chirag's space

It's been a little over a month since Steve Jobs passed away, and I've toyed with this post since then. As is the case with everyone who knew he was battling cancer, it was expected and yet, it seemed sudden. As I opened up a new tab to apple.com, hoping against hope that it was just a twitter rumor, I was greeted by a page that carried the simple words, "Steve Jobs, 1955-2011." I spent the rest of the morning watching the news coverage highlighting his life and realized that a person's legacy is what happens when he passes, the people that are touched by the news, and the impact that has on everything we do.

Screenshot from apple.com, taken Oct 7, 2011

My obsession with computers can be traced back to 1988. Although, considering the timeframe, it focused on Bill Gates and Microsoft. I learnt over time, more so in 2002 that my calling was more about the story of Apple. That was the year I ventured into the offices of The Triangle, and continued to toy with Macs full time until I left in 2005. It was 2008 before I would get my hands on another Apple device, and I finally (happily) moved to an Apple computer in 2010. During the last few years, I've looked over the start of the computing era over and over, with movies such as Pirates of Silicon Valley and books such as iWoz. Now that I managed to get through Steve Jobs, I feel in a better place to put down this post.

I think about the Think Different campaign more so since I heard the Steve Jobs rendition of the ad; there is passion in his voice as he narrates it, because - unlike Dryfus, the narrater of aired advert - he believed and equally, understood the words he spoke. I have played Jobs' version about once a day since I first heard it, and I encourage anyone who might be interested to play it out (see it here or at the Remembering Steve event, starting at 9:45).

I know that he wasn't a perfect person but as I've grown to understand, and as been stated already - Apple was a company only someone like Steve Jobs could have built. With all his passion. His perfection, His eccentricities. His abrasiveness. With who he was.

People talk about the flailings of a man that powerful, someone who had a bad side, someone who drove people to madness and had shouting fits with anyone and everyone. As he himself told a former staffer who tried to fight him, "..you have no idea what it's like to be me." I get that. I really, really do.

I think also, that it makes sense to look at what he did right. Of where his 'reality distortion field' pushed people to do things they didn't think possible, whether it was the first Macintosh, or the iPhone. For someone to tell a supplier that the reason they couldn't do something was because they didn't believe they could, and that, if they tried, they'd get it, takes a unique set of guts and he had them. He read people instinctively and he knew how to push them, how to get at them. And how to get the best out of them. And it's those people, the ones who understood, are the ones who will tell you a story about a man who changed the world.

Jobs today is credited for being the person behind revolutions in the music industry, smartphones, PC, tablet, animated movies, retail stores..and Apple itself. His story will be told for a while, of the revisions he made to everything, of his second coming - back to Apple, of his belief that hardware and software should be integrated and not fragmented for it to work, for bullying the music industry into submission - and saving them to an extent, and more.

Even John Scully, the man who ousted Jobs way back when, revealed later on that he believed the Apple Board should have sided with Jobs in that power struggle, and that says a lot. Jobs Commencement Address at Standford is considered by many as one of the best; where he cited three approaches that he wanted to pass on:

Keep looking (for what you love), don't settle
Death is the single best invention of life, it's life's change agent.
- My favorite line in this section was: "Even people who want to get to heaven don't want to die to get there"
'Stay hungry, stay foolish'

Today, we all strive to make something the Apple of its category, and I think that says a lot. I find it even more interesting - even though he obviously didn't intend it that way - that his (approved) biography released was completed and released some 10 days prior to his passing away, thereby being perfect - complete - in all the events leading up to it.

In the end, the best statement to Jobs' legacy is the line he himself approved in an ad that ran all those years ago, "...the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world...are the ones who do."

A little dash of white

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:30:35 -0700

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Bye bye tyre, take 2.

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:44:00 -0700

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Because Take 1 just wasn't good enough.

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Nine eleven

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 05:45:00 -0700

To this day, when I close my eyes and recall the shocking events from 10 years ago, somehow I'm still at a loss for words. Still cannot describe the event. Still.

