Santosh Maharshi’s Blog on the users of the screen - Screensumer & Screensumerism

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I asked this question on linkedin and got couple of interesting and reflective answers on touch, voice, holograms and even brain controlled phones in the future. As this blog is called screensumer, I did some search on the web to figure about the smallest but the most integral piece of screen in our lives.

There’s an excelled piece by Priya Ganapati on Wired’s gadget lab blog where she talks about touchscreens from apple, voice from vlingo, speedier keyboards by swype and point and find from nokia. Here’s a fantastic quote which suggests the right approach

"So much of how we understand technology is visually driven," says Rachel Hinman, a strategist with Adaptive Path, a user-experience and design-consulting firm. "Mobile interface design has to mimic the touch, sight, gesture and auditory feeds that we use to interact with our environment."

My thinking on the Mobile Interfaces of today and tomorrow

Buttons:

The button as the interface will stay and they can’t go obsolete at least for a decade or so. While the touch interfaces are cool, there will be many people who due to various cognitive reasons will still prefer buttons. There’s also a economic & social reasoning to this in places where mobiles has not reached 100% penetration. We will continue to see all buttons and hybrid (buttons+touch) for sometime.

Touchscreens: Touch, Multi-touch, Touchless

Touchscreens allow you to do more on your mobile, has just evolved recently and the possibilities are endless. This is the standard interface for the mobile of the future. Touch will never go, in fact it has many surprises stored for us.

No rubbing and talking :). Just imagine about Microsoft SideSight to be available on your phone soon, it’s not touch, it’s multi-touch. Elliptic Labs rightly calls their interface technology as the touchless (video).

Speech/Voice

How cool it would be to just talk to your phone and get everything done. But speech is a beast which is very difficult to tackle. The properties of speech get affected by weather, environment, user’s health, emotions and endless other permutation and combinations. That’s the reason why speech recognition even of the best of current handset doesn’t work

The other problem with speech is the mobile itself, to learn your modulation it has to learn so much that it requires 1000x the horse power it has currently got now.

I could only get some information about Vlingo, others services seem to be app or gateways for voice based services and not the things that can control your device itself.

Thought / Neural input devices

Soon you would be able to think a phone number and your phone will start dialing [computerworld]. Cool, ain’t it but don’t tell me to wear that thought control hat. Companies like Emotiv, EmSense and Neurosky are working hard on it and this doesn’t look like wishful thinking to me.

Other Advancement in Mobile Interfaces

Imagine the possibilities of having these interfaces on your mobile.

Some of the real dependencies affecting the future of mobile interface.

(Socio-economic reasons excluded)

• The microprocessor  & integrated circuits- Not just how much CPU cycles it can burn but also how it can keep it cool. A burn there in your trouser’s pocket will be really harmful. Again just advancement of microprocessor and compacting is not enough, the bus, the coppers and other specialized microprocessor has to match the speed as well.
• Storage - We have already seen some good storage capacities on the phone, but here we are talking about the RAMs and the ROMs and the cost of having the on-board memories for your mobile’s personal usage and not for storing the mp3s.
• Sensors - To sense the touch, to sense the touchless, to sense the voice, to sense the thoughts. It’s tied to your phone or is it a plug-n-play add on. How small it is, or how small it can become. The cost of having it on-board or having it as an attached.
• Software - If the future is mobile will it follow what has happened on OS & application front. Like PC architecture is there an open architecture on Mobile. Has the developer ecosystem already arrived on mobile. Will you buy your mobile from someone, the OS from other and applications from some other and the peripheral add-on from some some other. Would you be able to assemble the mobile phones of future or simply walk into showroom buy one and not to worry about whatever I said above.

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Hi Friends,

I have created this group ‘Indian Internet & Media Professionals’ and request you to join this group and start contributing your thoughts on Indian Internet and Media Industry. Here are some benefits of joining this network:

• Connect with people from Indian Internet & Media industry
• Share news with each other in your network / industry
• Start discussions, help others, gain knowledge and find insights
• Post Jobs or ask referrals from people who are in the Indian Internet and Media industry

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Few days back I posted this question on LinkedIn asking about the importance of Typography in web design. Actually I was interested in gathering some personal insights and case studies, but didn’t find one.

But thanks to Christophe Peyras & Jiri Kindl I got this two interesting links which made my day:

1. Web Design is 95% Typography
2. Speed reading vs. typography

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What is the point of graphic design ? Is it advertising or is it art ? What purpose does it serve in our society and culture ? In his book "Graphic Design As Communication", Malcolm Barnard explores how meaning and identity are the core of every graphic design project and argues that the role and function of graphic design is, and always has been communication.

