Book Review: Steve Jobs

Finally finished reading 'Steve Jobs', the only authorized biography of "the greatest business executive of our era". Written by Walter Issacson, a person with pedigree (former chairman of CNN and managing editor of Time magazine and who has earlier written about Einstien, Benjamin Franklin and Henry Kissinger), the biography is an up close and personal look into the life of a person who, most people agree, has shaped much of the digital era that we live in today. Indeed, the loss of Steve Jobs to cancer on October 5th last year triggered an outpouring of grief, even here in India, that is generally reserved only for the odd sportsperson or movie star. The book, which I believe hit the bookstores just after his death, therefore had to deal with very strong sentiments and high expectations. Besides, Issacson probably had the closest relationship with his subject that a biographer can ever hope to get: long conversations with Jobs (while on walks, Jobs' favourite style) and innumerable interviews with almost all the people of any importance in his life: family, friends and foes alike (and he did make a lot of foes !). And the book does very well in delivering on all these expectations.

Jobs: A great read..

Through the book, Isaccson gives a neat account of not just Steve Jobs' life but also, by extension, of the evolution of the digital age right from the first Apple computer in the mid 1970s. Starting from his early life, his views on being put up for adoption after birth, his flirtations with Eastern philosophy and India (he stayed in India for seven months in 1974), followed by his successful partnership with Steve Wozniak to set up what is today the world's valuable organization, the book charts everything in great detail. And even though the book has the blessings of Jobs himself, it is by no means a loaded account of how great Steve Jobs was. It is inevitable that a person who was such a creative visionary would be lousy at relationships with others. And Isaacson does not sugar-coat or temper any criticism towards Jobs expressed by many of the people who Jobs might have turned the wrong way. His obsession with having full control over what was happening around him (that caused many a rift in Apple, including Jobs himself being booted out of the company in 1985), his tendency to view everything (people or products) in binary terms (either they were 'perfect' or they 'were shit' - and a person could move from one group to the other on the same day !!!) and his insistence on ignoring reality when it was not in his favour (his cancer diagnosis or his daughter born out of wedlock), all of these are described in great detail. In fact, reading through the book, one almost feels terrified at the prospect of having to work with him. Inspite of all these faults, Jobs went to create products that successfully married technology and the arts because 'he was right there, at their intersection'. The book also talks at length about Jobs' famous 'reality distortion field', whereby he was able to inspire, or scare, people around him by distorting reality into something that he thought was achievable.

Some of the passages that are quite engaging are the ones that narrate how Jobs was told to leave Apple in 1985 after his dominating style of work did not go down with the board and also his frequent spars with Bill Gates. In fact, the book gives a good insight by delving, at various points, on the relationship between them (who were right at opposite ends of the open and closed technology spectrum). It is quite refreshing to see their frank comments about each other, underpinned by a layer of respect below it. And while the book does not intend to either glorify, or question, Jobs's greatness as a product visionary (I do not quite agree with the first line calling Jobs as the greatest 'business executive'), there is one small paragraph in the book, that, in my mind, best describes Jobs' legacy. It is from Micheal Noer of Forbes.com. Noer was reading a sci-fi novel on his iPad in a rural dairy farm north of Bogota, Colombia. A poor six-year old illiterate boy who was cleaning his stables came up to him. Noer handed over his iPad to the boy. With no instruction manual, and never having seen a computer before in his life, that six-year old began using it intuitively. He began swiping the screen, launching apps and playing a pinball game. Noer wrote : "Steve Jobs has designed a powerful computer that an illiterate six-year old can use without instruction. If that is not magical, I do not know what is !!". While Apple products might not have (yet) changed the world, the passage encapsulates the great beauty of making things simple and intuitive. And no one did this better than Steve Jobs.

Finally, for all Apple devotees (is there any who hasn't yet read the book ? :), it is simply not to be missed. And, like me, if you do not know much about Jobs (or even hates him and his products - there are quite a few of those), this book is still a great read. It offers a wonderful insight into the man, both personally and professionally. And if you end the book with mixed feelings, I think the book would have done its job.

Cheers

Amit

A bit of Customer Orientation: Too much to ask for ??

Of late, the words 'customer centricity', 'customer focus' etc have gained enormous traction in corporate life. For example, Asian Paints, where I work, has adopted customer centricity as their main focus and key result area on which all employees, not just the ones facing the end-consumer, will be judged on (which, of course, means that a large part of our variable pay would be basis the scores on the customer centricity parameter). Such initiatives notwithstanding, when it comes to actual on-the-ground customer service, many of our service companies are light years behind. And as is to be expected, the worst performers on that score are our great government institutions, who almost seem to have a rule of thumb that a customer needs to make atleast 3 trips to the office (if not pay money under the table) before his/her work can be done. Besides this, there are other ways in which government organizations never fail to inconvenience the customer, like having inconvenient timings (closed on weekdays for example). Below is an instance which I experienced today:

