Can you live without the Internet?

Sometime last year, I wrote a post about how life would be without the internet! To be honest, I thought it would be very boring - and maybe it would!

The last few months, I have sort of restricted my use of the Internet... not by choice! I have a netbook, which does not allow certain device drivers required for using a data card. So my quick fix - hotspot on my phone.

Flipside of this is, I cannot use the internet as much as I‘d probably have liked to! For instance... I cannot watch movies online or download movies, songs or tv shows! But I‘m still doing everything I would otherwise have done.

For instance, right now, to write this blog, I‘m using my phone, instead of the laptop... for reasons best known to me...

The fact is, I would love to test the limit of living without the laptop, instead of without the Internet (which proves far far more challenging!).

Life without the Internet, includes life without Whatsapp!! Which means I pay for all my texts! I doubt I can live without being in touch through some medium!! In fact, I doubt anyone with a smartphone would be upto the challenge!?

New Years Resolution!

It's that time of year - when you start thinking about the year gone by, and the year that lies ahead. Nearly everyone thinks of the same thing - I will change this year! It will not be the same as it's been all these years! It has to be different.

One year later, you think of exactly the same thing! I've been trying to think of my new years resolution for ages!!! Ever since mid-December... and I have come to one conclusion - I will not keep it anyways, so why bother thinking of one?!

Nevertheless, I did make a resolution, and true to new year resolution rules, I did not stick to it for even a day!! But I will start (hopefully this year itself!)

So what was this big new years resolution that I thought of - decided to keep it simple - Finish what I started!

NOAH - I'm going to take the next step and make sure NOAH works the way I wanted it to!! 1 hour a day, that's all I will spend on it - the YouTube series, the website, the blog, the facebook and twitter accounts - anything and everything!

Some day soon, I will start working on it - Again!! 

Amchi Mumbai...

London, Delhi... and Mumbai, all within a few months! Its been incredible! I had hardly finished my welcome back parties, and I already had to start saying my good byes! Honestly, I never expected it to happen so soon!!! For some reason, we just tend to think we have all the time in the world to say what we have to!!

Truth be told, we don't! I never managed to say a hi or a bye to many of my friends back in Delhi! But nonetheless, Mumbai and Delhi are much closer than London and Delhi! So I keep telling myself, either I'll go there soon, or they'll come here soon!

Unlike many other countries, each city here is very different from one another! Delhi and Mumbai are poles apart! I for one have always been a 'Delhite', but now, I'm set to become a Mumbaikar!

Part of the excitement of being here is that I already know half the places - of course, living in a place and visiting the place are 2 completely incomparable things! But I'm ready to make Mumbai my new home - it's always been my second home!

Amchi Mumbai... Hope you live upto my expectations!!! :) 

Memories... Back in Time...

9 months ago, I landed in London at around 5 in the evening. My first thoughts - Has London changed since I last visited? Is the Baggage claim as bad as I've heard? I hope some of my friends are still in London!

The rush of questions was interrupted by the view outside the window. I could see London - from way up there, it looked just like it had the last time. My feelings about landing were just the same - only difference - this time round, I knew I had to stay here for a year. So this was going to be my home for the next one year - not just another vacation spot!

The view looked nice. To make sure I could hold onto those images, I used my petty phone camera and started clicking pictures. After a while, I stopped with the pictures and started trying to figure out where my place was, and whether I could see Russell Square Garden from up there - clearly I had my perceptions skewed - I had mixed up Russell Square and Regent's Park! So I thought Russell Square was huge, when it was actually not as big - not that I could see either of them from up there!

I saw a car park...

and some houses.... 

and then some more houses... 

Finally I gave up, and just waited for the plane to land. My thoughts shifted towards what my new life would be like. I was sitting next to another Indian student who was going to study in UCL. At that point, I had no idea that my classes would be held in UCL's Birkbeck. I just presumed that it would be far. 

A new city - all new people (except the few who I knew)... Looking back, I never thought I would be sad just thinking of going back. But the fact is, I am! Right now, we have 60 days of our course left. I would love to go back and meet my friends! But then again, I want to stay here forever! Although I must admit, when I think about it, I do crave going to some places and doing some things which I just can't do here!!

I'm in a fix... If I stay here, I'll miss Delhi... If I go back, I'll miss London... I need a job which will allow me to travel between the 2 and a whole list of other places on my travel list.

Pinning Away

"Pinterest -  A content sharing service that allows members to "pin" images, videos and other objects to their pinboard. Also includes standard social networking features ..."

That's what you see when you search for the platform on Google. That's pretty much what it is about, but it provides for a whole day's worth of entertainment. My own perception - Pinterest is like a mesh up of Facebook and Google Images! 

So, for those of you who are unaware of what Pinterest is, here's what it looks like: 

The pictures are pinned onto a board which users create. So for instance, I have some 6-7 boards, and I have given a theme to each board. So if I was to pin the image of the lanterns (above), I would pin it to 'Just Beautiful', but the picture of the cat or the house would go on another board. 

After YouTube, I'd say Pinterest is the best site to keep you busy, browsing the whole day - I'm quite sure you wouldn't get bored! 

If you add the 'Pin It' button to your browser, you can pin anything from any website to boards of your choice. Studying digital marketing, my mind keeps shifting to how this could be leveraged by marketers - and the answer is right in front of you! When I pin any item, it gets shared with all my friends (the same effect as sharing an image on facebook or twitter has). However because it has only images, it becomes a lot more appealing, You can make sure that images of your product are shared via Pinterest with ease. Just add the 'Follow us on Pinterest' or 'Pin It' button to your website. 

Apart from the marketing stand point, of all the social networks that have come and tried to overthrow Facebook, Pinterest seems to have taken a huge slice of cake when it comes to customer engagement.