Malcom Barnard is Senior Lecturer in the history and theory of art and design at the University of Derby. His previous publications include Fashion as Communication, Art, Design and Visual Culture and Approaches to Understanding Visual Culture.

Here’s the quick snapshot of definition and functions of graphic design. (click to enlarge)

But here’s the most interesting definition of graphic design by Marshall Arisman who places art, illustration, graphic design in a scale of ‘purity’.

1. Fine Art is pure.
2. Illustration is the beginning of selling out.
3. Graphic Design is commercial  art.
4. Advertising is selling - period.

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I will start with what Matt Mullenweg, the founder of Wordpress says:

"You have to remember that a person’s goal in life is probably not to use a web application. People have a million things in their lives"

Understand your clients first and then user

Some designers boast about their feeling towards users and claim to make web sites for the users. Please do yourself a favour and understand the business requirements first. Most of the times the client will say "Hey ! that’s cool, I want something like that". It’s very hard to convince such person of your ideas and talk online sense. But be wise in asking questions, getting the sense of the client’s business, competition and product/services. Never base your demo on how cool it is, base your demo on how useful it is; for your clients and their users.

Develop design thinking

Do you think on paper or screen or directly in photoshop ? Don’t become the slave of one particular tool or have fetish with following certain types of processes. Be a design person and start appreciating things around you. Observe, observe and observe some more. Hear, touch and feel things. Talk to people, why they like something and what they do not like. Try to see and appreciate works of artists using various other mediums. Become an art consumer. Notice icons, typography, colour palettes, etc not just on web, but also in print, advertising, television, movies, etc.

Understand the new web - from consumption to participation.

Still many web designers have not realized that they need to think beyond brochures / flash gimmicks. We need to understand the difference between visitors and users. It’s useless to come up with with some grand idea which is very artistic but not going to be used. Designing the site for user participation is very different from designing static web sites. Facebook, Myspace, Delicious, Digg, Slashdot are example of user’s web. They are not grand on design but still very high on usage and usability cos they let you do what you want to do.

Become an online person

Business owner can take you through his requirements, you can design a usable and colourful web site based on your experience. But what if someone tells you to build your own facebook/twitter or asks you to integrate with such web sites. How people behave on web these days, what colours they like, how do they interact and so on are all part of the web culture and you need to be in that culture and not a silent spectator. For example, I can still see that people still fail to make a decent sign in / sign up process.

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We all talk about Usability, usability and usability, we also have a definition for it and repeat the words like mantra - but to tell you the truth, still with so much of understanding, experience and usage of the web more than half of the working and experienced professional do not know what the usability is.

Usability in most simplistic terms is let the user do, what you want him to do. And what you do is what you get. Therefore, the biggest problem in usability is always a) not knowing what you want users to do on your site b) defining this and keeping it in mind while designing your site c) loosing track and forcing your users to do what they should not do.

The problem is that people relate usability with the patch work of search, navigation, content, communication and design and other massive collection of various page elements.

How should we design a successful web interface 

- is it the showcasing talent of web designer or technology of a web programmer. The successful web interface are to be made with an understanding of a) user needs b) assisting user to satisfy those needs c) and validating through feedback/study if this is really met.

The call to action is… I have learned to ask this question, whenever I am not able to make a decision on the design and asking this question almost gives you a clarity on what you want. Any page design, communication and html elements should be woven around driving this experience. Example:-

• Can users easily do, whatever that you want them to do ?
• Can users easily do, whatever that they came here to do ?

OR the coversion goal is…

a) users should buy my product b) users should read the content on my site c) users must download this stuff d) users need to subscribe my feed e) users should return to my site for new updates and so on. This thinking also helps in understanding what you need to do. And what you do helps your users to perform the task which align with your site goals and purpose.

A page is not the site, the site is not the page

There needs to be a macro and micro level thinking approach. The home page is different than a section page which is different than a inside page. The story needs to be told and there should be a common thread but the conversion goal or the call to action will differ from one place to another. Think like museum guide, build up the story, construct the atmosphere and then uncover the gems.

Let me make decision, or at least help me a little

Are you allowing your users to make the right decision at any given point. The decision cannot be made randomly. The most easiest and rational decision for any users on any web site it to exist the site. Are you assisting him in making a exit decision or a decision which aligns with the site’s goal.

Content & Activity Need to stand up and say something

On any page, the user has some content to consume or some activity to perform. Are you allowing him to do that or he is just lost in the interface jungle. Are you providing for or hand-holding to the right place or just making it difficult for your users. The design has to assist the content or activity or take the centre stage ?. Who is the actor, your content / activity or the design. On any page design cannot speak or stand out more than the content/activity itself. That is what causes imbalance and becomes the point of failure.

