Do you see the Media Companies?

I've been doing a bit of teaching for a while now and also a few sessions in office and I have an interesting observation about how people see certain organisations. I have for long maintained a point of view on Google and Facebook. Its starts with a fairly simple test - what kind of an organisation is Google? The most often repeated answer is "search engine", so then I push it a further - I said "Organisation" the brand Google maybe a "search engine" the organisation surely isn't, after various answers like "technology", "Software", "communication" I give them my answer. Google to me is a media organisation, their revenues stream in from "advertising" it is what funds their "technology". The develop faster search engines, more customization, maps,  a new OS for phones, a new phone, the glass and everything - so that they KNOW YOU better, that way the advertising and the content dished out to you is the MOST relevant content at that point. They develop media and newer media to know where you are, who is your friend and everything else for one sole purpose - advertising. Which is what enables google to keep, its blog, youtube, mail and everything else free. The same logic applies to facebook as well. They too are a media company infact quite apt - social media. Whatever these companies do, it is to generate more avenues of knowing an individual better to advertise better.Period.

do you have a garage?

Aloha! (thank you flickr for teaching me that numerous times)
What's with garages and businesses? I mean why does every "started small, made it big" organisation always have its roots in a garage? is there some kinda research to prove some symbiotic relationship between garages and business plans? Am still waiting for that story where someone started their business in their living room or kitchen or bedroom. Hasn't there been some awesomatic chef dude who started in the kitchen and that became his kitchen? no, i read a story again of a guy who started selling food from his garage and is now successful. Maybe we should stop saying "rags to riches" and start saying "garage to office".
I've read atleast 2 stories in the last 2 days of garage successes and that I called upon myself - just was curious to know the origins of afaqs.com and voila! there's another garage to office story.
This after knowing the stories of steve jobs and his garage, page/ brin and their garage, gates and his garage, dell (not sure) and other dudes who founded amazon, hp.... you get the drift. Agreed, america has huge ass garages - the size of my apartment probably, but India? even apartments that are just 10+ years old do not have parking, let alone a garage. Yet somehow the enterprising lot "found" their garage.
So you ask what's my gripe? well i didn't have a garage nor could afford to rent a house with a spare one. Lucky bastards with those empty garages. I now know where i went wrong with that entrepreneurial saga of mine - i should have started in the ever so "humble" garage.

blistering barnacles

I've lived the longest part of my life in Madras. More than a decade; and that too through my adrenaline pumped teens, college and my first job. I never really complained about the freaking heat here and was so accustomed to it, like it was normal.

Like most schools; we had what was called the "morning assembly", the stupid thing that it was, you had kids dropping like bowling pins thanks to the heat. Cricket in the summer heat during my school holidays was always the same - a bunch of skinny boys in over sized tees (or) banians (vest) screaming, sweating, panting and drenched completely with sweat. Burnt skin, not even a tan - was the sign of great endurance among the boys. Every guy back to school from the hols was probably 120 shades darker, and boy were we proud of it, it made us feel manly, like you've passed through the training sessions of SEAL team 6.

I look back today and wonder, WTF, was I insane? were the rest of us insane? cycling and playing this this heat of 42 degrees?! I blame the Brits, I think they had summer holidays during this time of the year - when you could probably go out in England - it was warm and pleasant and not freakin chilly.

I just stayed for barely 2 years in Bangalore and now i am back in Madras., after Bangalore, my tolerance for this weather has just vanished. So while Mumbai is being lashed with heavy rains, I stare into the blistering sky with a heavy heart, hoping it bloody rains.

what's with the world?

is it just me or is it the media? i suddenly seem to be finding unrest everywhere. I laughed it out when I saw 2012 in the theatres. Now every country seems to be going through some major turnmoil - egypt went theu one, then libya, suddenly bahrain, a natural calamity leading to disaster after disaster in Japan, scams each bigger that the previous ones in India. Oh yeah, stupid TN politics with vijaykanth and vadivel reprising comic roles. We win the world cup, only to be given away by sharad pawar?! the cup is touted to be a replica :D . Afridi and his morose comments that barely deserve the attention they get. Times Now going gaga over anything and everything, I specifically hated that freaking annoying title during the world cup - "burning question" written with flames, couldn't get more literal. Ditto for this annoying crap where everything is "breaking news" thank god they didn't show something break!

This besides Arnab Goswami's face and other stuff that dominate the headlines. I think he needs new glasses or some surgery. Am seriously tired of Goswamis face and it goes without saying Barkha's too, but then its been ages since I watched NDTV regularly.

The US as usual poking and its annoying nose in the name of "upholding liberty" everything possible covered by BBC, while the channel seems to care a damn about the ICC world cup. And then they say up north in India tremors to the order of 5.5 were felt today. Maybe I should take check off the bucket list quickly, which includes punching a few assholes in various places I cannot mention and that long pending road trip.

See you at the other side.

Made in Japan

This post is dedicated to the Japanese, among the other million that are on a daily basis.

I started to hear about Japan from a very young age. Examples about the Japanese and their products were seemingly endless. While I lived in the gulf, and when we bought any product with the label "Made in Japan" it always drew the oohs, aahs and compliments from guests.

