Curious Log

Archive

Older writing from 2008 onwards, kept for the record.

  • The new lows of Indian Journalism

    We have all been torchered by the Breaking News and their younger cousins of the dancing/singing & reality-show fames. For some like me, it meant an almost complete…

  • ABCDJ – what now

    In India, the Telecom Value-Added-Services (VAS) was referred to as the business of ABCDJ – Astro, Bollywood, Cricket, Devotion and Jokes. This was the volume and revenue driver…

  • German Engineering but definitely Chinese manufacturing

    Todays Times of India (TOI) was a pleasant surprise for most readers. The lucky few were the ones to experience a nice innovation in advertising – something that…

  • Labour strike in China- the new chapter begins

    Business dailies have been covering the current strike at the Honda plant in China where workers have demanded an almost 500 Yuan increase in their monthly wages. Interestingly…

  • The data-wars have begun

    While the whole country was watching the 3G license bidding rounds, Aircel was probably working towards its first data-centric product- Peek. Launched with a lot of noise, Peek…

  • How much should we pay

    Amazing little discussion today, which brought forth the consumer perception about pricing. A guy walks upto the apartment across the road & offers to remove the bee-nest. He…

  • Why Rural Tourism

    What exactly pulls tourists to our villages ? – The clean air & pollution free environ thats hard to find in cities – The “poor, hungry people” as…

  • Apples iAds coming soon

    Apple just announced its official foray into mobile ad networks – iAds. This is sure to change a lot of things in the rapidly growing mobile ad industry.…

  • Organized retail in residential areas

    The frequent (and usually negative-themed) coverage of the fortunes of most organised retailers has left most wondering as to what really went wrong for most retailers. While I…

  • Value of Marketing

    I remember my MBA days when I thought I had made a very smart decision to not take up any marketing courses. I felt as if it was…

  • Ambassador push-starting a Santro

    Yday while driving to work, I witnessed a not-so-uncommon scene, a hassled guy trying to push his car since the battery had conked off in the Delhi winter.…

  • Why entertainment Sells?

    On my recent trip into the Kumaon region, I noticed that almost every second house had a DTH connection – with the dish antenna being flashed at every…

  • Has the BlackBerry revolution begun?

    Last couple of weeks, I have been amazed at the number of users who have been flashing their BlackBerries. All my friends have one – whether they are…

  • Mobile Advertising & the Indian market

    Advertising on the small screen aka the mobile handset has been a hot area for quite some time. We have seen multiple models come – some to stay…

  • Road to Kargil & Drass

    What began as a fall-back plan (with the rains playing spoil sport to the Ladakh trekking plans),the trip to kargil & Drass became one of the best road…

  • Letting Destiny build the Itenary – From Leh to Kargil

    I have always been a firm believer that best of the trips happen when you dont really plan them, when you have the freedom and time to take…

  • Rural telecom users price insensitive?

    Read an interesting report in the ET today, based on some survey conducted by Credit Suisse. They survey found that the rural consumers are more quality consicous and…

  • Will TATA’s Nano command a premium

    The much hyped release of Nano was a welcome change in these recession hit times. For once both the consumers and the manufacturers were speaking in highly positive…