Blackberry's Future

A recent trip to Indonesia and conversations with Indonesian youth got me thinking about the future of the Blackberry brand. One youngster described the iPhone as the aspiration, Nokia as boring and treated the Blackberry with indifference. When I asked why he still carried the BB in addition to another touch smartphone, he was quick to remind me of the Blackberry Messenger that almost all of his social life revolved around.

I loved the BBM too. I think the power of the whole Blackberry environment was the way that it handled one's email and calendar and the absolute beauty of the messenger. I was loathed to move to another device for a long time because I loved the messenger so much and I know a lot of people who felt the same way. Gradually, most of my contacts on BBM migrated and it didn't matter anymore.

My favourite one was the new Bold.

So here's what I am wondering, why is Blackberry not cutting its losses and playing to these strengths? Considering the enormous technology back-end that they already have available to support the email service and the messenger, would it not make sense to launch an office utilities app suite including email, calendar and messenger facilities across iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms. I still remember the time when Blackberry connect software was available or the Nokia communicator. Existing or recent BB users should be encouraged to use their most recent BB PIN to give them immediate access to the suite of tools and new users will simply register to gain access. Large corporates around the world who invested in their own Blackberry servers and many a harassed CTO would definitely welcome the move.

I am sure that many will say that this strategy will do huge damage to Blackberry's device sales as it opens up an avenue for even the most loyal of users to switch to a new device, but that ship has sailed. Eventually the BBM users will all migrate to Whatsapp, iMessage and MSN and this door will close as well. The email system inspired by MS Outlook on the Windows Phone is great and the calendar works brilliantly as well, but the same can't be said of Mail and Calendar on iOS or on Android. The opportunity is staring us all in the face.

The moment is now for Blackberry and I believe that this is the lifeboat that they need to get on.

Opinions

I am putting pen to paper, so to speak, after a break of more than four years. The last time I wrote the subject of the post, my little girl, was barely three months old and she will be five in a couple of months.

I intend to use this forum to discuss opinions and ideas inspired by and rising out of my daily life about the business of brands and about the world in general.

She Smiled.

I hate kids. Atleast, thats what I have spent most of my adult life saying. Believe you me, I really do hate them, I think they are pests, they are noisy and most of them learn the worst habits from their parents. In a nutshell, I think all kids are a royal pain in the backside!

Well, not all kids. All except one. My baby girl Dia. All through Jerusha's pregnancy we would ask each other at each ultrasound scan, if we felt any attachment to the kid and the answer from both of us would be an emphatic no. People who have been there, would smile knowingly and say, "just wait till you hold her in your arms for the first time". That happened and still, nothing. I could see Jeru get more and more attached each day when I came home from work. In a few short weeks, mother and daughter had developed a deep bond, but with me, nothing. Sure, I used to coo and make silly noises, but really deep down there was nothing. Four weeks in and while at work, I saw a picture of her on my own facebook page and suddenly I wanted to get home soon to be with her. I was relieved that maybe I wasn't the cold snake afterall, but sure enough, I got home, took one look, made some silly noises and went back to my television and watched my cold-blooded bretheren on NGC. I wondered will it ever change.

Jerusha had been telling me about how Dia had started smiling at her when she speaks to her while at the changing table, but I had never seen it, all I used to see was the wingy whiney baby in the evenings.

Then it happened, on Saturday morning, she was on the changing table kicking her legs while her mother changed her diaper. I walked up and said, "hello Dia" and she turned to me and gave the the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.

I am no longer a cold-blooded snake and not all kids are monsters.

Those that we left behind

Over the last few days of Diwali, we have on many occasions talked about our childhood days. My buddy Gautam is in town and we have been reliving the many Diwalis that we spent at Jagriti farm late at night after the Rajas had gone to sleep creating havoc with fireworks. For us the month leading up to Diwali was a month of planning and excitement. We would start collecting the bits and bobs that would aid in the extensive experimentation that went on every year during the festival of lights. Fused light bulbs, old curtain rods, clay pots, wire baskets, petrol, bricks, etc were collected and stashed, ready to educate us in the basic laws of physics and chemistry with some athletic training involved as well.

There were always 5 of us on these adventures, Warren, Nasser, Sumit, Gautam and myself and there was always loads of adventure, laughter, stupidity and noise all translating into great fun. Gautam, Sumit and I have gotten closer and have stayed in touch, but somewhere along the way we left Warren and Nasser behind or maybe we went in different directions. Last I heard, Warren was a chef in a cruise ship somewhere in the South Atlantic and Nasser was developing software in Jeddah.

I would like to say to them that Bangalore and Whitefield has changed so much that a Diwali like that seems a million years away. I am glad that we lived in Whitefield at a time when we could do stuff like that and really enjoy our childhood. It is a time we will all cherish.

I hope we all meet again soon.

Silver Lining

I was flying back from Hyderabad on Sunday evening and was treated to some incredible views by the evening Sun and the high cloud cover. Fortunately I had a client sitting with me who had a camera and I took some cool pictures. Check them out.

Who planned the traffic flow at the new Airport Road flyover?

I really would like to know this because he should be given an award for the bang up job he has done. I am, of course being extremely sarcastic. Anyone who has been driving up and down Airport Road in the last few days since the ramp to Koramangala opened will agree with me.

