fortunately, unlike plants and trees, we are not rooted to one place. We have the option of leaving and moving on. We must always be conscious about the kind of ecosystem our organization provides for our careers. We must know what our career needs and aspirations are, and be aware of the kind of ecosystem in which we can flourish. We must constantly keep ourselves informed about the kind of ecosystems offered by different organizations. We must make educated choices and not be afraid to move on, if that is necessary.
To stagnate in a non-conducive or adverse atmosphere is to do a great disservice to ourselves. At the time that we are actually stagnating, we may not realize how much it is costing us. However, everything in life is cumulative. What we do in a particular year does not go away easily. The costs and benefits accumulate and influence the rest of our life. That applies to our work life also. Hence, complacency regarding our career ambitions and aspirations must be diligently avoided.
Everything I have mentioned above about the optimum ecosystem for our careers, can be extrapolated to cover all aspects of our life as well.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Google Bubble!
The hype about Google is just unbelievable. The Google bubble seems to be getting bigger than the dot-com bubble in terms of expectations.
I have heard even the average non-IT and IT people say with a certain expression on their faces, "Google will take over the world!" As for real geeks and techies, they literally have mental orgasms when they talk about Google and its products/services.
Don't you guys feel it is a little too much hype based solely on future potential? I mean, what concrete things has Google delivered until now? Just these as far as I know:
1. Search Engine - we accept that there are almost no competitors who come close to this service.
2. Specialized search engines - Image search, blog Search, local search, etc.
3. Google Tools & Services - Gmail, Google Maps, Picasa, Talk, Toolbar, Earth, Desktop, etc.
All of these tools and services are great. I don't deny that. All of these have shown some innovative improvements over other products in the same category/market. I totally agree to that. Even their specialized and relevant advertisements philosophy is effective. Their approach goes beyond just bombarding the general audience with general ads, like it is done on TV or even some unevolved websites. Google's ads are very specific and relevant to the context. There is a difference between watching general ads for a restaurant on TV, and getting specific restaurant recos on your mobile device in a strange town.
But which one of these tools and services have truly changed the way we compute, use the Internet or live life? I don't think any of them have truly created a paradigm shift.
Like everybody else, I too am hoping and waiting for Google to shift our personal computing paradigm. Meanwhile, I accept with thanks and happiness, the small free tools which Google puts out periodically. And I hope to God, the Google bubble does not burst!
Unfortunately, all bubbles burst at one point or the other. The important question is, how will Google change the world before the inevitable burst happens. So far, Google has not changed the world, the way Microsoft or Intel-based computers have, although it is often touted that Google will will replace Microsoft, the way Microsoft replaced IBM.
Google's biggest service continues to be the search engine. The impact of all other tools and services they offer is much smaller in comparison.
IMO, Google should concentrate more on doing the "next big thing" - on par with or better than their search engine. The smaller applications are nice, but Google should not spend too much time or energy on those.
The question is, what could be this "next big thing". Unlimited wi-fi access around the world and the associated applications could be that big thing. That does have lifestyle altering potential.
We'll wait and see. Meanwhile, even this blog post is yet another mouthful of air which blows up the Google bubble!
I have heard even the average non-IT and IT people say with a certain expression on their faces, "Google will take over the world!" As for real geeks and techies, they literally have mental orgasms when they talk about Google and its products/services.
Don't you guys feel it is a little too much hype based solely on future potential? I mean, what concrete things has Google delivered until now? Just these as far as I know:
1. Search Engine - we accept that there are almost no competitors who come close to this service.
2. Specialized search engines - Image search, blog Search, local search, etc.
3. Google Tools & Services - Gmail, Google Maps, Picasa, Talk, Toolbar, Earth, Desktop, etc.
All of these tools and services are great. I don't deny that. All of these have shown some innovative improvements over other products in the same category/market. I totally agree to that. Even their specialized and relevant advertisements philosophy is effective. Their approach goes beyond just bombarding the general audience with general ads, like it is done on TV or even some unevolved websites. Google's ads are very specific and relevant to the context. There is a difference between watching general ads for a restaurant on TV, and getting specific restaurant recos on your mobile device in a strange town.
But which one of these tools and services have truly changed the way we compute, use the Internet or live life? I don't think any of them have truly created a paradigm shift.
