Reliance WiMAX
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Yesterday at the Barcamp, someone mentioned that Reliance has been running a trial of WiMAX with speeds upto 2 Mbps in Bangalore, for consumers. It was hard to believe for me so I did a bit of digging. And sure enough the Blogosphere has some news about it. Unfortunately the Reliance Website has nothing. But on the above post someone has posted a number which can be called up. So if you are looking for Broadband and no one in your area is giving out any, then call Mr. Thakrunath at 98863 49624.
Tags: WiMAX, Reliance Communication, Broadband, Bangalore, India
Tags: WiMAX, Reliance Communication, Broadband, Bangalore, India
The Chasm and Mobile Applications
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
I have been reading a lot about marketing these days. One of the fundamental theories is the Technology Adoption Lifecycle. It categorizes the consumers into specific segments of early adopters, pragmatists and laggards. As it turns out, the classic Bell Curve can be applied here as well. The early adopters form around 13 percent, the early and late pragmatists around 70 % and the rest are laggards. Each segment also has definite characteristics. For any new product the segment should be identified and only one at a time should be targeted. Otherwise it leads to confusion.
For disruptive technologies, those which require a significant change in user behavior, there is a gap between the early adopters and the pragmatists. Successful products are the ones which have managed to cross this chasm and become more widely adopted. Unfortunately, no one really knows what causes the pragmatists to adopt something a particular technology. The book, Crossing The Chasm provides some generic strategy. But it would differ from product to product.
Now mobile phones, as a product have definitely crossed the chasm. It is in the late pragmatists stage right now. But can we say the same thing about mobile applications? I think most of the mobile applications have failed to cross this chasm. And most of the applications have ignored the behavioral change aspect of it. We are used to applications on the desktop. But migrating the same application on the mobile creates severe usability issues which hinders the mass adoption.
Take for example, internet browsing on the phone. The user experience is completely different from what we do on the PC. The behavioral change needed is huge. As a result its still in the early adopter phase. Same thing goes for all other mobile applications which have a desktop counterpart.
So whats the way out? I think we should stop approaching mobile as a replacement for the PC. Its a new computing platform and applications with forge their own way should be developed for it. So instead of trying to replicate the Firefox or IE on the phone, we should be thinking of approaching internet browsing on the mobile in a new way. What that way is still to be discovered!
Here's some more links for reading about this theory:
Act Your Age!
Ten Reasons High Tech Companies Fail.
Tags: Marketing, Technology Lifecycle, Mobile Applications, Mobile Internet.
For disruptive technologies, those which require a significant change in user behavior, there is a gap between the early adopters and the pragmatists. Successful products are the ones which have managed to cross this chasm and become more widely adopted. Unfortunately, no one really knows what causes the pragmatists to adopt something a particular technology. The book, Crossing The Chasm provides some generic strategy. But it would differ from product to product.
Now mobile phones, as a product have definitely crossed the chasm. It is in the late pragmatists stage right now. But can we say the same thing about mobile applications? I think most of the mobile applications have failed to cross this chasm. And most of the applications have ignored the behavioral change aspect of it. We are used to applications on the desktop. But migrating the same application on the mobile creates severe usability issues which hinders the mass adoption.
Take for example, internet browsing on the phone. The user experience is completely different from what we do on the PC. The behavioral change needed is huge. As a result its still in the early adopter phase. Same thing goes for all other mobile applications which have a desktop counterpart.
So whats the way out? I think we should stop approaching mobile as a replacement for the PC. Its a new computing platform and applications with forge their own way should be developed for it. So instead of trying to replicate the Firefox or IE on the phone, we should be thinking of approaching internet browsing on the mobile in a new way. What that way is still to be discovered!
Here's some more links for reading about this theory:
Act Your Age!
Ten Reasons High Tech Companies Fail.
Tags: Marketing, Technology Lifecycle, Mobile Applications, Mobile Internet.
Collective Hopping
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Its the newest fad in town. :) Its Barcamp'ing time again. The format has been tweaked a bit and instead of speakers and tracks, we have collectives. And going by the number of collectives, I think I'll do some "collective hopping". Promises to be load of fun.
See you there.
Tags: Barcamp, Bangalore, India.
See you there.
Tags: Barcamp, Bangalore, India.
