Is shame dying?

Rohit Brijnath is perhaps one of the best Indian sportswriters among the present crop. In a recent piece on doping scandals among athletes, with the Marion Jones saga continuing, he concluded that “shame is dead” in sports. Well said, Rohit!

On a different plane, I guess shame is dying in various other spheres of life as well. Take, for instance, women’s clothing. These days, Victoria’s Secrets are all many seem to need, but that is not going to throw garment manufacturers out of business. They will survive making inner garments that cost more than party wear.

Not surprising, as in the rapidly unfolding world of undressing, that is all new-generation women appear to need. They are becoming the new anytime wear now.

Staying at the Mandalay Bay during my recent visit to Las Vegas, I found women in a two-piece bikini happily walking in and out of lifts a common sight. Considering that the lifts in the Vegas hotel are always crowded and also that the moment you step out of the lift you walk into a packed casino, this was clear indication for me that embarrassment has no place in the present context.

I have no complaints though.!

Interestingly, I even saw a girl in a two-piece bikini standing casually at a packed check-out counter at the hotel. That was real eye candy for those in the queue!

And, playing in the casino throws up distractions galore as you are generally surrounded by women wearing barely-there outfits.

Well, well, this is not exactly a culture shock for me. Women are increasingly going in various states of undress in Singapore and the rest of Asia as well.

Shame is truly, truly dying. But then, shame on me for being so old-fashioned, a fossil so out of place!

—–G Joslin Vethakumar

Without Hype and Hyperbole…

…Can Sales Survive?

Hype can often mean empty talk. I am not sure if this is what I got at the Cisco global sales meeting in Las Vegas last week. Sales meetings are generally meant to be a high-pitched affair where available market data is magnified in an effort to inspire and charge the Field up to mount an all-out onslaught on competition and help drive business.

The Vegas meeting thus fell within this ambit. I liked the element of drama that accompanied the presentations, and even the focus on the importance of fostering diversity. It is quite another matter that no Indian food was in sight the whole week. It was rich, glorious food, though, for those comfortable with other types of cuisine.

Stand on Microsoft: That aside, how about food for thought? I am a bit confused on some positions that the company took. Does Cisco now want a partnership with Microsoft which has teamed up with rivals Alcatel and Nortel? Or, are we going to take them head on as a newbie competitor? The tone of the speeches did not let me draw adequate clarity on this.

Nonetheless, I cannot help recalling how some companies that wanted Microsoft dead are now themselves facing the threat of being consigned to history. Take, for instance, Sun Microsystems that once thought the network operating system it espoused would signal the end of Microsoft. Or Netscape whose founder never lost an opportunity to deride Bill Gates and his company. Even Oracle hardly had kind words for Microsoft. I have myself listened to their tirade at press events.

It will be too naïve for anyone to imagine that Microsoft, with all its financial muscle, will sit idly and watch competition overtake it technologically and in terms of market penetration. Its recent moves only confirm that it is determined to make its presence felt in the communications marketplace and expand its horizon to stay relevant.

Clinton’s Speech: The much-awaited Bill Clinton speech at the Cisco event was a bit of a let-down for me. He didn’t look confident when touching on topics such as Lebanon and the Middle East. But he was at ease when he talked about family values, flexibility at work and issues such as poverty and AIDS.

“The first best thing to have happened to me is being a father. Having been the U.S. President is only next best,” he asserted.

Spectacular Cirque de Soleil: Incidentally, Clinton was also at the Cirque de Soleil show that I was privileged to watch with my colleagues in Las Vegas. It was a breathtakingly spectacular show, using the entire auditorium as a stage for its magical forays.

That was the only worthwhile post-meeting thing I did in the casino city although I had thought of seeing Celine Dion live there along with the Mamma Mia show playing Abba songs. My escapades at the casinos there (damage: around US$800) had left me with little time for the shows.

But I did get to catch a few bands at a dinner hosted by Cisco.            

—–G Joslin Vethakumar

Sales is the heart of Cisco

Really? Am I naive in thinking that it is technological innovation, first and foremost, that sells?

Sales is the heart of Cisco. This was the concluding remark unleashed by charismatic Cisco CEO John Chambers, wrapping up a powerful two-hour speech at the just-concluded Global Sales Meeting of the company in Las Vegas.

Not that I have a problem with that as I support Sales as well. But I couldn’t help thinking that it was first and foremost the strength of Cisco’s technology that took the company where it is. If the product development teams come up with offerings that lag far behind that of our competitors, can Sales sell?

Let me not try to perpetuate an enduring, never-ending debate on who is paramount – innovators or sellers?

Nonetheless, I can hardly resist striking this analogy — newspapers don’t sell just because the engineering/technology divisions within their establishments come up with a dash of brilliant colour, thanks to great production and printing. They help create favourable first impressions, but if the content is far from desirable readers are not going to lap them up, no matter how hard the Sales folk try.

Brands become good brands by virtue of the quality of the products. There is no question, however, that the Sales pitch enables branding.

