Posts tagged idea
My take on iPad
Feb 7th
Ever since the iPad was announced, the internet is clogged with updates, analysis and impressions on iPad. But I saw very little talked about what this means, or how this could affect the way we do business. The guys with the biggest megaphones are either reporters or tech gurus, who are far removed from the trenches of enterprise application development.
Full disclosure
The only Apple product I own is the iPod touch. It rocks, itunes sucks.
Initial impressions
I was a bit underwhelmed and I doubt I will acquire an iPad. But that does not stop me from believing that it will be a big hit.
What could be better?
Personally, I would have loved the device if it came with multi tasking and maybe a camera. But this post is not about it.
Then what is it about?
This is about the big disruption the entire tablet computing movement could cause to the current state of art. How the relatively low price, the interactivity and the right size makes it suitable option in a lot of never before situations. And about how, Apple could leave a gaping hole for another Microsoft to capitalise on.
How so?
By not allowing custom built apps from being installed on the iPad. This will rule out iPads adoption in the enterprises and also cool new ideas and mashups. Large companies could use an iPad for several clever niches, but needing to install custom IP on to the iPad via the app store is out of question.
Are there any examples?
Sure, several.
- Team of financial advisors carrying a tablet for explain various insurance or investment options to average Joe. Imagine how good the apps could be made to look and how interactive they could be. It would go a long way in closing the sale.
- A restaurant replacing the boring menus with interactive ones on a tablet. Hell, they could even just ‘add to basket’ then and there. If there is a waiting time, people can pre-order their food and also surf while waiting.
- Replacing the dull and expensive kiosk with a 350$ tablet. This might still happen, but by playing a keynote presentation.
- How about the classic ‘travelling salesman’? Does he really need a laptop?
- Medical staff carrying a tablet instead of the physical patient files.
- I haven’t even begun to think about industrial applications
I think you get the picture. Not only can the tablet replace a laptop, but also paper in several cases. People more creative than me will find several more creative uses of a tablet. This brings me to mashups.
What about them?
The thing about mashups, they are obvious in hind sight. But it takes a creative mind and an open ecosystem to dream and create one. But I can imagine a few hacks / mashups surly.
- How about a tablet controlled robot or speed boat?
- A tablet replacing the entire instrument panel of a car
- Tablets used in performing arts
- Tablets used in science and education
- Tablets used by NGOs in rural upliftment
The possibilities are limitless. But the artificial limitations imposed by Apple, will leave the door open for a highly hack-able, maybe android based, tablet provider. Whether that’s a known brand like Asus, who spearheaded the netbook revolution; or an unknown startup like NotionInk remains to be seen.
Sure, Apple will sell millions of these devices and make tons of money, but saying that there is no room for another player is a false assumption.
Biz plan: Build a better Craigslist
Jan 17th
I am surprised that I haven’t come across a voice based classifieds system. Well creating one from scratch and reaching critical mass is difficult, but leveraging social media and Craig’s list should not be difficult at all. So, here’s the idea.
- User calls a premium number and speaks the advert.
- The server processes the voice and tries to understand the message.
- If the message is correctly understood, it will post an appropriate ad on Craig’s list, with the user’s phone number and an auto generated email id.
- If the message is not fully understood, it is passed to a call centre for transcription.
- The message is then transcribed and posted to Craig’s list.
- Any email received on the auto generated email id is sent as text message to the caller.
The above set up allows the user to place a classified ad in under 2 minutes with no unnecessary steps required. The calls are placed to a premium number thus generating revenue.
I am surprised no one has thought about it or maybe I didn’t dig into it enough.
Teaching kids (& adults) about climate
Jan 10th
![photo_verybig_110295[1]](http://hitesh.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/photo_verybig_1102951_thumb.jpg "Climate: A burning situation")
With Copenhagen behind us, it makes me wonder is there something we as individuals do to help the climate? On one such thought tangent I wondered if it possible to teach kids about climate using a simulation game like Civilisation? On cursory search I could not find anything that could entertain and educate kids.
What would it be?
An empire building game that needs to balance technology, way of life and climate to achieve sustainable conditions. The players will need to move from stone age to iron age to industrial age to knowledge age. All this is well covered by games in the Civilisation series. The difference is, to advance in the technology tree, they will need to consume resources and they need to understand that resources are limited and that consuming them is not without consequences.
Learning
A game that will show the interdependence of several factors like:
- Exploitation of natural resources (wood, coal, oil, gold, diamonds, animals, fishes etc) for technical progress and their costs in terms of environmental impact
- The long term implication of the such impact
- Investing in technology to achieve sustainable development
- Also the flip side of not consuming natural resources and it impact on growth and empire building
- The need to consume resources to ‘unlock’ next levels of technical innovation
- Trading of resources amongst empires which have surplus of something
- I would probably underplay the option of war and more of foreign trade as a means to acquire scarce resources.
What next?
I am not a game developer so wouldn’t know how to get about doing it. But may be some like minded people will come together and look at it. Maybe Freeciv can provide a starting point. Maybe it even becomes successful and makes some money for the creators.
Ultimate backup tool?
Aug 14th
Well, I don’t need to beat the dead horse about why one needs to backup data. But with the explosion of digital assets, it is all the more important.
What are my digital assets?
The largest, of course, are photographs. Apart from these, I have a fair smattering of music, code, documents and others.
How do I back them up?
Currently, photos are backed up on DVD and in the cloud (picasaweb). Picasa acts as incremental backup and DVDs are full backups. A copy in Hyderabad acts as offsite backup.
Other things lie around on 2 USB drives and dropbox, plus my disk drives in my PC and laptop.
What other option have I tried?
I have tried a few backup tools, Windows 7 backup utility, some more apps on Ubuntu, and found everything lacking in one way or other. I haven’t tried the Apple Time Machine or Windows Home Server. But, from what I have read, they might be answering most of my needs listed below, expect being cross platform. I have not spent much time trying online backup solutions because of the reasons mentioned earlier.
Problems I face?
Synchronizing data is my biggest problem. Although, dropbox is great, I can’t use it to backup my photos or music. In addition, I am afraid to plunge head long to an online storage system, since downloading all of them in India will be a real pain, not to mention, expensive.
What will an ideal backup tool look like for me?
In a sentence, “Drop box on a (USB) stick”. Read the rest of this entry »
Ultimate Blog Editor
Jul 17th
If there was ever a totally unqualified opinion, here it is. A blogger for 6 weeks and change, this is my thought what a blogging tool should be.
Those who came here searching for the ultimate editor, I am sorry to disappoint, only ideas here.
To start with; I have tried Wordpress online editor, Scribefire, Windows Live Writer and Drivel; and found them all lacking in one aspect or another. Currently I find Live Writer to be better than the rest. Trying out OneNote which has few features I like.
So, having laid the foundation, here are the features I would like to see in a blog editor.
Read the rest of this entry »