The impact of the day is continued to be felt the world over. Every thing from the the economy to international relations has changed. Everything.

Ten years ago to this date and time, I was in a car, heading towards New York, when we saw the neon roadsigns telling us to avoid the city. A quick flip to the right radio station told us a plane had crashed into the first tower. I instantly reacted with "a suicide attack?" and people in the car laughed with a look of bewilderment on their face that I had come up with the option.

We pulled off the highway to a rest stop and watched CNN as the second plane crashed. Eyes wide open, complete silence in the crowd that had started to gathered there, unable to eat the fast food on their tables. Someone in our party turned to me and said 'Oh my god, you were right."

I have never wanted to be more wrong.

...

A moment of silence, for those who suffered, and for those who continue to suffer. May they have courage to withstand the years ahead.

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Plums, anyone?

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 12:14:00 -0700

This past week, a few of us gathered over at Tea Junction in Dubai to dabble in photography. The goal was to have an informal setting for people interested in photography/food photography (without necessarily being photographers) take a picture of a mystery food item - told to us at the venue - and use the settings around us to come up with 2-3 core shots that we'd share with the group. This could then lead to some feedback, suggestions and a general sharing of ideas. We also worked on a couple of concepts in pairs.

If, for some insane reason, you missed the title, then well, the mystery item was a plum. Well, okay, plums.

I went with three different colored plums so that I'd have contrast - a dark one, a mixed one, and a fairly light one. Unfortunately I couldn't get the whole 'journey of the plum' idea done well, although others were more successful [links will be posted soon]. My idea was to go with one very traditional food shot, one random one, and one hopefully somewhere in between.

To start with - and knowing my love for iced tea - I picked up a Boston Iced Tea (ie, Iced Tea with cranberry juice) since I knew the color symmetry would help. So the opening shots were very cookbook-like-traditional.

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(Yes I'm aware the straw is supremely distracting). Moving on. I then worked with the plums by themselves. In hindsight, a lighter colored table would have worked so much better..but we'll all imperfect, right? Anyway. These are some macro and otherwise shots of a plum close up and others at a distance. I added some easily available sugar to add some texture/balance. Hmm, not so bad.

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Interestingly I had 2 thoughts almost simultaneously - to take a bite, and to use ice. Perhaps I should have disjointed the ideas a bit, but I mostly landed up incorporating both elements together.

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I didn't factor these shots in during the day, but after a bit of post-processing and looking at it on a bigger monitor, I actually liked how they turned out.

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Then I did the expected - I broke the glass with ice just after taking the shot above. My apologies to Tea Junction, again 0:)

The result however was a splash of water on the table, which I figured would be worth a shot as well.

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Finally, I tried to factor in some elements at the cafe - and chanced about this. I call this series, "Cult of the Plum".

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And finally, 'eye on the prize'.

Did you know once can spend upwards of two hours photographing plums? I sure didn't.

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Elevator

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:40:26 -0700

They stood quietly.

It hummed downward.

35? Maybe 40, they both speculated.

Each was amused, and gave the other the stare down.

Then the depth engulfed them.

Probably senile.

Definitely rash.

They laughed on the inside.

Bing!

The doors opened. One looked confused at the other.

He smiled, "The exit's here, follow me this way."

Each walked away with their perceptions changed. Just a little.

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Of restaurant reviews and featured photos

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:10:00 -0700

Always nice to be featured,so nice to have a photo I took featured on a travel site for Philadelphia, wohoo! For one of my favorite restaurants too - the site is here, and my review of the restaurant which is when I took the picture is blogged here.

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Untitled

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:00:27 -0700

via Seesmic

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The (planned) end of an era...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:39:15 -0700

As news of Steve Jobs' resignation flutters through the cyberspace, most people pronouncing this the end of an era. It is. Steve Jobs may not have had the agreement of every John and Jane Doe, but we definitely had the respect of a man who knew what he was doing, often way ahead of his peers.

