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By Ritwik Agrawal | August 12, 2009 4:38 am

Apple Iphone

I love the Apple Iphone. It is a device high on ease of use, features and style. It perfectly blends great looks with usability.

I have always wanted to own one of these beautiful devices. Now, after much cajoling and coaxing, I am in a position to buy an iphone and attain digital nirvana.

The problem: my present phone [a very battered Nokia] has all but died and I need to find a new cell phone soon. The latest model of the Iphone, the 3GS [S stands for speed] hasn’t been launched in India yet. The 3GS adds a lot of nifty features to what is an already great device.

Why exactly the 3GS is not in India escapes me, considering this is the second largest cell phone market in the world. Still, Apple has been hinting that the latest and greatest Iphone will hit these shores sometime this month.

You wouldn’t think so, given that their is zero publicity for the device, from either Airtel or Vodafone - the two companies which are allowed to sell Iphones in India.

Given that I (urgently) need to buy a new phone, and I want that phone to be an Iphone, I have two options – either buy the model currently available in the market [and run the risk of being outdated within a matter of days] or wait for a few more days and buy the 3GS as soon it hits the Indian market.

Having decided on option 2, I have been scouring the web for any news related to the imminent arrival of the 3GS. The Airtel and Vodafone websites have zilch. Apple promotes the 3GS on its India site but doesn’t talk of a release date. The web has failed me as a source of credible information.

Worry not, I tell myself, and start working the phones. “We don’t sell Iphones in India – contact vodafone or airtel”, the Apple dealer in Delhi informs me [somewhat rudely]. I get similarly pleas of ignorance from the two service providers.

Finally, I drag myself down to the large Vodafone store in CP.

Me: I wish to make inquiries about the Iphone

Clerk [must be some kind of "executive"]: keval inquiries, ya khareedna chahtein hain ? [do you just want to inquire, or are you interested in buying?]

Me: khareedna hai [I want to buy]

C: I have only 16 GB model available.

Me: 3GS ? (hopefully)

C: no, 3G

Me: When would 3GS be available ?

C: No idea.

Me: You have absolutely no clue ?

C: None (rudely)

Me: Look here, my phone is broken, I want to give you 30000 bucks for a new phone, the least you can do is share with me any information you might have on the iphone

C: It might take 3 months

Me: but apple has said it will come in august!

C: 3 months. You buy 3G

Me: What if I buy it and then next day 3GS becomes available, I would be wasting my money.

C: In any case, I sell blackberries [produces different blackberry models for my perusal]

Me: let’s see [halfheartedly, after all I had not gone to buy a bloody blackberry]

C: Iphone data transfer plans from Vodafone are very expensive (!!). You should go for blackberry

At this point, a terrible thing happens [even worse than not getting an Iphone] – the man sneezes. thrice. without the use of a handkerchief.

Needless to say, I beat a hasty retreat from the store.

Getting home, I pounced upon a bunch of Tulsi leaves – traditional wisdom suggests that tulsi is a miraculous remedy for all kinds of influenza. Well, I’d  choose tulsi over tamiflu anyday!

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By Ritwik Agrawal |

Why do I call searching a lost art ? Simply because I hardly hear anyone mention search anymore; everybody seems to be googling for information.

Michael Kordahi has developed an interesting tool called Blind Search

With Blind Search, a user enters a search query and sees three different set of search results, from Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft Bing – the catch is that the user is not shown which search engine is associated with a given set of results.

The idea is that a search engine’s effectiveness should be evaluated independent of reputation.

Use it – the results may be revealing for those who rely exclusively on Google for their search needs.

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By Ritwik Agrawal | July 26, 2009 9:02 pm

Impressed and alarmed by advances in artificial intelligence, a group of computer scientists is debating whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload, from waging war to chatting with customers on the phone.

Scientists worry that machines may outsmart humans

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By Ritwik Agrawal | July 5, 2009 2:40 am

Everyone knows that there exist people who make money off their blogs. They run these little “ads served by google” on their online pages and get paid every time someone clicks on one of these links. If one has many thousands (or even hundreds of thousands or more) readers, then these translate into a lot of clicks on ads. In the language of e-commerce, such clicks are called click-thrus. In the era of Web 2.0, blogging is a major industry.