Like everybody else, I too am hoping and waiting for Google to shift our personal computing paradigm. Meanwhile, I accept with thanks and happiness, the small free tools which Google puts out periodically. And I hope to God, the Google bubble does not burst!
Unfortunately, all bubbles burst at one point or the other. The important question is, how will Google change the world before the inevitable burst happens. So far, Google has not changed the world, the way Microsoft or Intel-based computers have, although it is often touted that Google will will replace Microsoft, the way Microsoft replaced IBM.
Google's biggest service continues to be the search engine. The impact of all other tools and services they offer is much smaller in comparison.
IMO, Google should concentrate more on doing the "next big thing" - on par with or better than their search engine. The smaller applications are nice, but Google should not spend too much time or energy on those.
The question is, what could be this "next big thing". Unlimited wi-fi access around the world and the associated applications could be that big thing. That does have lifestyle altering potential.
We'll wait and see. Meanwhile, even this blog post is yet another mouthful of air which blows up the Google bubble!
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Hard Workers vs Smart Workers
Are you a hard worker or a smart worker?
Most of us know a few people who work long hours, who don't seem to have a life outside of work. It is fairly easy to see if a person is at his/her desk for 8 hours or 12 hours or 16 hours of the day. However, unless you are a very close teammate or the person's immediate supervisor, it is almost impossible to know what the person is actually getting accomplished in all those hours.
Is the person who is spending long hours at the desk, actually working hard or hardly working? Is s/he actually getting more stuff done in those extra hours? Or is s/he simply taking longer time to do something, which could be done in a much lesser time by a smarter person? In short, is he just a hard worker or a smart worker? There is a simple way to answer this question.
Before we go further, a disclaimer: What is written below is a generic statement which is applicable for a majority of people. As always, there are definitely unique individuals and special circumstances which are exceptions to the observations below.
I have often seen that people who are smart and organized in one aspect of life, are also smart and organized in other aspects of life. Similarly, the people who are not smart or are disorganized in one aspect of life, exhibit the same qualities in other aspects of life as well.
Note that when I say "smart", I am not talking about a person's knowledge. It is not possible for anyone to be experts in all aspects of life. When I say "smart", I mean the ability to quickly learn new stuff, the ability to apply the learnings in making useful choices or educated guesses, and equally important, the ability to recognize what one knows, what one doesn't know, and where to look for additional information/knowledge.
If a person exhibits one or more of the following qualities in personal life or in non-work aspects of life, it is a good bet that s/he is not a smart worker on the job, regardless of how much time s/he spends at the desk:
1. Flaky - Does not deliver on commitments; doesn't live upto expectations s/he has set explicitly or implicitly; is not dependable; is not punctual.
2. Sloppy - Disorganized with space and time; unclean person and surroundings; not able to find/remember things; forgets things, especially commitments.
3. Indecisive - Does not make an assertive choice or statement; is easily swayed/persuaded by others; takes a non-committal approach/attitude in negotiations or discussions.
4. Dumb - Is just dumb; no explanation required.
Most of us know a few people who work long hours, who don't seem to have a life outside of work. It is fairly easy to see if a person is at his/her desk for 8 hours or 12 hours or 16 hours of the day. However, unless you are a very close teammate or the person's immediate supervisor, it is almost impossible to know what the person is actually getting accomplished in all those hours.
Is the person who is spending long hours at the desk, actually working hard or hardly working? Is s/he actually getting more stuff done in those extra hours? Or is s/he simply taking longer time to do something, which could be done in a much lesser time by a smarter person? In short, is he just a hard worker or a smart worker? There is a simple way to answer this question.
Before we go further, a disclaimer: What is written below is a generic statement which is applicable for a majority of people. As always, there are definitely unique individuals and special circumstances which are exceptions to the observations below.
I have often seen that people who are smart and organized in one aspect of life, are also smart and organized in other aspects of life. Similarly, the people who are not smart or are disorganized in one aspect of life, exhibit the same qualities in other aspects of life as well.
Note that when I say "smart", I am not talking about a person's knowledge. It is not possible for anyone to be experts in all aspects of life. When I say "smart", I mean the ability to quickly learn new stuff, the ability to apply the learnings in making useful choices or educated guesses, and equally important, the ability to recognize what one knows, what one doesn't know, and where to look for additional information/knowledge.