Again, like I mentioned in my post about whether Facebook and Google will be around 10 years down the line, the whole debate and question about mobility comes to the fore front. Pinterest, is far more 'mobile' friendly than either of the other platforms. When you take a picture of something you've eaten at a restaurant, the chances of you sharing it with your friends are high. Now imagine, a friend of yours wants to make plans with some other friends about having the same dinner, all he has to do is pin it to his board and either tag his friends. 

You could argue that they could do the same on Facebook. Yes they can. And till now, they have. But with people increasingly liking the idea of browsing content that interests them and being able to store it in one place, I have no doubts that Pinterest, with a good mobile app, will overthrow the Facebook over the next couple of years - unless the later buys them out! 

For now, happy pinning!!   

Will Facebook, Google be around 5-10 years from now?

I came across an article a while ago, about whether or not Facebook will be around in a few years from now. The opinion of the article was - most likely, no. In fact, it would be wrong to say just Facebook will not be around, the write-up actually referred to Google, Facebook and several other websites we're hooked-to. The reason - not because they are not popular, or because they are going bankrupt. The reason was quite simple - they cannot adapt. Just like MySpace went out (though it still exists), so will Facebook!

Remember the time you jumped to Yahoo or Lycos or Alta Vista everytime you wanted to search for something? And how many of you had email ids on every website that popped up?

How many of you remember ICQ? Do you remember your number? I don't! Though I do know a few friends who do. How about your Hi5 account? How often do you visit that? They all still exist, but few ever visit such sites. We just changed our minds and started using things which were easier to use! In more techie terms we shifted from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0

When I look back, I used all of these platforms. But I was never able to stay hooked to one! The whole idea of using the internet is to make life simpler - so when a newer (and simpler) site comes up, I switch, as do many others! When I realised that all my friends were shifting to Facebook, I did it too! Though I have often wondered why?

I have seen this shift very often -- MySpace to Facebook, Orkut to Hi5 and then to Facebook, and then off late, people often choose between Twitter and Facebook. I'm guessing its because we all have one reason for using social networks - to keep in touch with people. So if people shift, so do we. But that begs the question, why do they start shifting? The 'whys' can be answered by psychology, and although I wish I was an expert at it, I'm not.

Coming back to the topic, the reason why Facebook and Google may not be around in a few years from now, is because the companies cannot adapt as quickly as we do. If we have started using our phones more than our computers, it is in Facebook's and Google's interest to ensure they have mobile versions of the site. But not just mobile versions. It's the whole experience of using the site that needs to be translated to a mobile platform.

On a personal note, I sort of agree - Google Search may be mobile friendly, but not the other Google products - I mean, how many 'Google' products do you have on your phone/tablet? Even for all the Android users, do you use Google Goggles or Google Earth or Google Latitude?

But then again, can you imagine having to send 'friend requests' to all your friend again? Or starting to get used to a new platform altogether? - Not that Facebook hasn't trained us for it, with all their changes to the way you use your profile, there is no doubt, we're all experts at getting used to new social networks in a giffy - We love Pinterest don't we?

But as of now, thinking of a world without Facebook and Google although tough, is not impossible! 

A simple example that I thought of when reading the article was - Whatsapp. We all use Whatsapp, but did it occur to anyone that you can use G-Talk, Skype or any other such messenger across all platforms?  Or was it because there is no G-Talk for iPhone? and no Skype for Blackberry? I guess that is exactly what the articles means by it will lose out!

Now imagine if tomorrow Whatsapp launches a profile option allowing you to share status updates with your friends? Oh wait, it already does that right? You can share statuses, create groups, share pictures, videos, etc - you just can't share it with everyone without 'chatting' with them! But if they do bring such features in, would you start using those instead of Facebook? 

UKBA - Studying in the UK, a Wrong Choice?

For the last 6 weeks, I have been working on various school projects and had sort of forgotten what the end goal was! But today, I was suddenly reminded of the real deal - study here, but be ready to pack your bags soon! Why?

I'm studying in an American University in UK, but I happen to be an Indian! I should have either chosen to go to US and study at the campuses there or I should have made sure I got into a UK university - either of the two might have made things easier - MUCH easier!

But am I sad about my choice? NO!

My experience at Hult London has been amazing - to say the least. Working with real companies for nearly all our class projects has made sure that we can take on any sort of project. But today, I realised that for many of us, non-EU students, working in the UK will be tougher than expected.

For instance, I read this article today, that said 'Genuine Students are Welcome'. The point is, sure you say you're welcoming 'genuine' students, but are you really? One could argue, that since Hult is an American university, I should not be cribbing - I made a choice. But I do know students from UK universities who are facing problems just like me. Why?

When the visa rules were enforced last year, many companies decided to ensure that they only get EU applicants (or at least those allowed to work in UK). This meant, that you cannot even apply for some jobs if you say you're not an EU resident. That's it. Full Stop. End of Matter.

Now that the rules have changed, it should get easier to get a job for international students. The key word here is SHOULD. With restrictions of how long you can work for and how much they have to earn, etc, there are few chances that companies will want to hire them.

That being said, international students have a better chance getting educated and 'employable' in US or Australia because they can at least work there for a few years after studying.

There is nothing wrong with trying to protect the interest of your own citizens - but one should think of the repercussions of doing so. The tough visa rules, clearly reflects in the reduction in the number of applicants to UK universities. UK earns a large part of its revenue from international students. This number dropped last year, and I am sure it will drop further this year - does this benefit UK citizens?

Why would foreign students come to the UK if they know at the end of the day, they are going to have to cope with their loans/finances by getting jobs elsewhere? Wouldn't they rather study 'elsewhere'?

I agree that since I knew the laws were changing, I should have chosen more thoughtfully - so does that mean, my decision to study in the UK was wrong?