*michael parekh on IT*

ON THE HOTEL SHORTAGE IN INDIA

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

It's been a few days now in India for me, and there's no question that economic activity here is booming.  Nowhere is it more evident anecdotally than the crowded lobbies of the various hotels I've visited here in Mumbai the last few days. 

Which brings me to this timely article in the New York Times earlier this week on the shortage of hotel rooms across India.  I had no idea of the magnitude of the shortage until I saw the numbers.  Some relevant snippets:

"Demand for hotel rooms is soaring in India as its economy blossoms. Foreigners are flooding in to cut deals, attend conferences or just discover the caves of Ajanta and the sands of Rajasthan. The rise of low-fare airlines is also bringing domestic air travel within reach of more Indians, who, until recently, had little chance of ever boarding a jet.

Yet for all those travelers, India offers only 110,000 hotel rooms. China has 10 times as many, and the United States 40 times as many. The New York metropolitan region alone has about as many rooms as all of India."

I read that last bit twice just to make sure I wasn't missing something.  It continues:

"Compare India, a country of 1.1 billion people, to New York, a city of 8 million: New York attracted 6.8 million foreign tourists in 2005; India attracted 3.9 million."

This shortage of course is reflected in the prices:

"The high prices are all the more striking in a low-wage country like India. At a $500 rack rate for the five-star rooms favored by business travelers, a hotel employee earning minimum wage here would have to work about a year to pay for one night’s stay, versus about two and a half weeks’ work for an American earning minimum wage.

And even though the Chinese earn twice as much as Indians on average, India has the more expensive rooms, according to a recent edition of Travel Business Analyst, an industry newsletter. Comparing rooms of similar quality, suitable for business travelers, a room in Delhi cost $187 on average this year, versus $122 in Beijing; a room in Mumbai was $178, versus $150 in Shanghai."

The cause of this shortage is more nuanced than one might imagine:

"Some hotel executives blame the government for sticking to decades-old laws that limit the amount of land for sale and drive up prices.

Because of the Indian real estate boom, land is so expensive that the Taj group of hotels, a chain with 7,000 rooms across India, has found that the reserve price at land auctions makes building a hotel not financially viable, said Ajoy Misra..."

And the solutions for this hotel crisis may come from some not so obvious places, where some are proposing:

"... a 10-year tax rebate for new budget hotels, as well as encouraging Indian Railways to give up some of its vast land holdings for track-side hotels. To avoid the spiraling auction prices, the government may soon purchase land and lease it out cheaply to hotels."

In the meantime, I'll be thankful I have a room over my head here in Mumbai over New Year's Eve.  As it is, my wife and I were unable to join some friends in Kerala (in southern India) for the big night tonight because, you guessed it, there were no rooms to be had in the resort area they're visiting.

Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year, where you are!

ON AN iPOD BUILDING IN DUBAI?

SURREAL REALITY

Visiting Dubai earlier this year, it was truly eye-opening to see the frenetic skyscraper building going on in that wild west town in the Middle East. 

The word amongst locals then was that a fifth of the planet's capacity of cranes needed to build skyscrapers were currently going full tilt in Dubai.  You could almost believe that looking at the skyline.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see this item from Engadget.  An architecture firm proposing the world's first iPod Tower:

"Let's all admit to ourselves that love or hate the iPod, we're pretty damned curious to know what the iPod building from last week will look like.

We still don't know for sure what shape it'll take, but our pals over at Archpartners, an 3D architecture rendering firm in Boston (that has no affiliation, as far as we know, to the designing firm James Law Cybertecture International), did a little mocking up of what form they think Dubai's latest tower could take."

Wonder what Steve Jobs' take on something like this be...we know how particular he was about the glass cube in front of Apple's flagship retail store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan a few months ago.

At the very least though, they should update the look of the building to match the current generation of Video iPod.  With an iPhone building to follow next to it of course.

ON THE TAIL WINDS OF IMMIGRATION

FRIENDSHIP, TEXAN STYLE

Today we should wish Happy Birthday to the State of Texas, for it was on this day, in 1845, that Texas became the 28th State of the United States. 

As this Wikipedia entry notes:

"With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km²) and a population of 22.8 million in 254 counties, the state is second-largest in both area and population—behind Alaska and California, respectively."

Some more perspective on this day comes from this entry in The Handbook of Texas Online:

"The word Friendship was adopted as the Texas state motto by the Forty-first Texas Legislature in February 1930.

The word was probably chosen because the name Texas or Tejas was the Spanish pronunciation of a Caddo Indian word sometimes translated to mean "friends" or "allies."

It's also important to keep in mind the historical circumstances that resulted in this outcome.  As this article in History.com explains:

"Six months after the congress of the Republic of Texas accepts U.S. annexation of the territory, Texas is admitted into the United States as the 28th state.

After gaining independence from Spain in the 1820s, Mexico welcomed foreign settlers to sparsely populated Texas, and a large group of Americans led by Stephen F. Austin settled along the Brazos River.