Connect, Communicate, Ask & Deliver- The art of easy and successful web user interface

• Who is your user ?
• Why did she come here for ?
• Why should she come her for ?
• Should she come here again ? or why should she ?
• Did she get what she wanted ?
• Did she do what she wanted to do ?
• Did she get what you wanted to offer ?
• Did she do what you wanted her to do ?
• Did you help her in getting what she wanted ?
• Was she treated well ? Did you go an extra mile to help her ?
• Should she do the basic expected out of her ? or she can do much more
• Would she recommend your site ? and why ?
• She should be your customer or fan ?
• What special experience did you offer to her ?
• And there are many more such questions to be asked… and keep them coming in comments

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Usability on web simply defined means making your site easy for your customers to find the exact information they need when they need it. From the context of television programming it would mean making your content & interfaces easy for your customers to get the exact information that they need or you are wanting to communicate.

Usability & TV Advertising:

Hero Honda Dhak Dhak Go Ad

Hrithik jumps with bike on a highrise helipad. Gives you a soft lensy sweet look. On the other hand Priyanka Chopra stomps her feet in a macho avataar. Suddenly Cricketers start popping up. Hrithik is confused he tries singing, boxing and various other sportse and there is a mashup of disconnected images. The idea of 25 years of Honda in this country comes somewhere in the last for seconds and only the fortunate few will realize that the tag line is "Dhak Dhak Go".

This ad seem to be from an equal opportunity employer who made all the endorsers happy.

Good Example of Communication : Delhi half marathon ad by Airtel.

Kids running here and there with the improvised and remixed Airtel tune and at the end of it simple communication on running when we used to kids and strong end visual of Delhi marathon. Two things communicated to you about the event and the sponsor in a very simple way.

TV usability award goes to HBO:

Whenever a movie ends and they have a different programming or advertising in between, they will show you a ticker on the LHS top corner. Next movie in so many minutes and seconds.

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I am reading this fantastic book "The Meme Machine" by Susan Blackmore and this was the first time when actually thought of memes and their pattern and flow in Indian context. Here are some general insights and my 2 cents.

• meme was first coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book ‘The Selfish Gene’. He has also written a foreword for this book
• Susan’s book was preceeded by two other books entirely devoted to the subject of memes - Richard Brodie’s Virus of the Mind: The New Science of Meme and Aaron Lynch’s Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads through Society.
• Susan had also researched for mentions of some memes related term on the web 29th August 1998 and I am doing the same exactly more than a decade, today on 29th September 2008.

• Wikipedia definition of a meme:
• A meme (pronounced /miːm/)[1] consists of any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, gestures, practices, fashions, habits, songs, and dances. Memes propagate themselves and can move through the cultural sociosphere in a manner similar to the contagious behavior of a virus.a

memes & India

• In India most of the memes have religious & political background. Since Kings, Emperors and Godmens held the highest authority most the memes originated from there. The caste system, festivals, rituals and many more such examples. These memes were religiously adopted in our lives and became the Indian tradition.
• India was high on memes during the freedom struggle. I think memes circulate fast when the society is close or come closer. The British Raj was thus a great opportunity for Indians to come together and create a memeplex of ‘Mutiny of 1857′, ‘The Quit India Movement’ and ‘The Swadesi’. Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra was not just the great leaders but leader who could also infect the Indian with real & highly charged memes.
• In recent times religious groups have utilized / exploited media to spread the memes in very effective way. Many gods have been re-discovered, my brands of religion and godmen have cropped up giving rise to memes that were long forgotten. It’s cool to be religious again.
• The constant meme in politics has always been ‘the politics of religion’, ‘the politics of hatred’ and ‘the politics of divide’. From ancient rulers, to british raaj to current politicians, they all have used the same formula and the same ingredients and they are still doing good.
• The mass followed meme in India has always been Bollywood & Cricket and primarily because they both are high on passive engagement and sort of escapist memes.
• The most important meme carriers in India are - Marriages and Festivals - song, dance, culture, sub-cultures, food, fashion and thousand other sub memes are actually alive and are getting passed on to other generations because Indian enjoy & celebrate festivals and the marriages like anything. In India Marriage is not the union of just two individuals but two families.
• The modern memes in India are now driven by the middle class. The middle class and the upper middle class who caused the ‘brain drain’ were the early adoptors of ‘global economy’ and introduced our IITs & Indian Minds to the western world. Western world realized that instead of paying these guys equal on their land, they can ‘outsource’ the work and make the dollar work to the fullest. On the Indian turf, the liberalization, privatization, outsourcing & the reverse brain drain created massive permutation and combinations of opportunities. So at the same times where communisims, religion and reservations are at work - the middle class is the forerunner is bringing positiveness to this country and was able to run and participate in the parallel memes.