I had to get my MTNL landline transferred from my father's name to mine (since my company only reimburses telephone expenses wherein the bills are in the employee's name). After going through the MTNL website, I found a link to download the form for the same. I downloaded it, filled it, my father and me signed at the appropriate places. Next I called up their customer care no. (1500) to ask where to submit the form. I was told to submit the form at the exchange to which my landline belongs to. So today morning, I went there and submitted the same. The lady at the counter tells me that a no-objection certificate from my father is also needed, along with ID proofs of both of us. I replied that my father had already signed an undertaking to transfer the line to my name in the main form. But, no, she said, a NOC is still needed !!! Thus ended my first trip to the exchange. On reaching home, I checked the downloaded form and found there was a Pg 2 which had a NoC form. But on closely looking at it, I realized that the form is only to be filled in case the existing customer has expired. So I called back the local exchange and explained the situation. Ok, they said on realization, a NOC is not required. But then came another twist. The guy on the line told me that I also needed to bring my electricity bill (which is in my name) to prove that the address genuinely belongs to me. Then I again went with all this and finally got my work done in the second attempt.

Now just consider. When I call up 1500, I am neither told to take the NOC nor to carry any ID proofs or other documents. Then the lady at the counter, without even looking at the filled form which is signed by my father (clearly proving he is alive) tells me to get the NoC. But she does not tell me to get a copy of electricity bill. Had I not called the exchange, I would have had to make a third trip just for the electicity bill. Looking back now, all this could have been avoided just by detailing the procedure to be followed for getting a landline transferred on the downloaded form itself !! Is that too much to ask for ? But then, documenting and releasing procedures have their drawback: the clerk at the desk facing the customer would no longer be able to show off his 'power' by subjecting the customer to his random whims and fancies and make him run around.

This is not an isolated incident. I have endured this on several occasions earlier, wherein a seemingly trivial job has taken multiple trips to the government office and several days (thankfully, have not had to grease any palms so far !!). Thus, for anyone, who has no choice but to approach a government official to get his work (quite a few services are online now-a-days, and god bless us all !), I can only offer two pieces of advice:

a. Carry along as many documents as you can (originals and photocopies), however irrelevant they may seem

b. Mentally prepare to spend a long time there, or make 2-3 trips atleast

I will soon be having my next run-in with government officialdom when I get my passport renewed later this year !! May God be on my side then !!

Cheers

Amit

Places to visit before I die.. the Andes !

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page" - St Augustine

The above is one of my favourite quotes. Indeed, the world is a fascinating place to be in. The sheer variety that nature has an offer makes travel such a fulfiling pursuit. Like most others, I am always eager to visit and explore new places in new countries. And like most others, I too have a list of must-visit destinations that I aim to visit atleast once in my lifetime. Till recently, Australia used to top that list. Vast open spaces of the outback, the great Australian love for sport and, of course, the kangaroo made it a really special place to visit. The forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in February-March 2015 provides people like me with the perfect opportunity to marry their love of cricket and their desire to go Down Under. Planning will start in right earnest soon and I will to watch a India game in a packed MCG on that tour. Friends Down Under, have given you nearly 3 years notice :)

While Australia still remains a destination to aim at, the relative ease in getting and staying there (direct flights, friends who have setlled there and the sizable Indian diaspora) mean that it is no longer the exotic place that it might have been a few decades ago. If I were to talk about visiting a completely new place, then the continent of South America would probably be the first place that I would mention. For Indians, who have, by their sheer strength of numbers, have 'colonized' most of the world, South America remains the 'final frontier' :). In fact, most of us (esp. those who do not follow soccer)  would even struggle to name 5 countries in South America apart from Brazil and Argentina. Partly because so little of the place is known to us, it has recently worked its way towards the top of my 'to-do' list. And the main calling card in South America for me are the spectacular Andes range of mountains.

The Salt Pans of Bolivia (Salar de Uyuni)..

At over 7000km long and with an average elevation of 4000m, the Andes are truly close to the Himalayas in laying claim asthe world's most formidable mountain range. And nestled within it are, supposedly, few of the world's most breathtaking places : the ruins of Macchu Picchu in Peru, Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian salt pans (see picture - which when covered with water become the world's largest mirror !!!). It also has one of the most inhospitable terrains on the planet which means, of course, that has one to be physically very fit to attempt some of the treks, including the 4-day long trek to Macchu Picchu. In this, and in many other respects, I am a long way away from attempting my South American adventure. Take the cuisine, for example. For a veggie like me, life can be quite difficult in those areas. And one also needs to have a decent understanding of Spanish in order to interact with the people there. To add to it are the finances and the logistics involved. Given the long travel times involved (a Mumbai- Lima, Peru return ticket costs upward of Rs 1 lakh and total one-way travel time is more than 30 hrs), it makes sense to 'make it large' and cover most of the continent in one trip. That would imply atleast three weeks of stay there and estimated per person cost of about Rs 4-5 lakhs. Still some way to go !!!

