Category: Blog

Top Tech Companies I Depend On In 2017 …..

Recently I read Farhad Manjoo’s article on nytimes.com about frightful five tech companies and his thought process on order of elimination . I realised that it has been few years since I have created a list of top 5 companies on whom I rely the most on a day-to-day basis.

So here’s my list of top 5 businesses where I have the most reliance for day-to-day services:

  1. Apple
    – iPhone
    – Macbook
    – iPad
    – Watch
    – iBooks
    – Apple TV
    – iCloud Services/Photos App
  2. Google (Alphabet)
    – Search
    – Youtube
    – Gmail
    – Google Drive
    – Google Photos
  3. Facebook
    – Facebook
    – Whatsapp
  4. Microsoft
    – Office 365
    – LinkedIn
    – Onedrive
  5. Netflix

Next, I wanted to go through the hypothetical scenario where I am being forced to eliminate these services from my life. I wanted to Identify the order in which I will eliminate them.

The first to go for me was Netflix. Not a surprise for me and I did not have to think too hard or wasn’t very emotional about it either. Surprisingly, Netflix is the second company in my list where I spend the most money on a yearly basis after Apple.

The next to go after Netflix was Facebook. I spend substantial time on both Facebook and Whatsapp connecting, socialising and learning. But thinking through it, as much as I will miss not having these services in my life, I can survive. I can go back to emailing and calling people and still being in touch! Also the amount of time I can get back through eliminating them was a no brainer.

Number three on my elimination list was Microsoft. Among productivity tools, my dependency on Office suite of products is very high (interesting that I am typing the draft of this post in OneNote too), followed by LinkedIn for professional networking. But again something I can live without if pushed for it.

The battle for the top spot became difficult. People who know me will know that I love my Apple devices but then without having access to the right services and applications, they will just be pretty awesome devices with little use. My reliance on Apple apps and services is minimal right now. I hardly use iWorks productivity suite. I don’t know what I will do without my iPhone, iPad and my Macbook Pro but hey the hardware itself does not keep me connected and productive.

The last one on my elimination list is Alphabet (Google) products. I have heavy reliance on all major Alphabet services such as mail, videos, storage and importantly search. If I had to give up using all other companies, I can downgrade myself to using Android (;) ;)) and use Google productivity suite, search using Google and entertain myself watching content on Youtube.

This thought experiment also lead me to think about importance of services eco system, but let’s leave that for another post.

What are the top 5 Organisations that you rely on the most and what would your elimination list look like?

On friendship

Something to ponder about on friendship..

I personally value a friendship based on the quality of my bond with the person rather than the qualities of the person. People with desirable traits by society standards don’t necessarily make “good friends”?—?I believe most of us can vouch for that.

from: What is friendship

Starting New Projects

With a New Year, a lot of us will be starting new projects (resolutions). Some will stick to starting one project, finish it and then move to the second. Lot more of us will start multiple projects at the same time. If you prefer to start one project at a time or multiple projects at a time, there is no right or wrong answer in my view. It’s a personal preference.

What’s more important is that for project/s (or a new year’s resolution), identify:

– Answer ‘why’ finishing the project is a “MUST” for you. If you can’t answer it, either scrape the project or find compelling ‘whys’
– A strong vision and how completing the project will benefit or make you happy
– What will you give up in order to work on the project [Remember we have limited time and attention]
– Doable chunks in which you can get started today
– Start TODAY and don’t wait.

Good luck.

Count on friends and not numbers

Now and then I hear and see people wowed by someone’s number of likes, followers on Twitter or number of Facebook friends. Differentiating between followers and real friends is important.

Your friends will be those that make you happy offline or online. One that stand by you in good and bad times and can sense the words behind the silence. Ten thousand likes on a post will make you happy in the moment and famous for 5 minutes, but real friends offer you a long-lasting companionship. Not all online followers are your friends or want to be one. They have their self-defined agendas most of the time.

This quote from Brené Brown is fitting.

socialmedia_friends

Stay ahead of the game or perish

The top headline in the tech sphere today is Foxconn replaces 60K workers with robots. Experts are seeing it from an economy perspective, employment perspective and then there are automation experts raving about the power of automation and bringing efficiency. And then there are some more.

Robots replacing Humans

Is this a shocking news? Ah, may be to a person who is going to lose the job. People should not be surprised by this. We have been implementing automation for increasing efficiency for many-many decades now. A simple message I have is if a worker or business does not stay ahead in the game, then starting digging a graveyard for your role.

This does not apply only to manufacturing industries but any other segment. Today artificial intelligence, business intelligence and many other types of intelligence are replacing jobs of information workers and bringing much more efficiency to the process. What can we do as individuals? Stay ahead. Identify the patterns, see where the industry is heading, research, learn, un-learn, get uncomfortable, make complacency a thing of past and start doing things computers or robots cannot do in the next two years. Not all of us are able to predict the future but we certainly can match its pace. And if you are a business, then there is a tough road ahead as you got to innovate but start by understanding what innovation really means for you.