The Americans soon outnumbered the resident Mexicans, and by the 1830s attempts by the Mexican government to regulate these semi-autonomous American communities led to rebellion. In March 1836, in the midst of armed conflict with the Mexican government, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

The Texas volunteers initially suffered defeat against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna--the Alamo fell and Sam Houston's troops were forced into an eastward retreat. However, in late April, Houston's troops surprised a Mexican force at San Jacinto, and Santa Anna was captured, bringing an end to Mexico's efforts to subdue Texas."

Fascinating how the histories of Mexico and the United States are so intertwined over the issue of immigration.

Happy Birthday, Texas!  We're so glad you're our friend for life.

ON NINTENDO Wii MAINSTREAM POPULARITY

AND THE WINNER IS...

Catching up on some Techmeme reading, I wasn't surprised to read anecdotal reports on folks trying to exchange their Sony Playstation 3s for Nintendo Wii boxes (see posts by GigaGamez and GigaOm here, no relation).

It certainly passed the "mainstream people awareness test" in our Christmas morning gift discussion in Indiana, Pennsylvania, as the most wished for and discussed technology product.  And this was unprovoked by me of course, since that would technologically taint this mainstream people sample.

In fact, we had instances of Wii games being presented as gifts even though the receiver did not yet have a Wii console in hand yet.  The rationale according to the giver (sister-in-law Beth) was that she wanted him to be ready to play when he did get a Wii console after the shortage passed in a few months.

By contrast, Apple's iPod was barely mentioned through the holiday, other than a sighting of an Apple Shuffle gift in one isolated incident.

It's all anecdotal to be sure, but all portend good things for Nintendo in 2007.

What technology product and/or service dominated your Christmas morning discussion?

ON THE BEST GADGET BAG OF 2006

WEIGHT OFF SHOULDERS

I'm on an eternal quest for the perfect gadget bag, given my addiction to both gadgets and traveling.  As a result, I'm constantly adding bags to my collection, as gadgets and bag innovations evolve.  My wife sometimes accuses me of collecting gadget bags like Imelda collected shoes.

As I was packing for a long flight to Mumbai, India yesterday, I went through a closet full of gadgets bags that I'd accumulated through 2006, to find the "perfect" bag for the trip.

An important requirement was the ability to hold a 17" Macbook Pro, and an assortment of gadgets, their chargers, and related paraphernalia.  At the same time, every external pocket needed to be zippered given that the bag would get thrown around a bit.

I decided on the Skooba Seventeen + from Roadwired, which I currently view as my favorite gadget bag.  It also comes in a smaller size for regular 15" laptops and a ton of gadgets. 

Unlike a lot of bags that are designed to carry large notebooks, the Skooba looks deceptively svelte and is lightweight.  But it has over 20 pockets of various types, and the whole thing is secure with a ton of well-designed zippers.  There's even a hidden water bottle carrier on the side, and a padded shoulder strap.

The description of the bag, either mine or Roadwired's doesn't convey the feeling of quality that the bag conveys.  It feels like the BMW of gadget bags, even though it can be had for under $100.

The only other bag that comes close in terms of quality and build in my opinion is the Cozmo by Waterfield Designs.  But that bag doesn't have a padded laptop compartment, requiring customized padded sleeves to fit your laptop.  The price on that bag without the sleeve is almost about $150.  It's my other favorite bag for 2006, but I prefer the Skooba for longer trips.

I'd definitely categorize the Skooba as a Thriller product, and would heartily recommend it for anyone in the market for some gadget transportation gear.

A gadget bag is but a humble product compared to the hot gadgets on all the top ten lists for 2006, like the video iPod, the Nintendo Wii and many others.  But these prosaic things can also thrill.

ON EXPORTED CHRISTMAS

COINCIDENCE

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Holiday weekend.  Here's a bit of a surreal serendipitous event to share from yesterday. 

I'm trying to reach a friend who's staying at a hotel in Mumbai, India to convey holiday wishes. 

The hotel receptionist puts me on hold.

I start flipping through the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal while waiting to be connected.  This article titled "Exporting Christmas" catches my attention.  The sub-title on the Journal article is,

"From 20-story 'trees' to frantic shopping, some parts of Asia are increasingly embracing the secular aspects of the holiday. The marketing of a Western tradition."

At the same time, I notice that the "music-on-hold"at the hotel in India are Christmas carols sung by Indian artists in English.

Talk about real-world validation.

P.S.  I will be in Mumbai, India over New Year's for a few days.  If you're in the area and would like to connect, drop me a line.

ON AN OC CHRISTMAS TRADITION

HOLIDAY CHEER

Well, it's Christmas Day, and I thought I'd share this video of the 2006 Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, courtesy of a kind neighbor via YouTube.  It's a little under seven minutes long, and fun to watch, especially if you've never seen a Boat Parade.

Newport Beach in Orange County (aka the OC), California, is one of the places we hang our hats. 

The Christmas Boat Parade a bit of a change from the terrific parades I've gotten used to in New York over the past two decades or so, and a total blast. 