But till I manage that, the Andes and South America would remain one of my dream destinations. One day, I will definitely say aloud 'América del Sur, aquí estoy!'

Cheers

Amit

Two books and a movie...

Lately, I have fallen quite behind in terms of my reading. For whatever reason, I have just not been able to spend as much time on reading as I wanted to. This, despite the fact that the last trip to my local bookseller (who gives books on rent - god bless him) in mid-January saw me as bring as much as 4 books. Even after a month and a half, I have finished only 2 of those and have started the third. Also there is a huge backlog of Times Crest articles (since November), whose soft copies are gathering dust (metaphorically speaking :) on my desktop. The story is quite the same when it comes to movies. With the baby at home, it is a long time since I have last gone to the theater. Have got to make do with watching downloaded stuff (old movies only). Clearly, a lot more time needs to be put in both these activities viz. reading and watching movies. Till that time, here are some thoughts on the couple of books and movie that I have finished recently.

The first book that I started off this year was Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 20-20. Frankly, for quite some time, I had not even heard about this book. It was only when I started to see the college-going crowd eagerly lap it up in the local trains that I became curious about it. To add to it, of course, was the name (the book's as well as the author's). But having started reading it with moderate expectations, I must admit it has fallen short. Set mostly in Varanasi, the book has three main characters:  Gopal, a wannabe IIT guy who, after failing it to make it there, joins hands with the dubious local politician and starts his own engineering college. Then there is Aarti, his childhood sweetheart and finally, Raghav the third point of this triangle and a IT-BHU grad-turned-journalist with a mission to expose the corrupt, a mission that brings him into direct confrontation with Gopal. The plot, of course, is nothing new and Chetan Bhagat fails to infuse it with much of life. And for a title like Revolution 20-20, you expect him to go beyond the lives of the three characters and address some of the bigger issues facing society. Sadly, there is not much of that either. And finally, there are hardly any shock moments in the book, so required for a novel that otherwise, has nothing new to say. Surely not amongst Chetan Bhagat's better works and can be safely avoided.

The Ascent of Money: a recommended read..

In contrast, the second book in my list was a pleasure to read. Niall Ferguson (a Harvard professor) has written 'The Ascent of Money' and it is a fascinating read if you are interested either in history or economics. And if you are interested in both, it is simply not to be missed !!. He begins with his central point that far from being reviled as the root cause of most evil in the world, money (in its various forms and hues) has actually facilitated the progress of mankind from medivial times to the prosperity (albeit unequal) where it finds today. He then proceeds to trace the historical evolution of the main pillars of the modern financial system i.e. Banking, Bonds, Stocks, Insurance and Real Estate. In each of these five chapters, Ferguson takes a detailed look at the origins of that sector for e.g. the concept of Bonds took shape in Italy in the 14th century, whereas Insurance as we know it today developed in Scotland in the middle18th century as a means of providing for the wives of the Church members who died unnaturally. It is great to get the historical context of all the things about finance that we take for granted today. He finishes with a chapter on the international linkages in the world of finance and goes on to mention that the financial world is very much akin to the natural world in that, it allows for natural selection, survival of the fittest and is as much vulnerable to outside and unforseen events. Though the book sometimes feels lengthy, it is still a good read and in fact, I believe it should be part (if not directly, then atleast as recommended reading) of any B-school course in finance and economics (if it is not already). For those who do not want to take the pain of reading it (or cannot find a copy), there is also a 4-part video series, which can be found here. And finally, you do not need to be a finance whiz in order to comprehend the book. A basic understanding of the terms would do just as well. As mentioned earlier, a thoroughly recommended book, if only to learn about the past.

Coming to the movie now. Watched the Marathi movie 'Gabhricha Paus' ('The Cursed Rain'). A much-acclaimed 2009 movie about the prevalance of farmer sucidies in Vidarbha, the movie stars Girish Kulkarni and Sonali Kulkarni (starred in Dil Chahata Hai opposite Saif) as the couple Kisna and Alka. The movies begins with a farmer suicide, which then makes Alka fear and obsess that her husband would be the next in line. Kisna, of course, is very much the hard-working and optimist types. After two years of drought, all eyes are on the monsoon clouds as another sowing season approaches. But then, the Cursed Rain comes down in torrents, thus destroying Kisna's hopes of finally getting just reward for this hardwork and toil. The movie, directed by Satish Manwar, may not be a masterpiece, but it definitely takes a sincere look at the troubled times faced by the farmers and has good moments of black humour, none better than at the ending. Also it marks another step in the ascent of Marathi cinema from the run-of-the-mill slapstick comedy variety to a medium that looks at all facets of modern life, both urban and rural. Would heartily recommended seeing it once.

Signing off for now. Have currently started off with Steve Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson. Will write about that when I finish.

Cheers

Amit