December 29, 2012

India: Out of Control

Inorganic Growth
There is a huge divide. Cultural. Economic. All the development is happening in A and B cities. Rest of the India remains poor and undeveloped. All the metro cities are already overloaded with capacity that their fragile infrastructure cannot handle. Why not just put a full stop and develop new cities. Would this not spread the development? Why choke these cities then?

A heterogeneous development also means mass migration. Such as from the  BIMARU states to cities like Mumbai and Delhi. What do you expect when a person who has been living in totally dark ages all of a sudden comes to live in the most advanced place (in the country). What kind of cultural shock is he supposed to get? Do you expect him/her to gel with the society?

Income Disparity
What is the minimum wage by law in India? I don't know. If there is any, I'm sure it's meager. A private security guard (usually seen everywhere, now-a-days) is paid arond Rs. 6k every month. In contrast, the lowest paying engineer will be paid Rs. 20k. The 20k+ population drives the cost of living up for everyone in the city. Rents go up. School Fee goes up. How would the 6k population ever afford it? There is no chance their quality of life would improve with such prevailing income disparity.

Lack of Recreation
How many cities of India have developed recreational avenues for its population. All we see are concrete jungles. For a healthy development of the society, it's important the people get opportunities to engage is constructive and recreational activities - such as cultural and sports. This would not only create employment but also allow people to do something other than twiddling their thumbs. There is a need to channel the latent energy which is present in every individual, in the right direction.

Job Guarantee
Why is the Govt Sector job synonymous with Job Security? Can anyone disagree that a very high percentage of Govt Officers flout the rules or just turn a blind eye to their violation. And this happens because there is no fear that they might lose their jobs.

Discretionary Privileges
Why should there be any discretionary privilege be given to any individual? Why can't every thing run by the rules. Equality before Law - wasn't that the Idea? It's the discretionary powers that breed corruption.

Slow motion Judiciary
Appoint more judges, all cases should be fast-tracked. Especially those related to Public Servants and Crime. It's not the punishment, it's a working justice system that acts as a deterrent.

Post of the President.
This post is a loss to the exchequer. Why the hell do we need a ceremonial head of state? Either turn to Presidential System or abolish it altogether. It's a huge waste of money.

Whips in the House
Why can't a representative cast a vote against the party line? If they have to follow the party line, we only need one representative from each party, not 543.

September 19, 2012

The Past and Future of Nokia

Symbian software in the quarter to end-June, more than the 4 million sales in Windows phones, even though it has launched only one Symbian handset in the last 12 months."
It's symbian which is paying Elop's salary. Now if that's not killing the golden goose then what is!

September 12, 2012

iPhone 5: First Impressions

The shortest review of the new iPhone 5.

  • Oddly rectangular with patented rounded corners.
  • Couldn't have been made wider. A wider body would risk a lighter grip. And if it falls, the screen too fragile to withstand any shock.
  • What's next, iPhone 6 with 5" body but the same width! Would you want it? No! Could it not have been bigger now?
  • Bluetooth not compatible with non-Apple devices. No NFC. No USB. 
  • No removable memory. Pay extra for the connector adapter, which comes for $30. Pay premium for all things Apple.  Accessories for Apple products are already a vast and lucrative business. In the last year, iPadiPod and iPhone add-ons, including speakers, cases and power chargers, generated $2 billion in sales in the United States alone, according to the NPD Group, a research firm. This year add another $1B which is coming from Samsung courtesy rounded corners.

January 21, 2012

Videocon Sucks

I was looking for a new TV but didn't want to spend much. So I decided to go for a CRT TV.
Now we have all grown up watching them, haven't we? Other than the "bulk", never faced any issues.

Got Videocon (model# VCS21SBB) delivered from the NEXT retail shop. Turned it on only to find that it can't keep lines straight!

To rule out any optical illusions that I might be having, it used a Test Card. It confirmed, as you can see below, that none of the lines are straight.

Not only that, you can also spot unusual darkening around lower left and lower right areas.

As expected, called Videocon customer service (or rather lack of it). A technician paid a visit. Concluded that "this is NORMAL and cannot be fixed because there is nothing to fix".

So if you have grown up watching CRT TVs, do you too think that it's normal? I don't for I have never seen such distortion in a CRT TV. I mean they have had Test Cards just for the very purpose, since time immemorial.

Mr Dhoot. and Company refused to acknowledge that there was indeed a problem and did not return any of my calls for service.

At this point, totally frustrated by their attitude, I had almost decided to go to the Consumer Forum. But something happened and I took the TV to the the retailer. I showed them the "problem" - they acknowledged but also put forward a "confessional argument" that all CRT TVs these days are just like that. It's unfortunate that they were RIGHT. I also observed the alignment issues on other CRT TV sets.

But I didn't go there to give up, so I asked them to give them a replacement, because
1. I did not want a TV which can't keep the picture straight and
2. I did not want a Videocon anymore.

Had to haggle for an hour or so, but finally I left the TV at the shop, and told them that I would come back in a few days and take another TV, which in no case would be from Videocon.

Went back and got a new Philips LCD this time. No questions asked.

Because I was able to get a replacement from the dealer, I am not going to sue Videocon anymore, but the least I can do is to spread the word.

Moral of the Story:
Never buy Videocon, not only their products are genetically defective, there corporate culture is also rotten.