For people, the popularity of tipping has always been something of a mystery. Take restaurant tipping as a typical example. Since the tip is usually given at the end of the meal, what good purpose does it serve? Since the service has already been provided, it can’t by definition affect the quality of the service you received? It would make sense maybe for a repeat customer on the basis that a kind tip would lead to the probability of better service next time.

But researchers have something else to say. As per the researchers, tipping is equally likely to yield same service whether a customer plans to return or not. The consensus seems to be that tipping is best understood as a social norm, a form of charitable giving tied to the provision of a service.

But back to the folks knocking on your door.  Should you be giving them? Why do they expect a tip at Diwali, when you tend to tip them anyway throughout the year, such as when the watchman helps bring up a heavy parcel, or maid comes thrice a day on your request?

During Diwali, Its believed and wise to make necessary pay-outs to avoid sudden disruption of services. So try the formula desribed below and let me know what difference did it make:

1.  Begin with a firm budget. Make sure you have in mind about how much to spend on Baksheesh during the festive season well in advance.
2. Prepare a list of service-providers in descending order of importance. Like Milkman, Sweeper, Maid, Newspaper Wallah, Watchman etc.
3. Divide the service providers into 2 different lists. First, those who need to be motivated and second, those who need recognition.
4. Now divide each list further into 3 parts, depending the importance of work they do for you and your family. The persons in the first list are the most important service providers like the maid, watchman and liftman. If anyone of them is disappointed, it results in immediate fall-out action. The maid will come late, much after your wife or mom has completed half the housework. The watchman will permit hawkers to knock at our door in the afternoons and spoil your siesta. And the liftman will declare that the lift is under repair and ensure that you climb six floors. They, therefore, should be given top most priority.
5. In the second list houses service providers that are not so important but are required alm0st everyday like, the milkman, the washerwoman and the sweeper. Since the milkman and washerwoman are paid on a daily basis, they recognise that we may have some cash-flow problems. They seem satisfied with smaller amounts. The sweeper, however, needs to be handled with care. He has the power to skip a few days’ garbage collection and cause serious nasal disorder.
6. The third list consists of the people that are not so important like, telephone, post and telegraph community. This list does not evoke too much concern. The importance of the telephone lineman has taken a huge dip. A faulty line does not bother people any more in these days of the mobile phone except you are the broadband subscriber. The post and telegraph group too does not attract too much money. The e-mail has made letter-writing redundant. Therefore you may want to keep service providers alike in this list.

A little off topic, there’s a certain irony in being expected to offer a Diwali Baksheesh to someone like the postman who is a government employee and is supposed to do his job without expecting or receiving a tip. Perhaps the double meaning of Baksheesh is fitting here since people have become used to paying bribes for services that they’re entitled to.

I have always remained a keen observer of these Diwali pay-outs over the last so many years and am fascinated by the methods employed by the beneficiaries to gain more handsome pay-outs. Each one carries a list of neighbourhood donors. We know our neighbours well enough to realise that the figures are grossly exaggerated. This is an old technique called Peer Pressure.

I am also intrigued by the fact that the beneficiaries never come in a bunch. They stagger their time of arrival through careful networking, without doubt. All said, the Diwali baksheesh — both the handing and receiving of it — is an interesting exercise in human management.

Thanks for reading. Happy Diwali to you and your familiy in advance.

If you like the post then take 2 minutes and share it with your friends and family. Also do let me know via comments if it helped you or not?

I had gone all the way up to the Upper West Side Apple Store to get my dented, scratched, stained three-year-old MacBook Pro—one of the unibodies where you can still swap the battery—fixed for like the 6th or 7th time. The logic board was dying, again. The optical drive was dead, again. I think the display was going bad too. And the trackpad was getting wonky. I had a few days left on Apple Care.

The Genius scrunched up his face as he looked at my MacBook’s history. I was afraid he was going to tell me they couldn’t do anything for it this time, that I was screwed and it’d cost me hundreds of dollars to fix my computer, in the gentle, nurturing tones that Geniuses use when they tell people they need to spend another large sum of money on their Apple products. The head Genius, or whatever they call those guys, walked over. My Genius pointed at the screen. They murmured, and both of their faces contorted, together. Fuck. The big genius sighed. Fu*k. Then he erupted: “GET THIS MAN A NEW COMPUTER.” F*ck.

So he did. Apple replaced my basically destroyed MacBook Pro with a brand new Core i7 model, for free, days before the warranty was going to expire. No questions asked. I didn’t cry, complain or scream. They just did it. Days before I’d have inevitably given them another $2000 for a new computer, which they’re now not going to get from me for another year or two.

That’s why I buy Apple products.

I picked up my iPhone and opened Twitter to condense all of that into 140 characters. And then I saw. It’s one of those things that’s literally unbelievable until you have no absolutely choice but to realize the truth.

I let the feeling of having the air sucked out of my gut wash over me for 30 seconds, numb. I told the Genius. I couldn’t not. He didn’t believe it either, until I handed him my phone. I think we were the only two in the room who knew, at least for a little while. The rest of the room, packed to the stone walls, kept buzzing the way Apple Stores always hum. That was the weird part, like being part of a horrible secret you would give anything not to know.

I took my new MacBook and left.

The architecture of that particular Apple Store always made it feel like a slightly religious space. So I guess there’s nowhere I’d have rather been.

via : Gizmdo

I wanted to see/meet you in person once in my life but I think that day would never come now. I was busy playing game today when news of your death was broken to me by my wife. For a moment I could not think about anything at all and I was in shock. New iPhone 4S launch yesterday already missed you. And now, I don’t know what is going to happen to Apple and its product now in your absence.