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• Tonictag
• Divanation - Webchutney
• Admagnet - Interactive Avenues
• Adchakra - Percept Knorigin
• DGM (affiliate networks) - DGM India
• Komli
• Pubmatic - Komli
• Ozone Media
• Tyroo - SITG
• Paypod
• Sulekha Ad Network
• AdsforIndians
• IndiAds
• AdsOnMedia
• AXILL (affiliate marketing)
• RupizAds
• Adwinks - ibibo

Global Brands in Indian Market

• Microsoft Advertising
• Google Adsense
• Yahoo Advertising

Reference: WATBlog, Trak.in & some Search

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corporate blogs in india

• Infosys
• TCS
• Tata Interactive Systems
• Cleartrip.com 
• Frito Lay
• Mahindra and Mahindra
• Ram Gopal Varma (The Factory )
• Rajesh Jain (CEO, Netcore)
• Wipro

brand building / digital marketing / community initiatives by corporates / brands in india

• sunsilkgangofgirls (HUL) - a ladies only community which promotes sunsilk range of hair care products and allow to play around, participate and engage in fun activities online.
• Splitsvilla blog (MTV & MSN India) - conversation with audience and sister site to their splitsvilla specials initiative with MSN India
• JaagoRe (Tata Tea) - a non-profit initiative by Tata Tea to increase awareness for voting.
• The Great Indian Roadtrip blog (BHP) - Blog diary of a road-trip in 2006, the main site doesn’t seem to be accessible.
• FastTrack.in (Titan) - online community of FastTrack watch
• MaggiClub (Nestle) - Games, forum, community of Maggi noodle fans

Also See:

List of Social Media Agencies in India by Gaurav Mishra

References:

BlogBharti, Mario Sundar, Yaxis

Please feel to add more in comments section

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Last updated October 008: A quick look at Indian Internet & Web related fact & figures updated on a weekly basis. Covers Internet infrastructure in India, Internet & Web trend in India, Search & Search engine marketing in India, Ecommerce trends & growth in India and Online advertising market in India. Please  feel to recommend stats and corrections to this post.

Internet Infrastructure & Trends in India:

• India has an estimated 32-46 million active Internet users. - Sify
• India has just 4.38 million broadband subscribers, while there are 287 million mobile users and 38.9 million landline subscribers -  AFP
• India has only two unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses per 1,000 people - Sify
• A study by web application acceleration and performance management major Akamai saw 2.1 million unique IPs from India. With this, India ranked 14th in terms of unique IPs - Sify
• The percentage of broadband connections from India with speeds above 5 Mbps (high broadband) and 2 Mbps (broadband) were 0.6 percent and 4.6 percent respectively - Sify
• The percentage of connections with speeds less than 256 Kbps from India was 26 percent, meaning nearly one-fourth of users use slower-speed lines to get on to the net. - Sify
• In India, the survey was conducted with over 120 companies and the findings revealed that as compared to 40% of Asia Pacific companies, 46% of Indian companies provide branch offices with direct Internet access. However, more than 50% of branch office internet traffic is still backhauled over the Wide Area Network, and 70% of companies would want to provide the same level of protection at the branch office as in headquarters or data centers. - India PR Wire
• The country’s 1.1 billion inhabitants only have one broadband connection for every 400 people - Fiercetelecom
• 70 percent of broadband connection cost is tied up in government permit expenses, creating a scenario complete with high end-user cost and miniscule profit margin potential - Fiercetelecom
• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is planning to extend its broadband services to all areas of India by March 2009. BSNL currently claims to cover 30,000 villages and 3,261 cities, and the operator expects coverage to increase to 148,000 and 5,000 respectively by March next year. BSNL also annonced to connect 5,000 rural blocks to wireless broadband with support from the Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund - Telegeography
• Broadband Forecasting - Internet broadband penetration will limp along to eventually reach a measly 3.9 connections for every 100 citizens by 2012. Even though internet users may be multiple times higher, actual broadband penetration will not exceed 18.1 million at the beginning of the next decade. In contrast, mobile telephony will add as many as 350 million subscribers during this five-year period to end at roughly 615 million by mid 2012.These forecasts fall short of the government’s conservative target of 20 million high-speed internet subscribers by 2010-end . India’s broadband penetration is roughly 4.5 million subscribers. Even with a 300% growth rate over the next five years, the sector will fall short of the 50 million mark by 2012. - ET
• India One of the Fastest-Growing Internet Populations among 37 Countries Reported. - comScore
• Internet usage from Rural India accounts to 20% - Medianewsline

Web:

