Rajesh Jain

E-Waste

Wired writes about computer recycling: “The refuse from discarded electronics products, also known as e-waste, often ends up in landfills or incinerators instead of being recycled. And that means toxic substances like lead, cadmium and mercury that are commonly used in these products can contaminate the land, water and air.”

I have often mentiond that what is needed is that the old computers should be sent to emerging markets like India where they can become the desktops for the next set of users. What has so far been missing is the software to leverage these old computers. This is where a server-centric computing solution like Emergic Freedom comes in.

SpamNet

SpamNet is “a new e-mail filtering program using the same technology that allowed Napster users to swap music online, is helping its users banish unsolicited bulk e-mails from their inboxes — and protect other people from the spam at the same time.” It has been developed by Cloudmark Inc. Writes WSJ:

The program works like this: After downloading the software add-on to Microsoft Corp.’s Outlook e-mail program, users can simply hit SpamNet’s “block” button whenever they receive an e-mail they deem to be spam. The twist: Not only is that message and similar pitches blocked for that single user, but any identical message subsequently sent out to other SpamNet users will automatically be filtered into the “spam” mailbox of all the users on the system. Users can review the messages in their spam folders before they are deleted.

SpamNet scans the content of the message and creates a unique identifier for each marketing message. The theory is that the marketing pitch is the most important part of any spam message, and thus, the least likely to be changed.

“The one thing they care about is the marketing message,” says Mr. Karl Jacob, Cloudmark CEO. “It’s how they make money and it doesn’t change a lot.” He adds that the software is designed to check each message’s attributes against the database of known spam, so that even similar — but not exactly identical — messages will be blocked.

Over time, each person builds up a reputation within the system according to how many other users agreed with their spam choices. That reputation in turn determines how much weight SpamNet gives their future choices.

According to the company, the “trust” component of the application accomplishes two things: It protects SpamNet from being compromised by bulk e-mail senders who might “unblock” their own spam. And it creates a sense of community.

Managing Email

A story from a WSJ reader (Michael B. Johnson) on how to manage email overload:

Years ago, I was comparing notes with my fellow grad student at the MIT Media Lab and housemate, Joe Chung. We were discussing various faculty and students and their e-mail abilities.

We easily agreed on who was the smoothest e-mailer of them all — our fearless leader, the founder and director of the Media Lab, Nicholas Negroponte. Nicholas always got back to you within eight hours, and as MIT grad students, we pretty much invented the term “odd working hours,” so we appreciated sending mail at 11 p.m. and getting a response at 3 a.m. Nicholas also always seemed to answer the question, even if it wasn’t the answer you wanted.

We puzzled over it for a bit, trying to figure out why Nicholas always seemed in command. And then we summed it up — Nicholas always “put the onus of communication back on the sender” (you can tell we were in grad school — we used words like “onus” naturally).

For example, I sent Nicholas e-mail one time about some hardware the lab was supposed to be getting. Nicholas got back to me a few hours later, sending me mail from Greece. He said that he wasn’t sure when it was to arrive, but X would probably know, if I wanted to track them down. Either way, when he was back in the office the following week, if I pinged him then he would get me a definitive answer.

Well, see, this is brilliant. Nicholas tells you as much as he remembers about it at that moment, and then says “ask me next week”. Of course, most of the time you don’t remember to ask next week. This isn’t bad — odds are good that things sorted themselves by themselves (i.e. the equipment showed up) or I tracked down X and found out myself, or it wasn’t really that important.

Either way, Nicholas is done. Message dealt with.

Over the years, I’ve tried to have similar discipline.

Wow. We’re reconsidering those times we wondered if Mr. Negroponte was really such a genius. That’s the most elegant defense against e-mail overload we’ve ever run across. And so simple. Call it e-mail jujitsu.

Continue reading Managing Email

Outsourcing to India

The one bright spot in the tech business is the software and business process outsourcing to India. Writes the Economist:

The appeal of outsourcing has soared, especially to low-cost offshore locations such as India. As a result, the export revenues of India’s software services market reached $6.2 billion last year, up from under $500m in the mid-1990s.

