Thought Garage

Earlier this year, I tried to gather What Indians are searching for .  The results I found were quite interesting and a few are little surprising too. Over the last 6 months I have observed a clear change in that trend. More Indians are increasingly looking for Investments, Auto and Digital gadgets. Entertainment is no longer in the top of the list towards the end of the year of those elite few who access Internet regularly. See the top 10 gaining queries as in November 2007. The November numbers clearly consolidates the trend that I have been trying to predict for some time.   (Source: Google Press Center: Zeitgeist )

Apple's iPhone is without any doubt has been considered as the "Best Gadget" of 2007, for it has dramatically changed our Cellular Lifestyles. It would be unfair if we limit iPhone to just that. It has completely changed the meaning of a Cellular Phone. Time's Invention of the Year and Top 10 Gadgets of 2007 No wonder, it has been named Time Magazine's Invention of the Year 2007: iPhone . And also, Time Magazine's Top 10 Gadgets of 2007 gives iPhone No.1 slot: The iPhone changed the way we think about how mobile media devices should look, feel and perform. The design is exceptional inside and out: NPR's Best Technology Innovation of The Year NPR's Morning Editions cites iPhone as the Best Technology Innovation of the Year Tech guru Mario Armstrong claims the iPhone as the best technology innovation of the year. The iPhone's touch-screen technology, visual voicemail, and integration of the digital camera, iTune software brough...

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If you haven’t noticed, Mobile or a cell phone is no longer just a phone that we knew. Today, we CAN take pictures, record video, access email, browse internet, download music, watch TV, use cell phone as a smart card, pay at a shop, listen to podcasts, write your blog and the list goes on almost endless. NPR's Eric Weiner wrote an interesting summary of how Mobile phones are changing our lifestyles here .  Few interesting snips: Americans spend, on average, seven hours a month talking on their cell phones, but that figure doesn't capture how much the cell phone has become a part of our lives. It is, as one researcher put it, "a second skin"— itchy at times and prone to blemishes but something that increasingly we can't imagine living without. 2007 will likely be the first year in which Americans spend more on cell phone calls than land line ones. In other ways, too, cell phones are changing how we relate to one another. On the other hand,...

Listen to this 5 minute special on how Mobile phones are changing the lifestyles in India: All Things Considered , December 24, 2007 · In India, people use cell phones for more than just talking and texting — they're entertainment tools, as well. Partly because broadband Internet access isn't widely available for computers, Indians use their cell phones to download and share music and watch videos — especially swapping MP3s and watching musical numbers from Bollywood movies. Listen Now NPR : Cell Phones Do Double Duty in India

Read NPR's report on Animation Industry's increasing reliance on Indian Designers to produce stunning animations for Hollywood. Both The Golden Compass and Alvin and the Chipmunks used digital animation that was created in Mumbai. India is rapidly becoming a player in the global cultural marketplace, and animation is no exception. Los Angeles-based animation company Rhythm & Hues worked on the films from their Hollywood offices — and from the offices that they have opened in India. Employees stay in contact through daily video conferencing, bridging 12 time zones and 13,000 miles. NPR : Frame by Frame, Animation Moves to India Also read  " Ancient Indian Tales Inspire a Modern Indian Art " .. in a building on a quiet residential street downtown, an army of Indian animators is working to export their culture to the rest of the world. Their source material: The elaborate pantheon of Hindu mythology.

TCS released results of a survey conducted by Dynamic Markets on behalf of TCS recently. Folks from TCS suddenly think that they uncovered something new. I am not sure I understood the revelation part of their press release. 1 in 3 companies’ IT projects fail to perform against expectations. Yet despite these worrying levels of failure to deliver, 43% of organizations say that their business managers and the Board accept problems as the norm. This attitude is especially common in Europe (44%) and Asia-Pac (48%). ( Source ) Consider the snip, I understand, released in 1995 revealing something about IT Project failures. According to the Standish Group ... ... only about one-sixth of all projects were completed on time and within budget , nearly one third of all projects were canceled outright, and well over half were considered "challenged." Of the challenged or canceled projects, the average project was 189 percent over budget, 222 percent behind schedule, and c...