Apple, Now Jobs-Less

No matter if you are PC or a Mac, chances are, when you heard the news about Steve Jobs’ resignation, you had a reaction. The reaction, negative or positive, was the result of a visionary in technology saying:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
- Quote Steve Jobs’ Resignation Letter

Jobs-less from SF Examiner frontpage

Apart from iPhone 3G, I have never used an Apple product. That’s not to say that I wasn’t impressed at the first computer I laid my eyes on, Macintosh Plus, designed by Jobs. My first ever computer was a PC because it was more affordable than a Macintosh, especially in Dubai, where I grew up. If it wasn’t for the price, I think, my dad would have bought a Macintosh for me.

According to History of computer design: Macintosh, “The Macintosh case manifests Jobs’ vision of a computer as an appliance, freeing the user from interaction with circuitry.” Many products we use today, and can’t live without, can be directly traced to Jobs’ vision of creativity. Others were inspired to design and think the way he did. He is the Michael Jackson of the technology business.

Apple, now Jobs-less, is never going to be what it was. Jobs gave Apple his best years and that’s the good part. Sad part, however, is that Jobs is no longer relevant. As chairman of the board, he will not be as involved as he was as a CEO. Jobs is no business man, he is an artist, and needs a canvas. Sure, for next 3-5 years, Apple will keep us busy with its innovations. What happens after that is not yet clear because Tim Cook, new Apple CEO, is a business man not an artist.

Jobs reminds me of this one Abraham Lincolnquote, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” One can say that Jobs didn’t just try to be good, he made sure to be the best.

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Now Writing for Examiner.com

I recently applied to write for Examiner.com as a Santa Clara Technology Examiner. My first post, At $99, HP TouchPad is a Steal, was published yesterday.

My reason for writing for Examiner is simple, ability to make millions of dollar and quit my day job. JUST KIDDING. My real reason to write for Examiner is the fact that it has massive appeal and will provide me with more exposure. I don’t blog for money but I don’t mind being little famous, who does? I love to talk about technology and that’s what I will be doing for Examiner.

Of course, this blog is my first priority, and no amount of money can change that. Well, if it’s a million dollars then we can talk. But until then, you will find me here…

I hope you will subscribe to my Examiner RSS feed and support me, until I get to million dollars, that is.

Urdu Learning for Kids in the Digital Age

This is a guest post by Arjumand Azeemi, co-founder at Qurtaba, maker of mobile apps.

Language defines culture and culture defines identity – Urdu learning for kids in the digital age.

I came to United States in the mid 90’s and was at the age where I was very fluent in Urdu. After spending about six months, taking initial ESL classes, I was able to speak English fluently. My father, however, kept a strict rule at home that we speak Urdu 99% of the time. Now fast forward to 2007, this is the year when I became a father to a beautiful son. I remember that I was constantly thinking about the upcoming generation and the responsibility that had been bestowed upon me and my wife as parents.

That responsibility being: how to keep our kids connected with our culture, while keeping American values. If you are living abroad and away from your country, it is really challenging to keep your family and cultural values intact. In fact, I have witnessed many Pakistanis who are Pakistanis by name only. After living in the Unites States for some time, they have lost their Eastern cultural values, and they often complain about their kids as to why they are so “out of control.” I believe that it is not about “controlling,” rather, it is more of a communication problem that they have with this generation. They speak a different language their kids speak a different language, literally and figuratively.

I met Mudassir Azeemi in 2004 when he was working as a Software Architect and I was working as a Network Engineer. In 2008 he was blessed with a beautiful daughter. I remember he came to me to share his experience and thoughts and discuss his own concerns about our language and cultural values. After hearing his thoughts and concerns I felt relief and at the same time was happy that my friend was also thinking along the same lines as me. We then embarked on a journey together, which we named “Qurtaba.” The name is inspired from Masjid-e-Qurtaba in Spain, a symbol of innovation and excellence amongst Muslims. We wanted to rekindle the passion of research and innovation among our young generation.

Learn Urdu Now fast forward to 2010 when I noticed that my son really loved using the iPhone. I downloaded a lot of learning apps for him, mainly in English, even though my wife and I encouraged him to speak Urdu at home. I remember my son would often ask us a question, “papa is ko (iPhone ko) Urdu kyu nahi ati?” (Papa why does this (iPhone) not know how to speak Urdu?). That was the time we started to focus on iPhone and iPad application development for kids specifically for Urdu speakers. You may ask why not try to build the app for young adults? Our primary reason for keeping focus on kids is that they adapt to new tools and language more rapidly as compared to Adults.

Our first app was Alif Bay Pay. Purpose of this app is to familiarize kids with Urdu alphabets. After the launch of our second app Urdu Nursery Rhymes, my son is singing the rhymes, and he loves it now since his iPhone can speaks Urdu.

At Qurtaba, we believe that it is just another way to increase cultural awareness in young children with the use of technology that they love. Qurtaba is a pioneer in this industry, as there were no Urdu apps in the iTunes app store until Qurtaba decided to develop the Urdu apps. We will be launching more Urdu apps this fall rekindling the love for Urdu among children and their parents.

You can connect with Arjumand on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Find Qurtaba on Facebook and Twitter.

Pee: Social Media Explained

Social media is sometimes not so social because it can equate to broadcasting instead of communication. Here is a an interesting attempt to explain social media and how we broadcast/communicate using different services such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus etc.

I don’t know the image source, please let me know if you do.

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SEC Takes Notice of Groupon’s Shady Accounting

In my previous post, I pointed out that Groupon’s accounting doesn’t make sense and it is a gimmick to fool the average investor. Soon behold, SEC is now looking into Groupon’s accounting methods that raised eyebrows among investors and SEC itself.

Here is the problem in plain English.

Groupon’s gross profit accounts for the amount paid to the deal merchant, the share, but doesn’t account for marketing and other expenses associated with the deal. Formula is, Revenue – Expenses = Gross Profit. According to Groupon, it’s Revenue – Some Expenses = Gross Profit. Get it?

It’s avoiding real expenses incurred to look more profitable.

Groupon spends a lot of money on marketing and hiring writers who provide the copy for the deal. It faces a lot of competition and it tackles that by spending more and more on marketing. More marketing leads to more deal merchants who then have to wait to get paid after the deal is over. Then, Gropon needs new deal merchants to pay-off previous deal merchants. If, by now you think this sounds like a ponzi scheme, then, you would be right.

New influx of money (IPO) will help them pay of deal merchants and spend more on marketing to bring in more revenue. As soon as money inflow stops, the house will come down.

For once, I am glad, SEC is doing its due diligence. Here is an infographic, interestingly named “Grouponzi.”

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