The digital divide

One the one side we have the digital haves with their ipads, iphones and wearable technologies. On the other side we have the digital have not’s in many parts of the world like Africa, India, China, and Latin America who are struggling for the basic necessities of life like food, clothing and shelter. In most of the countries less than 10% of the population own most of the wealth while most of the remaining population struggle with a tough daily existence. We are told that this gap will widen further with people who have access to digital technologies having more opportunities to improve their standard of living compared to those that don’t.

It is refreshing to hear about success stories like M-Pesa (Mobile money transfer and payments), Grameen Bank (Micro Lending) and about the potential fortune to be made at the bottom of the Pyramid (C K Prahalad). The bottom of the pyramid consist of 4 billion potential consumers waiting for products and services like M Pesa and Grameen Bank. They aspire to a better standard of living same as any anyone else.

As we have seen from many of the case studies on internet companies like Google, Facebook they have been able to make money on the internet only by doing innovative things like using two sided markets (one side gets products and services for free while the other side pays), Freemium model (you give the product or service for free till you get enough customers on your platform, then you charge a nominal price to make money). Many of these innovations can be very relevant to create business models that are viable and sustainable in Bottom of the Pyramid markets.

I personally hope that digital technologies even though they may increase the gap between the digital haves and have not’s, can at the same time help us to create a world where every person on the planet has access to the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. This can only happen with more and more innovations at the Bottom of the Pyramid. If we can have an innovative encyclopedia like Wikipedia which has defied all economic theory and which is growing and thriving on voluntary contributions from its users, we can all be optimistic about our digital future.

How to make money on the internet?

Whether is it music, movies, books or newspapers the underlying theme of all these industries is “Content is King”. The delivery medium may change over time in these industries, but one thing that will always remain constant is the demand for quality content and creative content providers.

If you still don’t believe content is king, then read the article below by Bill Gates who predicted in 1996 when we were still using dial up modems that made those shrill, weird sounds when we connected to the internet. This is when downloads were at bullock cart speed compared to today’s lightning fast broadband downloads. The article starts with a prophetic statement “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.”

http://www.craigbailey.net/content-is-king-by-bill-gates/

What I find interesting though is that even though Bill Gates had this vision in 1996 and strongly believed in it, Microsoft was not able to monetize this vision. It was companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook that were able to monetize on this vision much better than Microsoft. It took a few years for each of these companies to figure out how to make money on the internet.

The main lesson here is that just having vision and predictive powers is not enough. You need to constantly be on the lookout on how to deliver quality content and value to your consumers in a way that they are more than happy to pay for it. This is no easy task as I learnt from my EMBA classes that the marginal cost of delivering content on the internet is close to zero and hence people expect most content to be either free or at a very nominal price.

That is the reason that you will see that while companies in most other industries focus on margins, the companies that make their money on the internet focus on market share and growing the market share at a rapid pace either organically or through mergers and acquisitions. Whether it is Facebook, Google or Amazon most of these companies hardly made any profits in their early days. It is all about becoming the number one player in your space. When you have your customers locked into your platform even if you make very low profits from each customer, the high volume more than makes up for the low margins.

Everybody has been wondering about the 19 Billion USD acquisition price for WhatsApp. When Facebook acquired WhatsApp there were 400 million users on WhatsApp. In one year the number of users have gone from 400 million to 600 million. Facebook already has 1.23 billion active users. So once WhatsApp gets more integrated into the Facebook platform, it can easily have 1 billion users. Even if you charge one dollar per user, that is one billion dollars in revenue. And as we have already learnt, the marginal cost of every additional user is zero. So you do the math in terms of what the profits will look like.

So in summary quality content and high market share are the 2 most important things for making money on the internet. You need to manage your cash flows very tightly till you have enough market share and are able to start monetizing that market share.

The future of Search

Google has become synonymous with Search. “To google” has become a verb. So when anyone raises the question will Microsoft or any other company be able to beat Google in search, most people say it’s highly unlikely.

But it was not so long ago when Xerox had a similar reputation in the photo copying world. Kodak in the world of cameras. There are very few companies who have remained dominant in the information technology industry for more than 20 years.

Based on the history of disruptive innovation in the information technology industry, Google will most probably be disrupted by some company that is as yet unknown and flying below the radar. A company that can leverage nano technology, information technology and biotechnology. Such a company will have the necessary skills and knowledge to create human + machine interfaces which can allow the human brain to seamlessly connect to all the knowledge and information stored in the cloud.