If you haven’t noticed this problem, allow me to explain with the aid of the map alongside – the traffic from Koramangala towards Airport goes over the flyover across Airport Road and takes the exit ramp and joins the traffic coming from MG Road or Domlur direction, while traffic going to Koramangala from MG Road and Domlur goes under the flyover and takes the entry ramp to the flyover. Now, it is safe to assume that the biggest share of traffic coming from Koramangala will not be going back there and will be heading towards Airport side and the larger section of traffic going to Koramangala will be coming from MG Road and Domlur side, so as a result all of this traffic has to cross each other causing utter confusion and mayhem.

This now is a permanent problem and as traffic volumes rise daily this can only get worse. It is good to know that the laws of nature haven’t changed and a little ineptitude can still cause years of damage to a city.

So if anyone knows the person or persons responsible for this pat them on the back and say thank you on behalf of Bangalore’s residents for the many years of chaos they have ensured will haunt our city in the future.

My Red Bus

The times are changing. A few days ago I was sitting in my red bus and crawling my way through Bangalore traffic when I saw a friend's dad in his car outside the window, lots of frantic waving and we both went our seperate ways. A couple of weeks later I met him again and he says to me "Life is so fast nowadays, two weeks ago I see you sitting in your red bus and here you are having been right around the world to California and back in the meanwhile, It never ceases to amaze me." And then he added "Almost as much as email does!"

I have used the car twice since I moved to Bangalore in June. The insane traffic has ensured that my mode of transport to work has been the new Volvo city buses run by the BMTC. They are the future of public transport in the city and definitely worth the high fares that are charged. When I stand at the Bus Stop and see a 331 E pull up and dont even consider getting in, I wonder how easy it is for us to move on to newer things. We adapt so quickly. India Today this week celebrates 30 years and had an article that talked about all the tech wonders of their time that have been lost in the wake of progress - the VCR, the typewriter, the rotary telephone, the moped, the TV roof antenna (something I always considered right out of Star Trek!), trunk booking (remember lightning call, urgent call and ordinary call classifications?), the red letter box, the list is endless.

Amidst all this progress that our generation is so comfortable with it makes me wonder is the previous generation able to keep up? Are they able to stay ahead of the wave that is snapping at their heels threatening to drown them. I used to get very impatient with my dad and his incessant questions about how to use his computer, I still do, but I have come to realise that my parents are the among resilient ones, just like my friends' parents, who have tried to keep up and are still at it, often using with ease, technology that they may not fully understand and may not really want to.

The change is faster every time it took longer for the medium to go from CD to DVD than it has from DVD to Blueray. It took ages to go from the old battered 331 E to the spanking new Volvo, but we will move to the metro rail in a flash. As we do this we are liable to leave some very important people by the wayside.

The next time you are riding in the red bus remember to keep a look out for the weary old gent and help him on.

The Rock

On a recent visit to San Francisco, I went on a tour of the Alcatraz Island Prison or as made famous by the Sean Connery, Ed Harris and Nicolas Cage movie, The Rock. It is a fantastic place and it make you realise that there are people in the world who spend their time thinking of ways to really mess with the minds of those shunned by society. The segregation began right from the very qualification by which you got sent to Alcatraz, this was the prison within the prison system, reserved for those that caused trouble even within the fortified walls of the US correction establishment. Many famous names have been there including Alphonso 'Scarface' Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz.

The choosing of this island had its reasons, from every window the inmates could see the mainland (just over a mile across the freezing waters), and they could see the beauty all around including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. They could see the birds and the trees but could not feel the fresh air and the thick bars reminded them of their predicament. A few well behaved prisoners got yard privileges and yet the irony was that the yard was the one place you could not see the world from, you could only feel the fresh air. I am sure many a man lost his mind at the rock.

There were two escape attempts of note one in 1946 and the other 16 years later. In May, 1946 what came to be known as the "Battle of Alcatraz" and the "Alcatraz Blastout began and six prisoners were able to overpower cell house officers and gain access to weapons and cell house keys - in effect, taking control of the cell house. Their plan began to fall apart when the inmates found they did not have the key to unlock the recreation yard door which was the planned exit into the open (makes me wonder how they planned to scale the 40 ft yard wall. Shortly thereafter, prison officials discovered the escape attempt. Instead of giving up, Bernard Coy, Joe Cretzer, Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson, and Clarence Carnes decided to fight it out. Eventually Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes returned to their cells, but not before the officers taken hostage were shot at point-blank range in execution style. About 18 officers were injured during the escape attempt. The U.S. Marines were eventually called out to assist. The escape attempt ended with the discovery of the bodies of Coy, Cretzer, and Hubbard. Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes stood trial for the death of the officers; Shockley and Thompson received the death penalty and were executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin in December 1948. Carnes, age 19, received a second life sentence.

The second attempt was made in 1962 by the only three men ever to get out alive. Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood played him in the movie Escape from Alcatraz) and the Anglin brothers Clarence and John dug their way out of their cells with spoons and used dummies of themselves to hide the fact that they were gone and climbed out to the roof through the ventilation system and escaped. No trace was found of the Anglin brothers, Morris' jacket was found on the shore, but noone knows if he made it or if he drowned and the jacket was washed ashore. They are still classified as fugitives.

The Rock was shut down in 1963 and the prison moved. The next time it received attention was when a large Native American group occupied the island for 19 months as a protest against the seizing of Indian land by the US government. They were peacefully relocated and the Island was made a national park.