• Slight confusion here - 46 / 49 million Internet Users and 35 million active net users.- WATblog
• LodeStar Universal estimates that there are 17.8 million active Internet users in the 16-54 age group in India, many of whom would have also used tools, such as instant messaging and discussion forums. Around 15.1 million or 85% of such Indians read blogs online, while 15 million users watch video clips. The case in favour of taking your small business online is compelling -ET
• The average Indian Internet user visited the Internet 25 times during the month and was online for 28 minutes per visit. Those between the ages of 15-24 were the heaviest Internet users among all age segments, spending nearly 12 hours online per month on average. Some of the fastest growing Web site categories during the past year included Maps (up 64 percent), Sports (up 60 percent), Entertainment - Movies (up 55 percent), and Finance – News/Research (up 52 percent). - comScore
• 1) Over two-thirds (70%) of all Internet users reside outside metros 2) Over 70% internet users prefer to access the net in Indian languages, with English users at just 28%, down from 41% in 2007 (this means that people would want to ‘read’ in regional languages) 3) Women account for less than a fifth, just 17.6%, of the 49-million odd Indian netizens. 4) On an average, net users take 15 odd activities which includes chatting, emailing, downloading music and movies, sharing videos and pictures, checking cricket score, job and matrimonial search. Social networking, picture and video sharing, online communities and Internet chatting and blogs are significant for 81% of the users. - WATblog citing JuxtConsult report.
• Top 10 Indian Mobile sites - through MiniOpera’s usage stats - track.in
• Around 70 per cent of Internet users in India have registered with a social networking site. People in the age bracket 18-34 are members of social networking sites. About 70 per cent of them are in the age band 18-27. - Sindh Today

Search in India

• SEM industry is likely to double in size to $225 million by 2009-10 - HT
• According to a recent report by internet research firm JuxtConsult, Indian market has seen 19% increase in the regular internet users this year over 2007, and boasts of an active 8-million online buyers. While mobile and computer products were the most searched last year, books, clothes and CDs/DVDs are the most bought products. - ET
• India ranked second to last with 53 searches per searcher during the month, well below the worldwide average of 93. India also had significantly fewer search visits per searcher (14.7 vs. 23.6) and searches per search visit (3.6 vs. 3.9). - comScore
• Though India represents more than 15 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for less than 2 percent of global Internet searches - comScore
• An IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) and IMRB (Indian Market Research Bureau) report pegs the total market revenue of the SEM industry in India at around Rs 500 crore in 2007-08. This is expected to increase to around Rs 1,000 crore by 2009-2010. - Business Standard

Ecommerce in India:

• India’s e-commerce market crossed over Rs 9,000 crore last fiscal year - The Daily Star
• India’s e-commerce market is growing at a rapid clip. With 42-50% CAGR projected for the next five years, e-Travel (including hospitality) is the biggest contributor - Express Computer
• In terms of value, nearly $3.6 billion (about Rs16,600 crore) worth of rail tickets were booked over counters or through regular agents in 2007-08. Online bookings accounted for about $377 million (Rs1,738 crore), according to analysts. - LiveMint
• Payment statistics from IRCTC for March 2008. On Nilesh’s blog. [via StartupDunia]. Compiled set of graphs from the latest payment statistics released by Indian Railways IRCTC website for the month of March 2008.
• More than half of domestic airline tickets sold in India will be online by end of this year, predicts leading travel industry research firm PhoCusWright Inc., up from 43% in 2007 - LiveMint
• Even at a 3 per cent conversion of every mobile bill payer onto a mCommerce solution, the industry would be worth around Rs 3,000 crore, estimates Mr Sanjay Swamy, CEO, mChek (www.mchek.com) - Hindu

Online Advertising in India

• GroupM’s Annual Forecast Says India Will Become World’s 15 th Largest Ad Market in 2009 Advertising spending in India is on a roll. - Medianewsline
• The total online advertising market in India is projected at Rs 420 crore in 2008, according to FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers, will grow to a whopping Rs 1,100 crore by 2011. - Financial Express
• Advertising expenditures in all media throughout India will increase 20 percent in 2008 to $5.6 billion and 19 percent in 2009 to $6.6 billion. The projected hikes follow a 20 percent increase in 2007. - Medianewsline
• IAMAI estimates that the size of the online banner advertising market in 2007-08 will be Rs 235 crore. The agency expects it to grow by almost 49 per cent to Rs 350 crore by the end of 2008-09. - TelevisionPoint
• In 2007-08, a total of 1.23 crore people clicked on an online advertisement. This was a substantial increase from 56 per cent for the year 2005-2006 - TelevisionPoint
• Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), online businesses and information technology-enabled services (ITES) with 25 per cent, 25 per cent and 13 per cent shares respectively, were the leading advertisers in the 2008 fiscal.The other major categories are auto, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and consumer durables. The education category is expected to show the fastest growth from 4 per cent to 7 per cent. This is possibly because this category targets the youth segment.- TelevisionPoint
• The online banner ad spend per Internet user is only about $ 1.20 (Rs 52.50), which could be $ 1.60 (Rs 70) by the end of the year - TelevisionPoint
• People are increasingly noticing online banners. In 2006, 56 per cent of the active Internet users clicked on an online ad. In 2007, this figure was 80 per cent. Computed on a base figure of 15.4 million, this implies that 12.3 million people clicked on an ad in 2007, the report says. - TelevisionPoint
• Conversion of ads were around 4.3 per cent bought hotels and holiday packages, 3.8 per cent acquired loans from banks and 1.4 per cent bought computers, laptops, printers or scanners.- TelevisionPoint

