tarangkaushal

It was kind of an unusual evening because I normally am not the one in my family to go grocery shopping. But on this day I was shopping at PCC and was looking for weekday-life-saving-items in the frozen section. And this old American female starts talking, still looking towards the frozen racks, “I love Indian food. I have never tried Kashi’s Black Bean Mango…do you think I should try it?” Now it so happens that I have tasted this Kashi frozen delicacy and it actually is one of my favorites. I was almost about to respond to her remark when she started talking again, “Oh, but Amy’s Tamale Verde sounds great too….” She went on and on about the kind of frozen food she likes and her wonderment about what she should buy.

I was kind of confused because she wasn’t waiting for me to respond to any of her questions or wonderment. And since there was no one else in that aisle, it was kind of getting awkward. Next I know she started saying “so how are your daughters doing….”, at which point I realized that she was talking to the invisible wireless Bluetooth device hidden under her long curly locks, and not to me. What a relief.

But seriously. People talking on their wireless Bluetooth headset is one of the creepiest outcomes of technology. I just see a bunch of people talking to themselves and deem them to be crazy people…until 50 seconds later when I realize they are actually talking to real people on the other side of their Bluetooth.

Excerpt from the link:

GUANGZHOU, China (AP) -- Chinese worker Sun Danyong was responsible for handling the prototypes of one of the world's hottest products -- the iPhone. When one of the gadgets went missing and his company began investigating him, he jumped off his apartment building and killed himself.
The death -- which involves allegations that security guards roughed up the worker -- prompted Apple Inc. on Wednesday to issue a terse statement, insisting that all the company's contractors must treat workers with respect and dignity.

Not sure what the truth is, but is a job such as this one worth it? Is this hype worth it?
 

Please stop coining these random-words that better describe how-companies-compete as opposed to what-people-want. People’s needs are not half as complicated as the numerous words mentioned above.

So, what do people need?

Human Being 101: Human beings are social animals. That results in their need for “Communication & Connection”. This is not a new need for humans but it surely has heightened in the last few years. It is this need that is the driver of various innovations in the recent past (or vice versa?). People want to be able to share their thoughts, work and life.

The need for thought-sharing lead to the online tool development such as facebook, twitter (please don’t ask me about it, I don’t get this one), blogs and what not. The need for work-sharing lead to productivity tools such as word, excel, document-sharing mechanisms et al for information worker. The need for life-sharing lead to emails, flickr, games and so on. And obviously there is some extent of overlap in all categories.

To top it all, people want to be able to do it anytime. Anywhere. This, is new. I don’t know if this need drove innovation, or innovation drove this need. But either way, that’s where the heart of the matter lies.

Human Being 201: When it comes to creating things, people can very well create complex things. But when it comes to using things, people want it simple. Be it an object, a process or “names”. People prefer it simple.

So again, we do not need a gazillion names for something that solves the same problem and achieves the same result. Stop trying to fool us with these buzz words and get to the point already. This statement does oversimplify the problem at hand, but it does not treat the consumer as a puppet in this fierce competitive world of manufacturers and producers. Give me one thing that I can use to talk, read, write, find-my-way and entertain myself. Then it doesn't matter who calls it what, but it’s just my "digital friend". Hmmm... am I coining another word right here? Well, the point is to make things simple for all, and not confuse people by changing either the first 4 letters in a word, or the last 4. That simply feels like someone is trying to exploit me.

That said, no matter who the industry players are, and who gets a win in coining the most long-lasting-fancy words, people who will win in this game in the long run - are the end-users. Now that sounds better, doesn't it? Yayy to that!
 
 

…write more often about my MBA et al. Everyone had warned me of the lifestyle I was about to get into starting September 2008. But I guess the only way I learn is by doing and not by listening to other people.

I should not be complaining though, because I love it. Every minute of it. Almost. I am learning coursework I never imagined myself learning. I never thought I was a Finance person, but I surprised myself with my liking towards the subject. I enjoyed learning about Microeconomics and Marketing too. My favorite coursework has been Strategy and the dude who taught the subject is my favorite Professor so far :). One thing that is common amongst all the Professors at Foster is that they have a great sense of humor. It almost seems like a prerequisite to be a Professor at this University. I have also met a lot of new and different kind of people. Pretty unlike the people I met at Microsoft. It has been fun, interesting, educating and sometimes frustrating trying to work/play with them. Oh well.

The real question to ask is. How did I find time to write this today? The answer is that I didn’t. I should be doing my Accounting or Finance HW right now. But I ‘bailed out’ on it. Isn’t that what most people are doing anyway :)? The next week and half are going to be super intense as I plough through my final exams. I will leave for a study tour to Munich/Zurich in the week after next and will come back by EOM. Coolness!

On a side note, I am writing this note sitting in the library while a part of me is feeling guilty about not doing the assignment. And I just saw this classmate of mine, a very frail and petite guy with a *massive* backpack on his shoulders. I am almost sure that’s how I look from far, not the frail bit. And it is not a pretty picture.

Anyway, I am almost rediscovering myself in many ways as I go through this program. I didn’t know I could be so passionate about things I believed in. I guess I just did things my way so far and didn’t need to do a lot of convincing. Now that I am working in this weird setup of MBA teams, I have a lot of convincing to do. I sometimes find myself run out of patience sometimes, but I am learning. And hopefully I am growing. That’s what this experience is all about. I also didn’t know I totally dig humor and automatically get attracted to people with a good sense of humor. And I didn’t realize I was so in love with my sleep, still. I am an insomniac who loves her sleep. Aah, the want of that unachievable target…follows me in one form or the other. But who is complaining.

It is hard to explain in such few words, but this MBA is one of the best things I have done in my life. Even though I complain about being so busy, I love being this busy. I like to keep my mind engaged, overtime in this case. And I almost recommend this as a therapy to everyone.

I haven’t written a poem in a very long time (long before I started MBA, so that’s not the reason). I hope that part of me strikes back someday!