Not all top brands facilitate easy selling, particularly when they hit a rough patch with some negative publicity. Like Pepsi and Coke having run into a roadblock in India with reports about the pesticide content in their drinks. If the Field succeeds in selling it and meeting numbers despite the perceived poor quality of the product, then the epithet of they being at the heart of the company will be well-deserved.

—–G Joslin Vethakumar

Shoddy Service by AI at Changi

I saw my parents off to Chennai last night at the Changi airport in Singapore. Given all the mayhem in airports worldwide, we decided to be at the airport early. For the 7.40pm flight, we reached there at 4.30 which is not too early, though. But there was no sign of Air India soul at the counters.

 

Around 5.15pm, they made a leisurely stroll in. It took about another 15 minutes for them to get cracking.

 

This is not our first such experience with AI at Changi. We had to go through the same ritual in December last as well.

 

At least this time, with all the extra security required, I assumed they would be at their seats well in advance. Air India did not even have an early check-in counter for those passengers needing to check in early so as to avoid the needless rush in, particularly so for aged people. To make it worse, even the regular counters start functioning late.

 

Should anything that has to do something with India always be so shoddy in terms of service?

 

To cap it all, the flight departed one hour late, without the staff making any effort to alert the passengers about it.

 

–G Joslin Vethakumar

Lil’ Lizard at Hyatt

The last few times I visited Bangkok, I stayed at the Intercontinental. And I liked it there because it has a good Indian restaurant – Haveli.

But early this week, I decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt, just across the road from the Intercon. The food was substandard. They did not even have hash browns for breakfast. They messed up even the reliable omelette by preparing it with crabmeat. For a person not so adventurous as me, this can be a challenge. The only consolation is that Hyatt Gold Passport members get a 50% discount for food.

And, in what could be a first for a five-star hotel, I saw a little lizard in my room.

 —–G Joslin Vethakumar

Britain, the new breeding ground for terrorists?

Here’s what makes me feel sick.

I have a flight to catch on Sunday. Bound for Las Vegas. With a transit in Los Angeles. For a big Cisco event in the casino city.

Given that U.S. airports have already been way too stifling, I now have to brace myself for more chaos there.

While Britain may have foiled the plot to trigger a string of mid-air explosions, it has to take the blame for being a breeding ground for terrorists and making it hard for people in the rest of the world.

Mr Tony Blair, I won’t be surprised if you are thinking of relaxing your already lax immigration policy and bringing in more people from Pakistan and other such countries that are soft on elements keen on fomenting trouble in countries that they deem are inimical to their cultures?

Let us remember that civilized behaviour alone is not going to rid the world of terrorism. We have to be brutally ruthless in handling it.

 —–G Joslin Vethakumar

The Microsoft-Nortel Pipedream

A few days ago I had written about the partnership between Microsoft and Nortel on joint development of business communications platforms. Now, here is a report in Market Watch that attempts to explain about why it will merely be a pipedream — http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B9D898B31-A37F-4D7E-A2DF-A83C8A201AB7%7D&siteid=.

With Nortel struggling to keep pace with its competitors, it may count on this partnership to enhance its survivability. But alliances do not necessarily translate to more business. In fact, given the uncertainties that a new alliance spawn such measures can drive businesses to competitors. Also, the rosy projections Microsoft and Nortel make for web-based communications, to me, look spurious.

So, is this reason for Cisco to smile, beyond their better-than-expected fourt-quarter revenues that cheered investors, pushing the stock up by more than US$2?

 

 —–G Joslin Vethakumar

World Leaders Count on Cisco for Technology Direction

Bush, Blair and Clinton have all visited Cisco offices recently

First, it was US President George Bush who visited the offices of Cisco Systems in San Jose (April this year) for a discussion on U.S. competitiveness, technology and education with a panel.

Soon after, his charismatic predecessor Bill Clinton participated in a Cisco event to discuss a range of issues from information technology to global security.

Last week, it was the turn of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to visit the Cisco headquarters for insights into innovation, R&D and education in an effort to understand how his country can attract more investments from Silicon Valley trailblazers.

Incidentally, Mr Clinton will speak again at another Cisco event in Las Vegas later this month. That is an event I am looking forward to as I will be attending it in what will be my first visit to the Casino city.

Here about it all from Cisco’s spokespersons at the company’s blog at http://blogs.cisco.com/gov/2006/07/the_british_are_coming_uk_prim.html

It does feel good to note that the company you work for is counted upon by global leaders for technological guidance.

 —–G Joslin Vethakumar

Microsoft’s Big Communications Push

While Cisco Systems is busy snapping up small and medium-sized companies, its rivals are firming up strategic partnerships with giants from other communication sectors to boost their prospects in the marketplace.

First, Alcatel (that recently acquired Lucent Technologies) got into an exclusive IPTV middleware arrangement with Microsoft.

Now, Canadian telecom equipment maker Nortel has also reached an alliance with Microsoft that is expected to result in the joint development of Internet-based communications products and services.

For more on it, head here — http://www.ft.com/cms/s/69e7dd1e-1665-11db-8b7b-0000779e2340.html .  

For another perspective on the development, you may like to check out http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2161047/microsoft-nortel-gang-cisco

                                        

 —–G Joslin Vethakumar