This year marked the 98th year of this fun tradition.  It takes place in this Harbor after sundown.  As the web site describes it:

"Beautiful multi-million dollar yachts, kayaks, canoes and other small boats will light up the harbor as a dazzling array of holiday lights and music fill the air at the Christmas Boat Parade. Many of the boats will be richly decorated with animated Christmas scenes accompanied by music and costumed carolers.

Some boat owners in the past have spent over $50,000 to decorate their vessels for the event. The Christmas floats will wind their way some 14 miles around the harbor to give viewers in restaurants, yacht clubs, on public beaches, and in private homes a incredible sight that has delighted millions of people for 97 years."

Enjoy.

Wish you a Merry Christmas one and all.

ON WIKIPEDIA POWERED SEARCH

SOMETHING BORROWED

It's almost the night before Christmas, and there's definitely more than a mouse stirring in the world of Search.  The Times from the UK reports:

"Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, is set to launch an internet search engine with amazon.com that he hopes will become a rival to Google and Yahoo!

Mr Wales has begun working on a search engine that exploits the same user-based technology as his open-access encyclopaedia, which was launched in 2003.

The project has been dubbed Wikiasari — a combination of wiki, the Hawaiian word for quick, and asari, which is Japanese for “rummaging search”.

Mr Wales told The Times that he was planning to develop a commercial version of the search engine through Wikia Inc, his for-profit company, with a provisional launch date in the first quarter of next year."

Promising.

Wikipedia is already the second source I go for perhaps half of my searches.  It's not a stretch to see the service powering a separate, for profit, Search engine.

And therein may lie the rub. 

The efforts of millions power the not-for profit Wikipedia today.  To have that service then provide the starter fuel for the "for-profit" Wikiasari is an interesting twist.

One can say that Google does no different, in that the web-page linking of hundreds of millions powers the algorithmic, definitely "for-profit" Google Search.

That issue aside, the other fascinating aspect of this is that it potentially brings people more directly back into the search equation, bringing the history of search full circle, what with Yahoo! having started as a people-driven search directory in the mid-nineties.

TechCrunch has a good screen shot of the new service (we hope).  And it's what you'd expect as a start.

Approximately a third of the page has been allocated to Wikipedia-driven search, ad-search driven messages, and additional, presumarly people-powered search results.

Jimmy Wales, makes the case for Wikiasari as follows on the new service's home page:

"Search is part of the fundamental infrastructure of the Internet.  And, it is currently broken.

Why is it broken? It is broken for the same reason that proprietary software is always broken: lack of freedom, lack of community, lack of accountability, lack of transparency."

How time flies.  It seems only yesterday that "proprietary software" represented this company, and not this company.  Doesn't search feel different already?

Can't wait for 2007.

ON A COMACT DIGITAL SLR

THE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

The Digital Photography School has a great little primer on taking better holiday pictures.  It goes through 16 ways to take better pictures.

But to put many of these tips to use, one needs a camera that's a little beyond the tried and true point-and-shoots I've long relied on.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try the latest Nikon digital SLR camera for mainstream amateurs like me, the D40. 

And this was despite having owned a couple of other digital SLR cameras by Nikon and Canon in the past.

I found that my other digital SLRs were just a bit too large and heavy to be with me on most holiday trips. 

It was easy to rationalize NOT to take them along because of that issue, especially in terms of being able to pack the camera along with it's paraphernalia within a two-piece carry-on limit.

But those SLRS represented the state-of-the art two to three years ago.  Technology has marched on.

As a result, the D40 is different. 

It's much smaller and lighter than most other SLRs.  And I took a gamble on Nikon's quality coming through in a camera that one can get for under $600 with an auto-focus kit lens.

Well, today DPReview did one of it's comprehensive reviews of the camera and gave it a "Highly Recommended" rating.  At the risk of spoiling your fun, here's their bottom line:

"The D40 is perhaps one of Nikon's most important digital SLRs. It's certainly their smallest and lightest, their most affordable and ships with a fairly decent kit lens too..."

"Nikon have also obviously worked to ensure that no corners were cut in image processing..."

"In everyday use the D40 is just what it set out to be, a very capable, compact, lightweight and easy to use camera which makes a perfect first step for anyone wanting to get into digital SLR photography."

If you're ready to move beyond the point-and-shoot cameras, the Nikon D40 is a great way to start down the SLR path.  And it's just in time for the holidays.

Happy shooting.

ON THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM

WHEN IT SNOWS...

Murphy's Law strikes at just the right time, as millions of folks scramble to navigate the skies because they must. 

This New York Times piece highlights the trials and tribulations of the second day of blizzard and fog-induced havoc to national and international flight schedules.

The adjacent picture by Rintrah Roars via Flickr shows how big this monster really was.

But for me this picture by Annene von Durchgerockt via Flickr says it all, partly because I can so identify with scrambling through hubs to make a tight connection, towed bags flailing in my wake.

Here's wishing all a safe and swift passage to your loved ones, on this Friday before the Holiday weekend.

Godspeed.