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This article on ET points out that while Mobile is actually growing in India, PC & Broadband penetration isn’t catching up to the trend. I am discussing any Data here but the reasons why this may be happening.

The Choice of Mobile Vs PC

This is the choice dilemma that customer face when they think of buying the one. Mobile was recently dominated by Nokia and then came the Sonys, LGs, Samsungs and others. But still the choice of a mobile is controlled as Mobile OEMs have been able to target their TGs well and the TGs themselves know what they need to buy. When people enter the shop, the price sensitive people have already made a decision that they are going to buy a mobile in X range. And when people who are not that price sensitive go to the shops; they are almost sure of what features they are going to go for.

On the other hand, PC buying experience is quite scattered - branded, assembled, after sales service, unlimited permutations and combinations of hardware, software licenses and the inability of the sales person to fix the choices for the customers.

Computer is not personal

In India every household item is social. The Mobile is the only item which qualifies to become the first personal, protected and private item of possession. It gives a great high to anyone to own such personal and private item; be it 1,000 bucks or 10,000 bucks. Most of the youngsters in the house still prefer to chat or browse through Cyber Cafes which offers much more private environment than the home.

The Upgrade Brigade

No matter how much money you push into marketing computers, there is no actual reason or incentive for the customers. Indians already spent too much of time in Office and Schools and when they are back home the internet consumption is limited to light browsing, emailing and chatting. The segment of gaming, multimedia and cpu intensive jobs is growing but anyways it won’t be a major share in the market.

But you easily get bored with your Mobile, 2megs to 5 megs camera is a good reason to upgrade, 2 GB to 8 GB is again a good memory jump. Other reason is that most of the people start with a low end mobile when they are in schools, they upgrade as they move in jobs, social stats or their usage. Mobile is also good for show off.

PC doesn’t get you any mileage in showing off, it sits quietly in one corner and won’t really increase it’s sex appeal by any internal fix.

The Gift Culture

In Indian families things pass from elders to young ones in the family. My first watch was of my brother, my first trainers were of my brothers, my first walkman was of my brother. So in India the first mobile at least for the young generation would be from someone in the family. You will see more youngsters with mobile phone powered by - gifts in the family, second hand market & cheap packages from operators.

India is also full of festivals, birthday celebrations, marriages and competitive exams. So if you can really lay the foundations right, there’s opportunity everywhere.

Parents in India always want to keep a vigil on their kids and mobile is the only way they can do this these days.

Mobile is NOT Use and Throw

Many Indians are still not used to this concept. They would keep on shifting their PC / Laptop purchase decision thinking it would fall more, they would get more later in the same price and so on. And for mobile for a same price they won’t think twice. Cos they know they can upgrade their mobile later through buyback offers, or they can give it to someone in the family but same is not true for a PC. PC becomes obsolete very quickly, there is no exiting buy back offers and it really makes no sense gifting it to someone in the family, who anyways is still using and sharing with you.

Mobile is really Useful - Across the Society

PC would be of no use to a paanwala or a small shopkeeper who can still very well maintain his books through traditional methods. With PC or without PC they are still doing a good business and would continue to keep doing so. Mobile on the other hand connects them with their families, customers and partners where ever they are. In India almost every other person has a one man enterprise and mobile powers that enterprise.

TV doesn’t compete with Mobile

But it does compete with PC & Internet. Indians love to read newspaper, love to watch TV with friends and family, they spend days in front of TV watching Cricket, they love watching the reality shows, they love watching the 100th re-run of a Sholay on TV - where does this leave time for Internet or any other thing on PC.

The Early Adoptors

Your grandma can become the early adoptor for a new saas bahu serial on TV but she cannot become the early adoptor or a prime user on PC, she still can receive a call on your phone by your distant cousin or she can ask you to scold someone on her behalf. But the same mass of people cannot participate in the PC and computing ecosystem. e

PC is not Maruti Suzuki

You can drive a car or have a chauffer to drive your car. Even if you don’t have a chauffer , but someone in the family knows driving you can still use the car to the maximum. The grandma I cited in the above example can ask you to pick and drop her from a temple. She is still a prime user of that car or the trip without owning or driving the car. The same is true for Mobile for such users, they need not own it or need not know how to use it but still can they put the thing to use.