What struck me is that this was a matter of time - not his first medical leave for one - and yet it comes with a level of shock and surprise, going to show how larger than life the man is.

A tribute to the man who envisioned a new era to computing, and pretty much got us there.

I leave you with a witty tweet poking fun at the awesome autocorrect feature (via GarethAveyard)

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At the stroke of midnight hour...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:01:00 -0700

Famous words from an inspiring speech. India celebrates another year of independence, and there's a lot on my mind.

Every year on this day, I introspect a little. What does this day really mean to me? The answer is weird. It means a lot - and yet, it somehow means so little. I feel patriotic, I feel inspired, I love the tri-colors fluttering everywhere, I've attended the flag hoisted ceremonies organized as far out as Philadelphia. Yet I come up with an empty feeling when I think about what I have done. For my country. At all.

The thoughts take me broader, farther. I think of the world. Of the crises and of the mess. And I re-call my favorite TV show of all time, one that - as it drew to a close - highlighted what it means to be human, not Indian or American or Middle-eastern, or anything else for that matter. What we can achieve as a species, and what we are destroying. Of political power, and corruption, racism and hatred and cold war.

Is this what we are really about? If so, I genuinely don't feel like being human on those occasions.

I could go on, but I think I want to focus on what needs to change, rather than what cannot be touched or controlled.

Over the last year, maybe a couple years, I started to find my call, and interestingly, it lies in technology (and food, but that'll kill my point right now). Over the last few years, I've witnessed, thought about and complained about changes in technology, the impact it's having on our day-to-day lives. I have some clear thoughts on what I think technology should be doing, which inturn defines what it shouldn't.

Social Media

A lot has changed since the advent of Twitter. Facebook was around way longer, but it was always a closed network - something to help you create a close-by community, or keep in touch with your friends and family. Twitter opened it all up - by giving us access to people we'd never be "friends" with in the Facebook paradigm but could still interact with without losing the feeling of privacy and control. It became a news feed, a community builder and a conversation starter all in one. In India, this has grown over the last couple of years. Today news channels regularly display opinions collected via twitter (and even facebook). It is starting to bring people together, giving them a voice and channelize support (or opposition).

I think this will slowly but surely impact governance in India. Sadly, our political system is 64 years old (and not in the good way) and well, rubbish. In India, there is a large group of people who think the political system is pointless to bother with. But there's a young upcoming group of this generation who is going out there to make their point too. It may take a few years, but social media is going to help improve it, and with it, things will change.

Technology

The broader technology scope is equally interesting. I frankly hate a lot about the status quo, and more importantly, the attitude people have towards technology - especially in the corporate area. I've been looked down upon, called an idiot and laughed at purely because one look at me makes people know I'm an Indian IT guy, and then I must be like every Indian IT guy. It's a funny kind of racism.

I've even been told that people are moving away from working with Indians because the cost-reduction does not offset the time and energy required to get Indians up to speed and up to the right level of professional working since we are "so far behind". Is this what and where we want to be?

It is time to change that.

It's our own damned fault too, and it needs to change with us first. Indians in technology need to stop coming off as bookworms, because we can be so much more. We need to stop rejecting new technologies and fighting over stupid bans, and focus on what we can do to improve the way we do things. Starting with education. And not stopping there. In some arenas, technology is so backward it's not even laughable. I've even had bad experiences even with the big names and the way they treat us, their customers, fellow Indians.

This is an open call to any organization in India who wants to change they way they do things, and the way they use technology, and need advice. Heck, I'll even do as much as I can of it for free. All I ask is you have an open mind to embrace what I have to say and accept that there needs to be a change in attitude. If you don't like what I have to say after that, no problem. Tweet, drop me a line on LinkedIn, Google+, whatever.

I've started it a little bit too. And while it hasn't been easy, I will keep trying until technology peers in India - the local, day-to-day folks just as much as the big guns - change their attitude towards technology, operations and most importantly - the way they treat their users, customers and us in general.

It's an odd goal, I know, but this is how I can contribute.

How will you?

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