My Take on Apple (contd)

I am just continuing here from my previous blog

Just the other day, I was wondering what does Apple Signifies. For me personally, it means Steve Jobs. I idolize that guy. He is one man who has had dreams, vision and all his life, has stood by them. He has made revolutionary products. and made them a hit!

But for a consumer, Apple mostly means being a trend-setter, and in some cases, exclusive. True, some of apple products like iPod Nano are quite frequently seen. But one cannot deny the innovation behind each apple product.

But often, we mistake Apple to be high-quality. Steve Jobs in his latest interview again reiterated that fact, while he was dealing with the bugs in iPhone 4.

Now getting to the main point, Apple for me is more of a Marketing Company than a product company. It has been clear on its positioning for a long time. And everything it does, is around that. That positioning I believe is "Exclusive" and "Snobbish"

If you have a iPhone or iPad or Macbook, you always show it off! (I even showoff my iPod a lot, but thats besides the point.). If you have Apple product, you shop at itunes store, you buy original of everything, you are decent with money, and hence every right to be "Exclusive" and "Snobbish"

(And this is why, I believe Apple goes for only one operator. It, at certain level maintains the Exclusivity and Snobbishness)

And I believe that there will always be space for such products. The upper middle class will want that brand. These people cant afford a BMW to flaunt. But they can always afford a Macbook. Open it at Airport just to play Minesweeper. Take out their iPhone to click away the world!  Bring out iPod Touch and scroll thro songs while making faces as if you are enjoying every bit of it! Even if it comes at a cost. You cant show-off an Android based phone when some of them are available for 5-10 k rupees

And that is why Apple is so insistent on designs. All the versions of iPhone have to look the same. Why unnecessarily strain mind of people making them recall every new design as Nokia does. Keep it simple. If you see something sleek with a long screen and half eaten apple at back, its an iPhone.. If a laptop is having white glow from a half eaten apple from its back, its a Macbook. Simple.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black" is what Henry Ford said while mass customization of cars. Steve Jobs is saying something similar to bring exclusivity.

He is definitely a Marketing Genius to me!

My Take on Apple

I was just going through this piece from ibnlive

TOP 10 cool things about Android

Like any other article, this just talks from the application user perspective. Yes, as user, we dont like censorship. We dont like to pay for everything. We like many more choices.

But I have hardly seen any article talk from Developers perspective. In apple store, you can not do piracy. And piracy is the biggest deterrent for any quality application. Every one wants revenue for their hard work. and that is what Apple gives developers.

And this is where strength of Apple Lies. Every quality developer would rather work on IOS Platform. (assuming Apple has considerable market). And Apple Users will get quality, licensed products

Another Advantage is that the cost for license will be much less... you can still see a lot of good apps for as less as $3 on Apple Store. This happens because the number of people buying it is much more.. Application development is more of Fixed Cost... Thus, greater the number of people buying an apps, lower the cost is..

There are drawbacks with Apple too... Like Operator dependence. I dont know the reason Steve Jobs has behind this, but there should certainly be a good one.

Then there is this question of choices. But look at the current offerings. We have iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac, Macbook.. (iPod, iPhone and iPad are truely pathbreaking..) we can easily expect 5 more within next 10 years from Apple. So that would definitely remove the question of choices. And with products like iPhone 3Gs currently @ $99, cost wont be that huge an issue.

Hence I do believe that in Products Market, and Net based Applications, Apple still has a lot to offer. We should not declare Google as the winner just yet!

More on Market of Apple in coming blog

One in the Million!

Dedicated to Atty!! A considerable part here is from a msg u sent! 
And Frooty... My lovely little sister! :)

I saw sand turn to castle
Back of hand change a tussle

Destiny written on the face of palm
A simple answer for all our qualms!

I have seen people change their fate
Felt love turn into hate

Known People look younger with age
and a crab stuck in an open cage


I have seen princesses fall for a toad
People owning half the town hit the road..


Met People devasted inside but outside funny
Seen Love Sold out for Money

I have seen victory come out of unexpected
Defected striving for being perfected

Some just hide the signs.. but everyone cries
For Gold in Fire, Time never flies

For world, you are a speck in billion
but for some, you are one in million!!

Mission in Life

Dedicated to all Sensible Men, equally harassed by fake football fans and Twilight!!!

Of Late, I have just two missions in my life!!

1. Finding a girl who absolutely hates Twilight and Edward

2. Finding a girl who loves football for the Game and NOT for the Players!!!

and ofcourse, once I discover she is pretty, My ULTIMATE mission is to pataofy her!!!

wonder if Mayati Langer likes Twilight!!!

