With limited overs format becoming more dominant, bowlers who can wobble the ball or do unconventional things, will succeed. As a batsman, before you sort them out, you are gone- as strike rate dictates the intent.
The Chinese, never short of puzzles and mind games, are know for sneaking in fringe and awkward players in World Table Tennis Championships (in the early '80s the forehand and backhand rubbers could be the same color, which meant anti-spin and fuzzy surfaces looked the same as fast topspin surfaces). Such players would eventually be sorted out, but not before they knocked a few top Europeans in the early rounds. By the time you got to the quarter finals, the medals table looked Chinese- nothing puzzling about that.
Will the T20 era promote and launch players who are one season wonders? I am not suggesting that Praveen Kumar, Sohail Tanvir or Mendis do not have a future as regular bowlers- they are good since they did grow up during the 90s, watching and learning the basics from great bowlers. But the next generation may throw up those Chinese wonders who will puzzle batsmen, and be gone once the puzzle is solved, much like the Rubic cube. But with the dollars flowing in, one IPL or a few T20s is all they might need.
Watchout for the China-men, they need not be bowling left-hand googly.
Saumil
Mumbai
July 15, 2007
Jul 15, 2008
iPhone 3G delivers the Original Internet Promise?
I have always maintained that the commercial fallout of the internet and B2C in the 90s was not due to 'revenue model' issues. It was the interface, stupid! And the interface is not just a point and click thing- it about the way you interact with the machine to accomplish tasks- or rather avoiding those cumbersome things that you should not be doing, which undermine the very 'reach-out' advantage of the net.
What was, or rather is needed for B2C to succeed is tracking user identity and therby enabling smooth payment processing, and an assurance to the user that he will be able to get what he paid for. Also assurance is needed that the user will not misuse what he pays for, by eSharing it. Then one could pay 10 cents for a cybercard, without filling up forms and learning various shopping cart interfaces- not to mention the dozens of passwords to be managed. If you like something, and I am willing to pay the price, it should be done, without any further interaction. Also, the buyer must not be able copy-paste and misuse content.
The promise of simplicity of buying and paying for something is perhaps here at last. The user now just has to decide what he wants and whether the price is right or not- rather than wait for Javascript to tell you that your zip code is incorrect! The iPhone/iTunes System is perhaps delivering the original promise of the internet, today, which could have been done years ago by prepaid internet cards to track users and products and pay as you go- but without getting into mechanics of forms and e-commerce nonsense.
Go Apple, go! They better not mess up in India! Every rural and small town in Asia needs the iPhone/iTunes app & content distribution- not just to buy stuff but to be able to publish their little dreams and earn just enough to live on and dream another day...
Saumil
Mumbai
15 July 2008
What was, or rather is needed for B2C to succeed is tracking user identity and therby enabling smooth payment processing, and an assurance to the user that he will be able to get what he paid for. Also assurance is needed that the user will not misuse what he pays for, by eSharing it. Then one could pay 10 cents for a cybercard, without filling up forms and learning various shopping cart interfaces- not to mention the dozens of passwords to be managed. If you like something, and I am willing to pay the price, it should be done, without any further interaction. Also, the buyer must not be able copy-paste and misuse content.
The promise of simplicity of buying and paying for something is perhaps here at last. The user now just has to decide what he wants and whether the price is right or not- rather than wait for Javascript to tell you that your zip code is incorrect! The iPhone/iTunes System is perhaps delivering the original promise of the internet, today, which could have been done years ago by prepaid internet cards to track users and products and pay as you go- but without getting into mechanics of forms and e-commerce nonsense.
Go Apple, go! They better not mess up in India! Every rural and small town in Asia needs the iPhone/iTunes app & content distribution- not just to buy stuff but to be able to publish their little dreams and earn just enough to live on and dream another day...
Saumil
Mumbai
15 July 2008
Jul 6, 2008
iPhone vs Android
Google is releasing Android, an open source platform for handheld devices. They will not manufacture devices but will license it to vendors. Sounds like the Apple v Microsoft days of the '80s. iPhone will have an advantage of tightly integrated interface with the phone/pda to create a product(s) which is sleek and easy to use, whereas Android will try to be ubiquitous but every vendor will close it the way they want to.
As a first reaction, Steve Jobs has done well in slashing iPhone to $199, a move which Apple had missed during the early Macintosh days. However, since Android will be Java/Open Source based you can expect portability with genuinely different hardware, not like DOS/Windows on PC clones which were not offering a compelling difference as such.
Are we entering the Golden Era of Personal Computing and Communication?
Proprietary gadgets to offer seamless and customized functionality for a given task, whereas Java based devices to help deploy variety of useful and general purpose products to meet flexible demands.
Perhaps, hopefully...
Saumil
6 July 2008
As a first reaction, Steve Jobs has done well in slashing iPhone to $199, a move which Apple had missed during the early Macintosh days. However, since Android will be Java/Open Source based you can expect portability with genuinely different hardware, not like DOS/Windows on PC clones which were not offering a compelling difference as such.
Are we entering the Golden Era of Personal Computing and Communication?
Proprietary gadgets to offer seamless and customized functionality for a given task, whereas Java based devices to help deploy variety of useful and general purpose products to meet flexible demands.
Perhaps, hopefully...
Saumil
6 July 2008
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