ICICI Bank has launched a new Twitter-based banking service, only the second such service in the world the bank proudly claims. That is two too many. Some things are meant to go together, but banking and social networking are not. While many news and tech sites in India reported on this feature, most outlets faithfully […]
Author: Sushil
25
Sep 2014
Where is the mobile boom?
Smartphone ownership in India has grown very quickly, going from less than 10 million to over 100 million in the past three years. Additionally, there are now over three times as many wireless broadband subscribers as wired subscribers. And yet for many Web destinations in India, mobile devices, nearly synonymous with smartphones, only account for […]
07
Jun 2014
Why services like Gaana will lose to Apple
Sushil
Content Distribution, Internet, Paid Content, User Experience
No Comments on Why services like Gaana will lose to Apple
Gaana, an Internet music broadcasting service based in India, recently added videos and lyrics to songs available from the service. Shazam, a music identification service, also integrates videos and lyrics for songs that people identify, or “tag”, with the app. The two services have implemented these features in different ways, and one of them is […]
28
May 2014
I want the news, and I’m willing to pay for it
Sushil
India, Internet, Newspapers, Paid Content
No Comments on I want the news, and I’m willing to pay for it
Recently Times Internet Limited (TIL) updated its music streaming service Gaana, adding features to the Web and mobile apps. TIL put out a press release about this change, and what happened next says everything that is wrong with Internet news today. As articles started showing up in news feeds, after the second or third one a […]
After showing modest but double-digit growth in the early part of the decade, the number of fixed broadband connections in India has flatlined, and that is terrible news for the Internet industry in India and the country’s economy. Furthermore, the existing Internet connections offer some of the slowest speeds in Asia and the world, and […]
04
Sep 2012
It happened! (For real, this time)
Sushil
Content Distribution, India, Internet, Paid Content
No Comments on It happened! (For real, this time)
Back in May there was a lot of talk about the what and the why of the rise of mobile versus desktop Web usage in India. But then people seemed to stop paying attention. Well, it went from a flirtation then to full-on penetration now, as the chart below shows. Does this mean desktop is f**ked, or […]
29
Jun 2012
Kris, Kim and, of course, Kanye
There are so many things to wonder about in this story…What is the bizarre power that the mother K has over daughter K(im)? Is this some kind of electra complex playing out? What, even in all innocence, is a pussy bow? What meaning should we attach to the fact that Kanye is behind the scene?
When it comes to security, there is nobody that I trust more than Bruce Schneier. When it comes to being secure in my person and my rights, there is nothing I trust less than government, whether it is the US, Russia, Thailand or India.
18
May 2012
All the news that fits the narrative
How can a NY Times article contain the following paragraph and not mention that Aero was launched by Barry Diller, about as much of a TV insider as anyone can get? Unlike the music and news businesses, television has been mostly successful at fending off technological challenges. Several network owners worked together to start Hulu, […]
Sushil
Newspapers, Paid Content
No Comments on Not news: news sites plagiarize press releases verbatim
Very often I read a news article and I’m struck by the writing style or language in the story because it is so out of character for the site. Now it’s not news to me or to you that mainstream media and bloggers often republish press releases as an original news article, but one recent […]