Hamara Bajaj

This is more of my thoughts than a proper blog... Not very well thought of.. just something i wrote to pass my time

Recently Bajaj was on top of many marketing blogs... which reminded me of this age-old ad..



Where as, few months ago, Bajaj came up with this one..



This is a very significant shift over the years in the marketing strategy of Bajaj, and it can be traced step by step.. Pulsar has over 50% market share in premium segment, and Discover has 20% in the 100-125 cc segment, eventhough priced slightly higher than splendor..

Over last few years, Pulsar has been the icon of Bajaj auto. So much that the hits on "Pulsar" on google exceeded that of "Bajaj Pulsar". Thus Bajaj had decided to drop the name "Bajaj" from Pulsar (some 6 months back) and is due to do the same for Discover shortly... Other two-wheelers will have the "Bajaj" label though...

M not a genius enough to comment on that... Analysis of this step can only be done in hindsight.. But I cant help but feel that this is done to save the most selling product Bajaj has produced

With Mahindra entering last year in this market, it is becoming imperative for Bajaj to safeguard its stronghold in three-wheeler market. Recent years have seen extensive usage of auto-rickshaws... We can always expect other giants like Tata or Hero Honda to enter this market, but maybe under different name...

Maybe Bajaj will go back to its traditional branding.... That still remains to be seen..

Football, Cricket and us

Dedicated to Fifa (the game).. I would be absolutely jobless without it!!! :D

Just the other day, I was wondering what makes football that is today.. And what makes cricket what it is. Luckily for me, from my balcony, I was watching 7-8 kids playing "tag" with the football. Some of the tricks they were doing were quite brilliant.

It reminded me of my childhood days when each evening, 4 30 to 6 30 was dedicated to cricket (3 matches of 8 over each) and 1 hour for discussion and bitching on other players... And the kind of hype around the games.. The post of "pellu" was the most coveted one. The best batsman had the coolest group (should mention Rudresh Bagchi here!). A member of school team was extremely revered!! I still remember how my entire school lunch sessions were spent watching class VIII bhaiyas play while I joined the group with other class V, VI to watch it.. hoping one day I will be on that pitch..

This hype makes Sachin the brand he is today.. Dhoni the icon he is.. This is what makes us idolize Ganguly when he guides India to World Cup Near Success in 2003 and curse him when he scores straight ducks...

It is this kind of passion that makes Indian Cricket team one of the best in world stage. And this is the kind of passion needed to see India in World Stage of Football... We need to encourage kids to run around that ball for hour and half, then stop and analyze themselves...

But therein lies the major problem.. We Indians, are inherently very LAZY... no offenses meant.. But we prefer keeping the wickets than to field on the boundary.. We prefer coming down one floor by lift rather than stairs.. We prefer to cross the tracks than take over-bridge..

And I believe that this very mentality has lead to India's less than impressive performance in world of sports.. For us, jogging is always an exercise and not a recreation.. Swimming a way to keep ourselves fit than to clear your mind..

And this is where parents come in.. It is how they behave in front of kids that molds them.. Mother's hatred to anything involving friends, Dad's curfew of reaching home before him.. This is what needs to be changed... Otherwise Football will just remain four-year passion for us...

Milenge Milenge

Dedicated to Pooh... wrote while talking to u!

Nopes... i havent seen the movie... i mean, it had Himesh's song in its promos!!! definite signaling of wats in store!!! there is also another reason of it NOT releasing in Trivandrum.... But again, contrary to what most of my friends think, i do NOT watch each and every movie!!! :|

I always thought Shahid as a good actor.... but his last few movies including Pathshaala, have left me horribly disappointed... As for Kareena, Jab we met was the only bright spot... she did look hot in a few... but well, we have priyanka, shilpa, bipasha... wrong market... she looked gud in Punjabi type role.... but sadly, now Deepika has firm control over that!!

BTW.. this is kind of random... just blabbering... :D

Almost missed

had a really happening trip to mumbai... had my flight at 1110... was meeting my sister at Mithibai.... then around 1010, i realized i misplaced my
ticket print out.... rushed and took one around that place... after finding a taxi who wheedled 150 bucks out of me!!! :(

somehow reached airport wid 20 mins to dept time... 30 mins before dept, they close the window... went to the main reporting officer or some1.. he got me boarding pass... then proceeded to security check/...

across security check saw my luggage, found my laptop missing... then realized some1 else had a similar bag, and mistook mine as his... airport authorities were not able to trace him... somehow, 15 min later,he realized bag was not his... (meantime, HDFC bank insisted i bought a health insurance) He came and returned to me!!
that had my laptop, hdd, passport and so many other things!

and all this, after i had slept just for 2 hrs!! (3 to 5). (world cup finals!!).. Slept the whole way... even though it was Kingfisher Red!!