A lot of things will be remembered about Steve and Apple. An original thinker who helped create the Macintosh, one of the world’s most influential computers, Steve also reinvented the portable music player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method of selling music online with iTunes and reordered the cellphone market with the iPhone. The introduction of the iPad also jump-started the electronic-tablet market, and it now dominates the field.

A further statement from the company said: “Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

I could not afford all Apple products however I had an iPod Nano and currently I have an iPhone. Which no doubt are the industry leader in their own fields.

Gizmodo, one of my favourite tech blog writes: Gizmodo and Steve Jobs had, at best, a tumultuous relationship. Yet no matter how much he may have hated us, we admired him. No, that’s not quite right. We loved him.

Tim Cook seemed very happy yesterday while announcing the launch of the new iPhone 4S yesterday. But he did not know that he would have to send his life’s most difficult note to the Apple employees. Here is the text of the email that Apple CEO Tim Cook sent to staff to announce Jobs’ death:

“Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honour his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

Tim

Here is how New York Times is remembering Steve Jobs by putting up all the patents files by Steve Jobs. Over 300 patents to his name is a great achievement.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder and CEO said on Facebook:

“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.

Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer said ” I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work. “

Paul Allen the co-founder of Microsoft said ” My condolences to Steve Jobs’ family and friends. We’ve lost a unique tech pioneer and auteur who knew how to make amazingly great products. Steve fought a long battle against tough odds in a very brave way. He kept doing amazing things in the face of all that adversity. As someone who has had his own medical challenges, I couldn’t help but be encouraged by how he persevered. “

“I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google’s are with his family and the whole Apple family.” this is what Google CEO Larry Page had to say on Steve’s death.

Sergey Brin writes “From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. Steve, your passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product (including the macbook I am writing this on right now). And I have witnessed it in person the few times we have met. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple.

[sws_blockquote_endquote  cite="BARACK OBAMA" quotestyle="style02"] Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it. By building one of the planet’s most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world. The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him. [/sws_blockquote_endquote]

Finally, I would leave you with the most popular video of Steve Jobs. Dev-Team posted this video on their blog to pay tribute to Steve Jobs. Stay hungry and stay foolish !!

I will miss you Steve. There won’t be any reason now to watch the keynote as soon as its available on apple website. We are all living on borrowed time. Wish you could have extended your line of credit. - Kuldeep

Click here to view the embedded video.

Isn’t this great, for just Rs.400 a month, Netflix gives Video on demand on a lot of devices (PC,macs, mobile devices, gaming consoles etc.) with recommendations, resuming playback of movies/T.V shows where you left them off and a lot more. So if you’re watching a movie late in the night and you get too sleepy, you can shut off your movie and resume it the next day on your way to work on your phone.  We end up paying more for Tata sky which doesn’t even provide video on demand or multiple device viewing.

This model has helped Netflix become a major success in the US and Canada with Apple choosing to bundle a Netflix app on their Apple TV as well. This gets us wondering, why isn’t there a service similar to Netflix in India?

Although there have been a few companies which have tried to imitate the earlier Netflix model, i.e DVD rentals none of them have become hugely popular nor have they offered attractive policies like no late fees, no due dates etc. There was a post on gigaOM way back in 2006 pegging seventymm as India’s Netflix, obviously the service hasn’t caught on.
The posts points out a major hurdle for video rental services like these, piracy. With every railway station selling CDs of the latest movies on as soon as their release dates for as cheap as Rs.50 ($1), it becomes a bit difficult for the survival of this model, also with increasing penetration of the not-so-fast broadband in India, you see people downloading 700mb DVD rips from piratebay even if it takes them 24 hours.

So Indian players haven’t even succeeded in coming on par with the Netflix of the earlier years, let alone the current streaming based Netflix. The rental service not catching up is because these players haven’t been able to come up with an effective strategy, but the non existent streaming based service is majorly because of the pathetic internet service in India.

The Netflix page specifies minimum connection requirements for it to work fine “Watching instantly works with all different levels of broadband, however, we recommend a minimum speed of 500kpbs (0.5MB).” In average Indian homes unfortunately this sort of connectivity is absent. Speeds like these if offered by ISPs cost a lot. So right now if an Indian Netflix would startup it would remain restricted to the offices of Indian people where stuff like this isn’t permitted. Also the mobile market isn’t ready yet for on the move media viewing, the 3G tariffs are expensive, carriers aren’t ready yet to carry huge amounts of data on their network and a huge part of Indians still don’t have smart phones.

This coupled with the fact that many Indians don’t want to pay for something digital. For example: They won’t hesitate much to buy pirated CDs and DVDs but they have a problem buying a $.99 game from the AppStore. Fortunately this mindset is changing with the increasing penetration of Internet banking, online shopping etc. A lot of channels like NDTV, CNN, IBN, etc and events like the IPL are providing live streams online. So one can just hope for a Netflix like service to come up in India in the next five years. If they have enough partnerships for providing content then DTH services are doomed!

It was reported that Netflix’s competitor Google has also  launched a pay-per-view online service, in order to gain more traffic to their new service.

Source: I feel that we desperately need faster broadband connection for sure. It will solve a lot of problems. I feel piracy can somehow be reduced by providing faster broadband in homes and mobile phones. I would definitely want to subscribe for a 24×7 movie available for 400 Rs/per month. And save money on my broadband and electricity bill.