But just how hard is it to convert your blog into a profitable venture?

The “business” of blogging comes with a very unique set of challenges, over and above the basic challenges that are to be faced by any entrepreneur.

When you sell a product,  you face the following fundamental challenges:

1. making a good product
2. promoting your product
3. providing strong after-sales support and service to make sure the consumer returns to you time and again, and also sends others your way through word-of-mouth.

Companies that manage to meet these challenges adequately over a period of time are generally successful, that is to say, profitable.

Now let us consider blogs. A blog owner has to inevitably be good at points 1 and 2.

(1) He has to create a good product – an interesting blog that preferably fills a niche in the market.
(2) He has to constantly promote his product (ie, his blog) on search engines, on sites like technorati, and through word of mouth.

Point (3) is not critical to blogs simply because no physical product is being sold. But a blogger does have to use good sources and generally be honest with his readers,respond to their comments and engage in discussion, otherwise his credibility would go up in smoke.

But, even a blogger excellent at handling what I call the “fundamental challenges” would struggle to monetize his blog. The problem is not strategy. The problem is content.

In terms of content, blogs are unique. A blogger has to literally think of fresh, interesting, slightly out of the ordinary stories practically every day to keep readers interested. He dreams up some idea, packages it in an attractive style and tone, maybe adds a dollop of sensationalism, and finally looks for a HOOK (maybe in the form of a smart title) to find an ever greater number of potential readers. A blogger gets no breaks; he does not have the luxury of waiting for moments of inspiration unlike musicians, artists or novelists.

A musician or a novelist can produce an album/book over the course of a long period of time, then sit back and relax and spend their royalty cheques as they recharge their batteries, till they hit the next jackpot idea. A blogger simply cannot afford that. 2 or 3 days of no activity on his blog and his readers will move on, taking the advertising dollars with them.

I know what you are thinking: journalism. Newspapers, news channels and websites survive on the basis of fresh content served everyday. So what’s unique about blogs?

Simply this: ever heard of a newspaper produced by a solitary journalist? Ever heard a news broadcast created day after day by a single person? There may be some blogs with multiple authors, but the vast majority of blogs are the personal musings of a solitary individual.

At a deeper level, newspapers can choose, and are generally encouraged, to be formulaic. Their basic function is very well defined: serve news. This function requires a lot of hard work, writing and editing, but not necessarily creativity. Blogging is different. You typically wouldn’t change your newspaper if it covers news adequately. On the other hand, you’ll never stick with a blogger who becomes formulaic, who fails to hit you with new, interesting, maybe bizarre events and commentary day after day.

You read newspapers because you want information, film reviews, gossip and a couple of editorials and analysis. On the other hand, from a blog you basically want entertainment. Or at the very least, information not provided by other sources. Familyhack is a great example of such a blog.

As I become a somewhat regular blogger, my respect for people like Seth Godin keeps rising; bloggers who make money are people who have the ability to produce exceptional content on a daily basis to keep us all entertained through our virtual wanderings.

Comments (1)

By Ritwik Agrawal | July 4, 2009 4:19 am

A user on Microsoft Answers discusses a matter of crucial importance:

I’ve noticed that as I copy data/install programs on my Laptop, the weight of the Laptop increases. I have a bad back and am medically limited on the amount of weight I can carry so I need to be very carefull not to inflict injury upon myself.

I have also noticed my XBox feels heavier as well (the more games I save or purchase from arcade). I generally don’t travel with my XBox so that is not an issue for me, but note the I am having the same results.

My ask, what is the weight/file ratio? So for example, how many GB’s = 6oz? I dread the day I need a dolly to commute to work with my Laptop.

Thanks in advance!

- K

It would be worthwhile to go through the long list of helpful replies

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By Ritwik Agrawal | July 1, 2009 6:22 pm

Very interesting story from BBC.co.uk:

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another.

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

read full post here