As a child, my mum's most often cited and repeated example about working hard were the Japanese. Her story usually goes like this - "in Japan when workers want to go on a strike, they produce excessive stock, whereas everywhere else in the world they stop working" - this was her effort to make me finish homework, study and do my daily chores, while I always argued on how I could do extra chores and homework. This was besides the stories of the World War, where also I got to know about the kamikaze's, the US nuking em and finally their resilience in building their nation back after a nuclear catastrophe and selling their products globally and conquering markets in the very same country that nuked ‘em. They basically got the Toyota’s, Honda’s and Sony's sitting in every American home.

I don’t think I’ve met any Jap in my adult life and don't recollect meeting one also, but have been in awe of them. They managed to miniaturize every goddamn thing, make it more efficient and create engineering marvels. Today, the nation stands on the brink of nuclear catastrophe 65 years later, am sure they’ll bounce back before anyone knew what happened with that little tag floating on everything "made in japan".

dear mr. prime minister,

I watched the news today, over lunch with disgust. I hoped to hear you take some stance.

Am not the guy who followed your illustrious political career, or was in awe of your economic policies or anything of that sort, but before you took oath as the PM, I always respected you - as many influencers (including my grandfather) during my impressionable age told me that you were brilliant finance person.

Your proclamation that you are not a "lame duck PM" did anything but cement that your name. Everything you said did prove just that. Your defense on the 2G scam and accusations against Raja - that he got the telecom berth was due to lobbying by Karunanidhi? coalition dharma? coalition compromises? Is that all you had? Had you spent some time kicking out these guys rather than coin new political jargons I would have been pleased.

"In coalition politics you have to make COMPROMISES" I understand that you are person who holds no grudges or isn't one bit prejudiced to not allot the telecom ministry to Raja, but i do presume you hold the single most powerful title of the largest democracy in the world "PRIME minister" so give him the ministry, but isn't it your job to ensure he does his job righteously ? I hope thats a part of your JD. So, the finance minister and telecom decided the price and lead the govt. to losses in crores, and your retort is that you could not control who took what ministry? With due fairness, maybe that is the compromise you need to make in coalition politics - who gets what ministry - and thats the end of it. After that, you are Mr.PM responsible to uphold the ethics of your cabinet - whoever bought out what ministry is irrespective. You had to say you did not have the "AUTHORITY" to object to raja in the cabinet? but you did have the "AUTHORITY" to object to his functioning? Your stance that you are clean DOES NOT absolve you of your responsibilities as the PM. There is NO COMPROMISE on that.

While you can say that you are "not the culprit" you've been made out to be, you've failed to stop the culprits or even acknowledge it or do anything about it. This is like the random guy who stands across and watches another guy on a suicidal mission and says "hey am not party to this, I didn't lead him to suicide! someone else did, why blame me?". This is the moral police who were busy on valentines chasing couples and not catching culprits. We aren't asking if you are clean Mr. Minister or your questioning your Morals or if you are an honest and good man. We all believed till now that you are a nice man, but we don't need just a nice man, we need a tough one. All we want to know is what were you doing when things were falling apart? I am disappointed, so is the nation. Your financial acumen and economic reform, where have they gone? inflation is eating into our stomachs and your ministers eat into our coffers and sap the nation of any shred of honour - the CWG has demonstrated that quite very well.

You just indirectly blame the DMK and you merely "trusted your cabinet". Is that all you could manage to come up with? And you should applaud the DMK family on controlling everything from the media to movies and presenting only what they feel politically serves their purpose or to create a distraction.

What was that on the devas scam? I hope you understand what it means when you license out a spectrum that was not intended for licensing. I have often heard the term "threat to national security" - all that you can say was that the PMO was not involved?

The Radia tapes? and the CWG?

Seriously rather than having a press conf. proclaiming you are no "lame duck PM", earn it.
Pull up your socks, clean the basket - too many rotten eggs.

regards,

one more concerned citizen

facebook, advertising and brand custodians

Today morning the first page that I opened was facebook. Its always been gmail and before that, it was google.

In many ways facebook has changed my life. Not that it was the first social network that i've been or that I've found most of my friends and added them compared to any other network (vice versa) and never give a damn, probably don't even drop a hi.

But being in advertising here's how;

Over a period of time Facebook has evolved from a social network to a brand network - it is more of a business tool (social MEDIA) than a social network that it was. Facebook pages now function as websites for brands and draw way more hits and responses online than the websites of any brand ever did.

Like most websites and networks FB uses data - about you, me, our friends to understand us and send us targeted advertising. So its just another website that uses analytics, data mining and a whole of other jargon to send you relevant ads, for which they charge respective clients on a CPC or CPI/CPM models or find any new fancy pants way to charge them.

And while they do this, they get amazing FREE advertising worth billions of dollars across almost every damn media vehicle. Their self-promotion is completely through other brands who use their services.

Every brand has a tagline "join us on facebook.com/xxxxxxxx" this being blared in radio, in TV shows, print ads, hoardings, posters, websites, on t-shirts and generally anywhere anyone finds place be it even your or my ass. And most of brands now want to flash their "facebook badge" and page id, bigger than ever, maybe even bigger than their own logo.

Mark Zuckerberg, you are a fucking genius. You get free advertising from brand managers. You get the same brand managers to pay to use your service. You also get them to plaster your logo across everywhere.