Hollywood has been very good at creating movies which depict possible technologies of the future. One such movie that anyone interested in technology should watch is “The Matrix”. In this movie there is a scene where the hero Neo asks the heroine Trinity if she can fly a helicopter. She says not yet. Then she asks for an instant download of instructions to fly the helicopter directly to her brain. She gets the download in a matter of 5 seconds and then flies the helicopter.

Check the link below to see this particular scene to get a feel of the kind of possible technology I am talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AOpomu9V6Q

This is the kind of search and knowledge acquisition technology that may very well be possible in the next 20 years. The company that comes up with this kind of technology will be the one that will replace Google.

Google’s mission is “Organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful”.

The company that will disrupt Google will connect your brain directly to the information that is organized by Google.

If you are interested in transformation through technology below is a link to a Ted talk by Ray Kurzweil who is a technology thought leader that I respect and have been following for some time.  You many find this interesting.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us#

The Digital Nation

Every person on the planet who has access to the internet can become a global citizen today. Facebook has been able to achieve in a span of 10 years what politics and business could not achieve for hundreds of years. All you need is one user id and password and you become a citizen of this Digital Nation called Facebook which has 1.23 billion active citizens as of today. Only China (1.35 billion) and India (1.25 billion) have more citizens than Facebook. It has helped us overcome time and space and connect to people on the planet in real time. Just imagine the potential of what Facebook could achieve in the next 10 years compared to what it has been able to achieve in the past 10 years.

Now that I have shown you the dream, here is a reality check on Facebook. Below are 2 major roadblocks because of which many people don’t want to be part of this digital nation or even if they are part of this nation they are very passive and not active citizens.

1. People share all kinds of crap on Facebook. So instead of becoming a place where people can improve the quality of their lives and communities by sharing good quality information and knowledge you see people following their own agendas and polluting the digital nation with garbage which turns many people off.
2. Privacy is a very big concern, as there have been many cases where a lot of private information that people would not like to share becomes public knowledge because they have accepted all the default privacy settings that Facebook has.

Below are 2 points Facebook and its digital citizens need to keep in mind if they want to realize their full potential to be the best nation in the world.

1. To quote Spiderman’s uncle Ben “With great power comes great responsibility”. Facebook needs to put in a lot of efforts to make sure it does not become an arrogant bully and big brother who does not care about its citizens.
2. When all is said and done a nation is as good as its citizens. In fact every nation in the end reflects the quality of its citizens. That is why at least in a democratic system, you get the government you deserve.

I sincerely hope that Facebook can achieve its full potential, so that every person on the planet would want to be an active citizen of this digital nation.

Paul sings Nessun Dorma

Classic example of don't judge a book by it's cover.

DASVIDANIYA

Dasvidaniya means Goodbye in Russian. I am referring to the Bollywood movie by the same name which was released in 2008. I just happened to see it today. It's spooky that I happened to see this film on my 36th birthday. This is one of the best movies I have seen this year. Its about a 37 year old guy who comes to know that he only has a few months to live. It alters his complete perspective on life and he lives the last few months of his life doing all the things that he ever wanted to do in life but was too afraid to do.

I think as we live our daily lives, every now and then we should pause and reflect to make sure we are spending time on the right things. We should keep asking ourselves, if we were to die soon would we still be spending time doing what we are doing right now?

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who reflects on life. Even if you do not understand Hindi, the DVD comes with English subtitles.  Do check it out.

45 Lessons from Life - By Regina Brett

Today I completed 36 years of my life. And I thought I should publish something on my blog on this day. My dear friend Arun Pinto who sends me some of the best emails on life and philosophy sent me this really nice email just in time on my birthday. I think this is worth sharing with anyone who  cares to read my blog and to think, what life is all about. So here goes.

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

 "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

 My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

 2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

 3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

 4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

 5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

 9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

 10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

 12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

 13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

 14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

 15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

 16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

 17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

 18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

 20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

 22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

 24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

 25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

 27. Always choose life.

 28. Forgive everyone everything.

 29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

 31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

 32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

 33. Believe in miracles.

 34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

 35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

 36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

 37. Your children get only one childhood.

 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

 39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

 40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

 42. The best is yet to come...

 43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

 44. Yield.

 45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
 

Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset | Video on TED.com

Hans Rosling: Let my dataset change your mindset | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Data Quality & Critical Decisions

I was very influenced by one quote that I read from Narayan Murthy (founder of Infosys) which goes as follows: “In god we trust. Everybody else has to bring data.” I think this is true for all individuals, organizations and nations. All the critical decisions in the life of an individual, organization or nation should always be based on hard data.