At some point, the Indian firms may find themselves facing a choice similar to that now confronting IBM, EDS and others: move to a lower-cost location or become uncompetitive. Some day, China, Russia or the Philippines are likely to emerge as a seriously competitive threat to Indian outsourcing. The current thinking in India is that it has a window of three to five years before those countries match its value for money in outsourcing.

The leading Indian outsourcers reckon that the key to their long-term prosperity is bagging ever larger deals and moving ever higher up the value chain.

I had written about Outsourcing in yesterday’s Tech Talk.

TECH TALK: 2003 Expectations: The Real New Markets

Amidst all the action in 2003, one market segment which will get a lot of attention: the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Microsofts acquisitions of Great Plains and Navision, along with its planned entry into the CRM software segment, will change the dynamics of the sector. The 25 million SMEs across the world are one of enterprise technologys last frontiers. Technology adoption by these businesses has still been very limited. Making them e-businesses is the next big challenge and opportunity.

The other big untapped market consists of the non-users of computing in the worlds emerging countries like India and China. As income levels rise, the computer becomes affordable to a growing class of users.

There is one thing common to both these segments the need for technology at much lower price points than what it has been available at so far. Hardware, Software and Communications need to be become affordable for the next set of users. 2003 will see efforts made to tap into these markets by the existing technology leaders, but they will fail because the price points are not likely to be right. Todays leaders still dont see these markets as being large from a financial standpoint they face the Innovators Dilemma.

The combination of four elements will help in opening up these new markets: the use of recycled PCs from the developed countries to slash the cost of new computers to under USD 100 (Rs 5,000), the use of open-source software to cut cost of software, Wi-Fi to provide a high-speed wireless network, and services to tie the whole solution together. The magic formula which needs to be applied: lag hardware by one generation and combine with latest ideas in software, with the emphasis on making technology like a utility.

These are the markets which provide the next set of opportunities for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The needs of these new consumers and enterprises are likely to be different from technologys first set of users. The new set of users that need to be targeted in 2002 are like the new users the computer makers must have targeted in 1982. Creating a simpler interface, bridging islands of enterprise data, and providing for real-time access technology can make all this possible.

Overall, 2003 is thus likely to be a year of incremental innovation rather than dramatic breakthroughs. In that respect, it is also a great opportunity for incubating new ideas. The impact of technology in the world has just begun. The industry may have matured but that is only in the developed markets. The world is a very different place if we look at it from one of its developing countries. The digital divide runs deep across much of society. Will 2003 see the creation of the first sustainable and replicable digital bridges?

Continue reading TECH TALK: 2003 Expectations: The Real New Markets

Inner India

As I was travelling through much of rural India, I couldn’t help thinking (as I always do when I am there) how little has changed in the interiors of India. Yes, there are more schools, STD-PCOs, Cable TV, higher literacy levels. But, village/rural life in India has been laregly unaffected by the modernisation that India’s cities are going through. The same is perhaps true even in places like China.

I got thinking on the problems and what can be done. The goal must be to make villages self-sufficient. Only then will migration to the urban and semi-urban areas stop. Villages have to be given access to the opportunities of the world outside. Have some thoughts on these – which I will perhaps build out into a Tech Talk series.

In a nutshell, what’s needed is water, electricity, food, connectivity, and perhaps more importantly, a future. For water, one could look at rainwater harvesting. For electricity, consider solar power. For food, better agricultural techniques to increase effciency of the land cultivated. For connectivity, think of telecentres with computers and Internet access. On providing a future, one must think of providing the local people opportunities to use their talents (especially at making art and crafts) which can be marketed to audiences outside their geography and even internationally, via a site like eBay.

Admittedly, these are simplistic ideas. I havent lived in a village for 20+ years – have just been an occasional traveller through some of them. But I cannot help feeling that we have to think solutions of how technology (and Emergic) can make a difference to their lives. After all, much of India (and the populace in emerging markets) still resides in villages.