Follow up post (Coming soon): Ideas to Increase PC penetration in India

Popularity: 3% [?]

Last updated sep 5, 08: This list is powered by you and feel free to suggest me the blogs that you read. The qualifier is that they need to be from India or related to India and should be active in last 30 days with safe, clean and sparkling content. This list is however completely ranking free. The list is organized by topics but the blogs are just listed at random. Show some blog love and post your recommendations in the comments section or mail me at santosh _ maharshi att hotmail. Why don’t you start by recommending your’s first. Go ahead and enjoy !!!

This list of Indian blogs is not static and will be updated regularly. Slap me and abuse me here if I don’t. Coming soon - OPML

Business & Economy Blogs

• Indian Economy Blog [ RSS ]
• India PR Blog [ RSS ]
• Trak.in India Business Buzz [ RSS ]
• Stocks Buddy [ RSS ]

Bollywood Blogs

• Ram Gopal Varma [ RSS ]
• Karan Johar [ RSS ]
• Shekhar Kapur
• Amitabh Bachhan [ RSS ]

Community Blogs

• MSN India Contribute
• Sulekha Blogs - Featured Post [ RSS ]
• DesiPundit [ RSS ]
• India Uncut [ RSS ]
• Rediff iLand

General / Personal / Blog Celebrities

• Kiruba [ RSS ]
• Rashmi Bansal’s Youth Curry [ RSS ]
• Rajesh Setty’s Life Beyond Code [ RSS ]
• Anita Bora [ RSS ]
• Suman Kuma’s Yak Pad [ RSS ]
• ContentSutra [ RSS ]
• Kamat’s Potpourri [RSS ]
• Divya Manian’s Numbupani [ RSS ]
• Dina Mehta [ RSS ]
• Arnab B [ RSS ]
• Rajdeep Sardesai [ RSS ]
• The Quirky Indians [ RSS ]
• Vaibhav’s BrainStuck [ RSS ]

Technology

• Digital Inspirations [ RSS ]
• Killer Tech Tips [ RSS ]

Web / Internet / Mobile

• WAT Blog [ RSS ]
• Fone Arena [ RSS ]
• Not Another Mobile Phone Blog [ RSS ]

Credits

• To all those who responded to this question on LinkedIn

See Also; Also See

• Also see this massive list of Indian Twitterers maintained by Abhinav Sarkar
• Labnol has a slightly better list of bloggers from India
• This girl called Anita is crazy with her list of Indian Bloggers
• Show some more blog love and join IndiBloggers

Popularity: 2% [?]

Just yesterday I cam across this book by Clay Shirky Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. Now I am a great fan on Clay Shirky, I was about to pick it up but didn’t as it was hard-cover, I inquired about the soft-cover version but since it is just launched in India it won’t be available for sometime.

• I won’t definitely miss something by Clay Shirky but but a soft-cover book would be at least 200-300 INR less than the hard-cover. Since I buy lots of stuff which I never read, I am usually concerned about the pricing too.
• The book looked bulky to me, cos I carry my laptop which is already stuffed with so many things. The soft covers I find are more user friendly, specifically travel friendly. Most of my reading is actually while travelling and hence the concern.

I posted this question on LinkedIn and got some good replies but I am of a different view or may be with limited vision. I don’t get the explanation on marketing, collectors items, more profit on hard-cover types. I wonder if Book Publishing Industry is playing Ostrich and acting like Music Industry by sticking the age old formats and distribution structure.

The Profile of Me, The Reader:

I am a voracious reader and I atleast consumer 100 pages of text everyday - feed readers, blogs and portals.

My reading is limited to non-fiction and the subject area of my work, field and industry. That’s why Clay Shirky is all the way more important read for me.

I read when I am back home in the evening and I would anytime prefer a book than some TV show. Plus with speed reading tips from Tony Buzan I can do power reading over the weekends or when I am travelling. Usually when travelling abroad I at least have 2 books on my target.

Hardcover Vs Paperbacks / Softcover & Digital Publishing

Paperbacks are easier to carry and easy on the pocket too.

Paperbacks  give you that light feel and it would also appeal to less avid reader who get intimidated or have excuse looking at the big and bulky books

Paperbacks  can actually give you much more readership - as some class of readers are always price sensitive - college student, young professionals, housewives, and retired people.

Paperbacks  if it may not kill but at least control the piracy to some extent.