That brings me to the next question. How good is the quality of data on various subjects as of today?

Since information technology came into the picture, the quantity and quality of data has been improving at a rapid pace. But we still have a long way to go. Unless we have standardized data formats for all the critical data elements, we can never get accurate data from all data sources. It is very important that data from various data sources can be complied in a single data warehouse, so that it can be summarized, sorted, filtered in a way that helps us get accurate information which helps in making the right decisions.

I still see that when two partners in a supply chain try to share data, it is not yet plug & play technology. It takes quite a bit of time and cost to achieve seamless integration between two systems and two partners in a supply chain. Unless we are able to achieve plug & play integration between various entities that participate in the global economy, we will struggle with good data which can help to take the right decisions when it comes to critical policy matters in the fields of health, education, business, economics and politics. This has major implications for the future of our planet.

The use of XML standards for standardization and sharing data is a great start and all of us need to play our part in making sure that we help to standardize any and every kind of data that can be standardized.

While security and privacy of data are legitimate concerns and a lot of attention has been given to these points recently, I see that many people have not yet realized the potential of data format standardization, so that data can become actionable information which could help us avoid costly mistakes on critical policy matters.

These are some thoughts that I had on a leisurely Sunday morning which I thought worth sharing with you. Do let me know your thoughts on this topic.

Slumdog Millonaire

Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Mumbai, this was one movie that I was not going to miss. I wanted to see for myself why this movie was getting so much attention worldwide.

First thing that struck me is that it really takes an outsider to give you a brutally honest perspective of life in your own city. We are all so busy living our daily lives, that most of us never pause and have a real hard look at whats going on around us. Most of us who have lived in Mumbai for many years, have become numb to the poverty and depravation that we see all around us.

The first half of the movie had so much of the reality of Mumbai in terms of the dirt and squalor, I could not believe my eyes. It was absolutely shocking. It was like I was watching it for the first time, even though I had seen it so many times while travelling all over the city. The first thing that came to my mind is that this movie is really going to ruin India's image as an emerging economic superpower. I felt a sense of shame that we had some of the most brilliant minds in the country doing cutting edge technology work and solving complex problems all over the globe, while one of India's major metros is filled with so much crime, corruption, poverty and grief.

The movie is filled with optimism and hope admist a lot of pain and sadness. Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel) the leading character in the movie goes on to win a large sum of money by answering questions on the Indian version of "Who wants to be a millionaire?" based on experiences he has had in his life. The movie covers a lot of different emotions. Each question on the game show is intricately linked to the leading characters horrific life experiences, which help him to answer all the questions correctly. The movie has all the elements of classic Bollywood style film making while at the same time giving it a very strong outsiders perspective.

I loved the movie. I thought it was great direction by Danny Boyle, fantastic cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle. The entire cast has done a very good job of acting their part.

I hope that just like Danny Boyle had made this movie showcasing how the poor live in Mumbai, I hope he makes a movie that showcases the dreams and aspirations of the middle class and how they live in this same city which is known as the "Maximum city".

Singapore Food courts

One of the best things I like about Singapore is the variety of food available in every nook and corner. Since most of the families are made up of working couples, one of the big problems is to come back home after a tiring days work and then cook for the family. Singapore has solved this problem by setting up food courts in every neighborhood. A food court is made up of stalls setup by individuals or families who make a decent living by serving delicious food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each stall is normally dedicated to a particular type of cuisine. So in a food court you will find, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai and many other nationalities represented. The hygiene at most food courts is pretty good and they offer value for money meals. You will also find dedicated stalls for various kinds of beverages and desserts. So you can pick and choose what you want to eat or drink. I don’t think you will find so many varieties of food under one roof in many other countries.

The Apple Macbook

After listening to and reading lots of reviews about Apple Products on the Net, I finally decided to check out for myself, what is it that makes Apple report profits while most other companies worldwide are reporting huge losses and laying off people in the middle on this huge global recession.

So I got my first Mac book. Its the aluminum 13 inch one. Since I work in the Information Technology industry, I have always been interested in understanding how to make products and services intuitive and easy to use while hiding all the complexity in the background. And after using the Mac book for the first 2 weeks I have come to love Apple for the following:

1) Beautiful Design
2) Fast, Intuitive software and hardware
3) All the technological complexity is hidden from the User


I have also been using the Ipod for the past 5 years. One word describes it best. And that word is "Simplicity". I am definitely getting a feeling that by end of 2009, I am going to be a hardcore Apple fan. Maybe I already am one.