Software Startups

Writing in Forbes, Rich Karlgaard asks if software startups can succeed and proffers the following tip: “Forget trying to be mission critical. No CIO in America is going to bet his company on a little-known startup. Go after a niche, and then work like hell to make your customer happy. Worried you’ll get trapped in the niche? Think of PeopleSoft. It started out selling software for human relations departments. PeopleSoft worked its way up the ladder–always thrilling customers at each rung–and now sells mission-critical supply-chain software. Over time PeopleSoft won the market’s permission to move upscale. It can be done.”

I think software startups should seriously consider looking at emerging markets. The people and enterprises in these markets are the ones who now need to use technology to bridge their own versions of the digital divide. Affordability is an important aspect of what they want.

Rediscovering BBC World Service

Recently, on a trip through India, I took my short wave radio (Sony’s ICF-SW12) with me. Its a small but very powerful radio. As I travelled through Rajasthan and Gujarat cut-off from the world of cellphones and English newspapers, the radio, and specifically BBC World Service, was a great way to stay in touch with the world. It brought back memories of my childhood when the BBC and I were virtually inseparable. In the past few years, the Internet and to a small extent the TV have replaced where I get my news from.

As I experienced the joys of radio listening, I couldn’t help thinking that the radio is a much better experience than TV. With TV, one’s hand is always on the remote, looking to flip channels at the earliest. Attention span is very limited. With radio, concentration is complete. There are no distractions. One can close one’s eyes and imagine the picture being painted by what one is hearing on radio. It’s like watching a book as compared to seeing the movie. The book lets one create our own imaginary worlds – each of us can build our own worlds.

That’s why I feel one of the best gifts for a growing child/teen should be a shortwave radio. It opens one up to the world in a way TV cannot. The BBC has some great programmes. While I do listen to the world news every morning on radio, am beginning to think I should spend a little more time with the radio. There was a time 15 years ago when I had memorised their entire schedule! The radio remains for me a window to the world. Am glad I re-opened it.

There’s Game Strategy

From WSJ about an video game launched by There, whiich is hoping that “people pay real money to help virtual characters buy make-believe stuff”:

There hopes to be paid by companies such as Web portals and ski resorts to build themed virtual destinations for promotional purposes or to produce revenue.

The company’s monetary policy is even more striking. There will give users ways to earn fictitious currency that they can spend on virtual homes, entertainment and goods. For example, members are expected to try on and buy virtual shoes from Nike Inc. and apparel from Levi-Strauss Co. at animated kiosks in There, and buy real-world items by clicking on an Internet link.

In the virtual world created by the start-up There, characters explore, flirt and play, sometimes with virtual pets, in a range of exotic settings that includes a dark forest, a tropical island, a city in the clouds and a replica of ancient Egypt. They can chat and display emotions based on typed commands.

The key difference in There: Users will also be able to trade real money for play money, using credit cards to buy additional “Therebucks” beyond those they earn or those that come with their subscriptions.

A related story from San Jose Mercury News:

I contrast to the ordinary towns and cities of “he Sims Online,” There is creating exotic destinations: a tropical resort, the Egyptian pyramids, a cloud city and a realm with dark forests and glowing crystals. Users can explore the world in dune buggies or “hoverboards” that are like surfboards that float a few feet off the ground.

What really sets There apart is its lifelike avatars, or the characters that allow the users to express themselves in the world. Users can tailor these alter egos to look like themselves and wear fancy clothes from Nike or Levi.

The objects and the avatars don’t necessarily look real, but they move with realistic physics, so that a walking person has correct movements. Users can type messages to others, and their avatars can act out the emotions related to the words that the user types. Users also can talk in their own voices.

Continue reading There’s Game Strategy

Unwiring the Last Mile

A good article from Network Magazine on the wireless options for the last mile connectivity. “While carriers and their representatives in congress argue over the fate of aging copper telephone lines, researchers are developing new Wireless Local Loop (WLL) systems that could make them irrelevant. If the companies developing the technology are to be believed-and they have trials and early customer deployments that look promising-WLL offers higher data rates than DSL, covering a wider area at a lower cost.”