Virtual Value in the Digital World

Media reports that the market value of Facebook is more than Coca-Cola or AT & T. Facebook which operates in the virtual or digital world is valued more than these other companies. The digital world has virtually overtaken the real world.

SJP @DigitalAsian

Get Off of My Cloud: Cloud Seeding

Times of India reports that a bad monsoon could be good for some. The monsoon has been late this year, worrying a government that's trying its best to revive the economy. But if the Indian weather gods don't feel propitiated enough to ensure that the rains fall in the right place at the right time, some are going to take matters into their own hands. They are planning to use cloud seeding to combat the worst effects of a dry monsoon, although there doesn't seem to be a consensus on how well the process works. Companies engaged in the business of cloud seeding expect demand to shoot up this year as the June-September southwest monsoon, the biggest source of irrigation for India's crops, has been playing truant. 

How does cloud seeding impact regional or worldwide weather systems?

SJP @DigitalAsian

Digital Evolution: Currency Evolution in the Digital World

Currency DNA

Currency Evolution - With the growing use of digital currencies online such as Bitcoin, might this eventually lead to a single online digital currency being used across many countries? Might the Internet become a domain where a single currency evolves. In the European Union, the Euro is under great pressure and some Eurozone countries might consider leaving the Euro. But in the digital world, digital currencies are evolving and gaining ground without the associated political union taking place. How will a digital currency evolve?

DigitalAsian

Image: Currency DNA - copyright CooperJal Ltd All rights reserved

Word Up: The Writing is on the Wall

Times of India reports that the Spike Jonze movie 'Her' is a glimpse into the future. Siri and Google Now's conversational styles are not perfect but their development is part of a movement that the death of  the written word. Our handwriting has never been worse, typing on a keyboard is beginning to feel archaic and even constantly tapping out text messages and web search terms is likely to bring on finger cramps and sore hands. With iOS devices now giving us the ability of sending of voice messages and predictions for self-driving cars and voice-activated doors, lights and elevators (The Internet of Things), it's clear that the future will be spoken, not written. The technology behind how we interact with our surroundings is natural language processing, a technology that enables computers to understand the meaning of our words and recognize the habits of our speech.

Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of the written word? This will give new meaning to the old word processor.

SJP (@DigitalAsian)

Intel: Making it Personal

Times of India reports that Intel Corp believes the worst is over for a personal computer industry hammered by the mobile revolution. The US chipmaker forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street's expectations, sending its stock 4% higher. Investors have pushed shares of PC companies like Microsoft Corp and Intel to decade-highs, partly on bets that the global slump in PC demand that began with Apple Inc's launch of the iPad four years ago is hitting bottom. "PCs have stabilized," chief financial officer Stacy Smith said after Intel's report. He said he expects shrinking demand from consumers in China and other developing countries to rebound, just as it recently has in the United States. 

Is the personal computer still alive and kicking in the short to medium term or is Intel taking it too personally?

SJP (@DigitalAsian)

Adding Value but not Jobs: IT Automation

Economic Times reports that Indian software companies dramatically improved their ability last year to earn more revenue while employing fewer people, reflecting the major transformation underway in a sector that has created a new middle class in India. While the development is good news for information technology companies, it is also a warning sign for employees in the software industry and for students looking to make a career in an industry that used to hire thousands of employees every year.

Between April 2013 and March 2014, the IT industry added only 13,000 employees for every billion dollar of revenue, according to data from software industry grouping Nasscom. During the year to March 2013, it needed 26,500 employees. "We are moving up the value chain, getting more dollar for every hour of work. And more automation of existing work means we are hiring less and less to achieve the same growth," said Achyuta Ghosh, head of research at Nasscom.

This is good for businesses but not for job creation in a country with the population that India has. How will the Indian middle class expand at this rate? Is it that India also needs companies that provide services at the lower end of the value chain to create jobs?

SJP (@DigitalAsian)

UBERrimae Fidei - Digital Technology Upsets Faith in Traditions

The Taxi App Uber has upset a great many traditions. In London, for example, the Black Cab drivers are up in arms over Uber as it has upset their age old monopoly. This is a case where the digital mobile world has upset traditional mobility in London and elsewhere. Modern digital technology is on the move and there is no stopping it now - Pandora's Box has been opened. Faith in traditions is being upset by digital mobile technology.

SJP (@DigitalAsian)

Etiquette in the Digital Age

The digital age has created a host of new etiquette dilemmas reports the Times of India. What should you do when your boss sends a Facebook friend request? Is it OK to take and share smartphone pictures at a friend's wedding? When should you take off Google Glass, rather than just turn it off? Etiquette experts say the book on manners must be rewritten, literally, to take into account new technologies and social media. "Technology is such an area of anxiety for people," says Steven Petrow, an author of etiquette books.

Petrow has addressed a number of issues for the digital age including mass emails that reveal the names of all recipients (which is not OK, he says), and how to deal with wedding guests who want to share smartphone pictures before the official photos are available (he urges the couple to make their wishes clear in the invitation). "Fundamentally, I come back to my core values, which are about respect, kindness and civility," Petrow said. Social media such as Facebook pose particular etiquette problems: if users post news about a death, birth or engagement before relatives are notified, that can create tensions among family members.

These digital dilemmas will only increase as technology evolves.

SJP (@DigitalAsian)