Any of you who are thinking of getting a new laptop, do check out the Macbook as one of the possible options. For people who are not very techno savvy, getting used to the Mac book may take 2 to 4 weeks. But I would definitely recommend investing this time in learning how the Mac works. It will be time well spent.

Cause of Human Unhappiness

All of human unhappiness comes from one single thing: not knowing how to remain at rest in a room. - Blaise Pascal

Key to Happiness - Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts. - Marcus Aurelius

The Greatest Investors: John Templeton

The Greatest Investors: John Templeton: "'Rejecting technical analysis as a method for investing, Templeton says, 'You must be a fundamentalist to be really successful in the market.'

'Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.'

'If you want to have a better performance than the crowd, you must do things differently from the crowd.'
'When asked about living and working in the Bahamas during his management of the Templeton Group, Templeton replied, 'I've found my results for investment clients were far better here than when I had my office in 30 Rockefeller Plaza. When you're in Manhattan, it's much more difficult to go opposite the crowd.'"

Courage under Fire

This is one of the best movies depicting the meaning of true leadership. Absolutely mind blowing performance by Denzel Washington. When you watch him on screen, you can feel the emotions that he is going through. Must watch movie for all would be leaders in any field. Its been quite a while since "Braveheart" that I saw a movie that depicted Leadership in such a powerful way.

P.S. I Love You

This is one of the most romantic movies I have seen in recent times. It touched me very deeply. This is the kind of movie that puts your life into perspective and pulls at your heart strings. For most of us we do not realize the importance of something till we loose it. We take many things in life for granted. And its more so when it comes to relationships. And it takes a very strong life altering experience to really make us understand what are the most important things in life.

I think along with Health and Wealth, it is very important to have people in your life with whom you can be yourself. With whom you can be totally honest and share anything and everything. For most people this person will be your spouse. For some it might be a best friend or relative. When you have such a person whom you can trust and who brings happiness to your life, make sure that you don't take it for granted. Do your bit to nurture and nourish that relationship and not waste too much time in fighting and arguing over petty things.

Life is too short and it goes by in the blink of an eye. We should make the most of it by investing our time wisely in realtionships which contribute to a happy life. And when we are ready to die, we should be able to confidently say that we have no regrets.

All the above thoughts were trigerred by the movie "P.S. I Love You" which I just saw. I would recommend this movie to all of you. Watch it once and let me know how it made you feel.

Random musings on Travel, Politics and Economics

I think after travelling a bit I have finally started understanding why it is important to travel the world while you are young. Since I work in the Information Technology industry I had the good fortune of visiting countries like USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Belgium, India.

Travel really is one of the best education a person can have. It is one of the best ways to have fun and learn at the same time. It gives you the oppurtunity to learn the best things that different cultures have to offer. It also gives you a good idea of why some countries offer a better quality of life to their citizens than others. Travel gives you the oppurtunity to see for yourself which Political, Economic and Business Models work well in practice and which ones look good on paper, but when it comes to implementation, fail miserably.

So I guess if you want to improve the quality of your own life and have ambitions of improving the quality of life for the citizens of your own country, make it a point to travel to some of the countries who have already done some good work in the areas where you want improvement.

I spent the first 20 years of my life in Mumbai, India where the biggest challenge was infrastructure and cleanliness. So when I travelled to the US I was very impressed by the Highways that connect the different States within the US from the East Coast to the West Coast. When I lived in Singapore, I was very impressed by the Public transportation system which connected all of Singapore using the Metro and Bus services.

I sometimes wonder, if we have some of the best brains in the world who are doing cutting edge work in various disciplines, why are we not able to improve conditions back in our home country. I personally feel that the political system has degraded drastically since independence and the rampant corruption has made it difficult for honest people to really make a difference. But on a positive note I also believe that the change in economic policy unleased in 1991 by Dr. Manmohan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao is finally beginning to make a difference. There are more oppurtunities for the next generation of young Indians to really compete in the Global markets and contribute not only to the Indian Economy but to the Global Economy.

I hope that by 2020 more and more Indians feel that India offers a quality of life that is better than or at least at par with some of the best countries in the world today.

Eccentricities

"Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you grow old, people won't think you are going ga-ga." - David Ogilvy