Industry should focus on creating readers and fan following for authors, not the collectors.

Readership is not about books - it’s about the time slot and the industry is competing with portals, blogs, aggregators, social networks, mp3 players, online video, TV, Newspaper and so many other things related to content consumption.

I think Chetan Bhagat has got it right. His books comes almost near if not equal to the cost of some high-end magazines and he has not just created fan-following for himself but lot many people who otherwise don’t buy books would never think twice before buying his books. They would thus get introduced not just to reading but also to the habit of buying books.

And if you believe it in Long Tail and the Tipping Point : Won’t it make more sense to create long tail readers and not just collectors. Won’t it make more sense where you create so many readers that it almost brings tipping point not just for a particular blockbuster bestseller but to entire industry and market

The reading habits are changing - the content is now consumed in capsules. Take the example of a book called Groundswell. It was almost a repetition for me. The social technographics was known to me few years back and I keep track of various blogs which talk about the subject. The book was good and related to my industry but I have had the capsules long time back and still I am on it on a regular basis.

The Industry cannot rely on few top best-sellers, just imagine how affordibility can changes the dynamics of the book publishing and the consumption.

Environmental conditions also provides a pointer to take a new approach towards the materials used in book publishing. From glossy thick pages encased in hardcover to thin re-cycled pages tucked in paperbacks.

Content Consumption is moving to digital screens, I don’t see any publisher doing some radical stuff on that front.

Of course not all content can be ready for screens - but why not for books less than 250 pages or so - can we show them in Wiki format ?

Why can’t the distribution be changed ? Subscribe to a publisher and download the chapters each week, or make micro-payments for just the chapter that you want to download.

Supporting Trends and Data

• Press release on PRarticle.com, July 2008: Book Sales in Decline as US Economy Contracts
• The book business in the United States in 2007 registered $29.93 billion in sales, producing 2.377 billion units, about the same as 2.383 billion in 2006, according to the Book Industry Study Group.
• While the book business has been relatively stagnant in recent years and even months, it now appears to have turned the corner downward.
  Net sales of books in April fell 3.5 percent to $472.7 million, based on data from 79 publishers as reported to the Association of American Publishers.
• Not all sales were down. Among the book categories registering increased sales were inexpensive e-books, up 19.9 percent to $3.4 million; university press hardcover sales, up 12.1 percent to $5.6 million; adult mass market sales, up 4.7 percent to $53.2 million; adult trade paperback sales, up 4.5 percent to $118.3 million; and audiobooks, up 1.7 percent to $12.6 million.
• E-book sales rocket up at Random House, Penguin, S&S and elsewhere
• Last week Random House announced sales for e-books were already more than double the total for 2007. The trade body, the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) estimates that sales of e-books in March 2008 were 58.9% higher than in March 2007
• In an economic bind, families turn to libraries
• “Book publishers have a lot of challenges, and folks getting their books via the library doesn’t even make the first page,” said Michael Norris, a senior analyst for Simba Information, a Stamford, Conn.-based media research company. Norris said that when consumer spending in general rises again, book sales will grow, with patrons possibly buying titles they first borrowed from the library.
• Still, the nation’s three biggest booksellers are struggling, with shares trading near 52-week lows.
• Barnes & Noble saw second-quarter sales dip 1.6 percent to $1.22 billion and profits fall 14.6 percent to $15.4 million. Books-A-Million’s second-quarter sales fell 7.5 percent to $122.8 million and earnings declined 79 percent to $645,000 from $3.1 million.
• 15 Trends to Watch in 2008 - Publisher Weekly *** must read
• You can also try comparing the search query on Keywords Forecasting on adCenter Labs

Popularity: 100% [?]

• Every month I get the same subject line
• The mail body is also the same every month. How to open the PDF and the password directives.
• It’s more painful because I have two mobiles

Why can’t the bill say :

Santosh here’s your bill for the month of August 2008 for 919xxxxxxxxx. Please be kind enough to pay by xx.yy.xxxx. Click here to find out the nearest payment centre or make your payment online.

But why do I need this:

• Cos the PDF download almost never happens
• If I need to track bills for a particular month it’s really difficult to do so by reading the very cryptic long account number and date in the subject line. It would be really simple if at least the date is mentioned in the subject line
• People don’t remember the due dates and really don’t want to miss purposely, it will work for them if the mail carries the due date and also the link to the payment portal in simple communication.

Popularity: 2% [?]

on10.net brings you this two-part video edition of their visit with researchers at Microsoft Research. Take a peek into advanced ideas and technologies developing in the Microsoft’s Research Labs.
A visit with Microsoft Research: A look at tomorrow’s health solutions today

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Salute to India

More on Indian Independence Day Special on MSN India

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How do you use Twitter