Another revolution in air??

Guns were roaring in the sky...people were running in the streets..whole place was in conundrums...You will think of such a description like that usually reported after a car bomb etc in Baghdad. But this was different because people on streets were smilimg not sad, laughing and not fearful, as they were celebrating victory of there National Team in Asian Cup semi finals against Korea. What an inspirational story this has been for Iraqis..living in a war torn country with no resources required for competing at international level and then excelling in Asian Cup, defeating football majors like Australia and Korea.

Faces of Iraqi players were filled with tears...as their heroic goalkeeper later said in post match interview..that while people of their country fight on streets they symbolize their fight on field. This is there tribute to the valiant people of Iraq. Now they will be playing in finals against four time champions Saudi Arabia and it is great that two sides will fight not with bullets but with football in a field. It has been said that sports helps in bringing people together and abridging nations..lets hope same happens with largely divided Iraq of today and this football revolution spread a message of teamwork and unity in the area.

However this occasion should also sound as a final bell for us Indians that we should quickly improve upon our less favored sports. If countries like Iraq with limited resources can do this can India not even equal them with such a vast resources. What is needed is determination on part of people who run sport bodies in India and little more finances to be diverted from cricket.

iPod or iPhone

With the advent of iPhone in the market big question arises. Will iPhone be a great success as iPod??
Many people are trying to use the success of the feature lacking iPod as some sort of indication of the future success of the major feature lacking iPhone. There is one huge difference: the cell market is full of competent marketers, the MP3 player market was not. iPod succeeded for only one reason that it was the only one advertised to regular consumers. Apple was able to hoist an inferior player on an unsuspecting public because none of the competitors were willing to educate the public on the far superior alternatives. That won't happen in the cell market. Apple won in the MP3 market because they got a free ride. A properly educated consumer marketplace will quickly be informed of the iPhone's horrific restrictions and will stay away.

I think Apple has always been known for three things. Nicely designed products, a great operating system and hype. The first two speak for themselves. The iPhone is a "great looking" phone, but like many things Apple, the look covers up a lot of the "hype" in their products. The Ipod, for example, was a nicely designed MP3 player, but it wasnt the only great mp3 player on the market, but Apple got the name for itself. The master hype story. When public thought mp3 player, they immediately related an mp3 player with an Ipod.

So now Apple releases the iPhone. Another designer product from Apple. The problem is that I don't think the hype machine will work as well with a cell phone. Why? Well many consumers, not just techno geeks are familiar with and understand their cellphones. They are familiar with the tech behind them, the features available for them etc. Its not like some brand new technology that the average non techy users would know nothing about. Cellphones are very common, and hence, its not so easy to overhype it to a public that understands what is available on the market in comparison.

So yes there will be many fans who will buy it for the nice shiny OSX interface, but all too many savy business users know there is too much "missing" from this phone to warrant it a serious PDA/smartphone replacement. I think The Apple hype machine may run out of steam with the iphone.

However there is a counter view also. The first generation iPod looks primitive when compared to the latest version of the video iPod. I sure this will be the case for the iPhone as well. If the iPhone is successful,it will mature, I’m sure, in a wonderful way.

Finally where will lauch of iPhone lead would lead Apple to with its coffers already overflowing due to ever increasing iPod sales.