Archive for September, 2008

As Luck Would Have It….

// September 27th, 2008 // No Comments » // Life's Happenings

It was an average Wednesday evening for me. Had college till 5 pm and returned back home after that. Mess around on my computer with load music on in the background. Its now late in the evening; dad returns home from his clinic. Still an average day. Nothing exciting or new.
Singapore Grand Prix up this weekend and being an ardent F1 fan/follower, I’m always in the hope of going some day to witness a race. At the dinner table, I casually talk to dad about the race…and that Id love to be there for the weekend. And he gives me this ‘So-what-its-not-a-big-deal’ kind of a look and starts checking out tickets for me to fly out Saturday Morning! “(STUNNED)” Visa could be done in a day. But this is the easy part.
Also, I have a friend there with whom i could stay and watch the race..(Its a street race na..something could be arranged to watch d race…coz grand stand tickets were sold out almost a month and a half ago)…So in all excitement and surprise i call up my friend there; 12 midnight there and hes almost off to sleep. I tell him about my plans and make it evident that i really wanna be there this weekend. But actually things cannot be so easy. I could not stay with him as he stays with some family there as a paying guest.

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iPhone….Worth The Price???

// September 3rd, 2008 // 4 Comments » // Gadgets, My Reviews

Most iPhone aspirants must be disappointed (read: me) at the over-the-top pricing of the “gadgety” phone that we are all so in awe of. On an average, an iPhone aspirant would have settled for a 20K price tag, but paying four times the US$ price tag is something none of us none come to terms with. Is there a reason why the iPhone is so expensive? What were Apple and gang (service providers) thinking? I can certainly see some very obvious reasons why Apple thinks that they got the math absolutely right. Let me speculate – it’s better than cribbing about the pricing over and over again.

1. APPLE IS NOT NOKIA
Apple might think – Apple products are priced higher because they are meant for a different class. An Apple user is not an average daily computer user; he is in a different league. And I do think they think right….
While Apple may have finally come to terms with the reality of making numbers in a country like India, they still don’t want to be seen as a product tat is bagged by the masses and has competition from fifty other products. By pricing the iPhone at a price which can only be reached by a select few, Apple is sending a clear message on the premium positioning of the iPhone in India. While I personally wished the iPhone was priced 10K lower, subconsciously, the pricing makes sense to me. The wow factor of the iPhone has been maintained by ensuring that not every second guy in the mall is yapping on an iPhone.

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