If a person exhibits one or more of the following qualities in personal life or in non-work aspects of life, it is a good bet that s/he is not a smart worker on the job, regardless of how much time s/he spends at the desk:
1. Flaky - Does not deliver on commitments; doesn't live upto expectations s/he has set explicitly or implicitly; is not dependable; is not punctual.
2. Sloppy - Disorganized with space and time; unclean person and surroundings; not able to find/remember things; forgets things, especially commitments.
3. Indecisive - Does not make an assertive choice or statement; is easily swayed/persuaded by others; takes a non-committal approach/attitude in negotiations or discussions.
4. Dumb - Is just dumb; no explanation required.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
City of God - Movie Review
I just have to write about this authentic, gripping movie I saw recently, called City of God. It is one of those works which can be most appropriately described as a tour de force. It was an intense experience which left me drained and exhilarated by the time I finished watching it. The authentic realism of the movie was draining, the artistic cinematic quality of the movie was exhilarating.The movie is apparently based on a true story, set in a true place, a slum in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, a slum called "City of God". The tagline of the movie says, "Fight and you'll never survive... Run and you'll never escape". That pretty much sums up life in the slum. The story is about a couple of boys, who grow up to be barely men. One of them fights, and the other longs to run to a better life. Will the former survive? Will the latter escape? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.
The main focus of the movie is not about showing the struggles, the ugliness of the life in the slums. The main focus is to simply tell a great story. The struggles and the ugliness, the violence and the desperation are revealed in the context of the story. It is a gangster movie unlike any gangster movie you've seen before and will probably see again. The story is highly interesting and entertaining. It effortlessly captures our attention from beginning to end, keeping us wondering about what happens next.
When the movie starts, the protagonist of the story is one the verge of witnessing a street shootout between a drug-dealing gang and the police. Both sides have their guns drawn ready to fire (bottom half of the DVD cover picture shown above), and our guy finds himself planted right between them with nothing but his camera. Before we know what happens next, the story is narrated in a flashback, from the time when the main characters are boys, barely 7 years old, watching/participating in the life of petty crimes their brothers lead. The story follows them as they grow up (never seeming to cross 20 years of age), one of them becoming the most violent and feared drug dealer in the city, while the other struggles to keep himself out of trouble and follow his dream to be a photographer. The lives of the two boys are interwoven with each other, and with the lives of several others (most of them also boys) who come in, and go out or die, mostly die. The story is narrated with great skill, never losing or floundering the different narrative threads which are interwoven, always keeping them taut and just right. There are half a dozen or so separate narrative threads, each with it's own title. There are times when the same events are shown from different angles, as different threads come together and culminate at one point of time and space. The whole saga finally comes to a dramatic climax in a street shootout in broad daylight.
It is a movie about crime and violence among drug dealers. The story seems to happen in a different planet, a different reality because of how far removed the life depicted in the movie is from the kind of life most urban people in today's world know. I have seen science fiction movies which are more believable, which seem to be more in the realm of possibilities than some of the scenes in this movie. The violence is relentless and realistic from beginning to end. Some of the scenes are very disturbing and heart-rending. The movie shows kids who are not even into their teens doing drugs, dealing drugs, looting and shooting. The whole movie is indeed about kids, young and old. All the main characters never grow up to look (nor behave) like adults. That renders a sickly, tragic air to the whole drama. And despite the realism, it also makes the story hard to believe.
Yet, when I watched the special feature that came on the movie DVD, I realized that everything shown in the movie was all too real. The special feature is a 56-minute documentary made in the late 1990's, called "News from a Personal War", about the drug scene in the slums of Rio. The documentary starts by mentioning that a person dies in Rio every half an hour, and 90% of those deaths are due to violence! And then it goes on to show interviews with real people, involved in exactly the kind of life as shown in the movie. The documentary had interviews with kids who dealt drugs and killed people, families, policemen. It showed real police shootouts with the dealers and arrests. It went beyond what is impersonally reported in the news. It showed the personal face of the drug war, the personal perspective of every party involved. 56 minutes of crazy stuff!
City of God is a masterpiece of a movie, made mostly with amateur actors and the dialogs are supposedly in the authentic slum slang of Rio. The movie has received top reviews from all corners. This is not a movie to be missed.
City of God page on RottenTomatoes.com has links to all the reviews and movie info.
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