Open Office makes me think and Office 2007 doesn’t

In my office, I have all Open Source Software on my machine (Thunderbird, Open Office), except the Operating System which is Windows XP Professional. But I guess in time even that will change, thanks to user-friendly Ubuntu. Till now, no problem with these OSS, until I used Open Office Impress to make a presentation.

Even with the “Wizard” interface of Open Office Impress, it took me literally 2 minutes to figure out where to start. I didn’t get the toolbars and buttons on the screen I wanted to start off my presentation. I went to the ToolBar menu to customize it, but that again took 2 minutes to figure out what is happening. Then I selected one template and inserted some bullet-points in the first slide. Now I wanted to change the colour and transition effects of the text, and again I had to search through the screen to find how to do the same.

This is the place where MS Office Powerpoint 2007 excels. I have tried it earlier for my college presentation. Their patented Ribbon-style interface just helps you do what is there in your mind. It never obstructs the flow of your thought. Be it changing the colour to inserting an audio file and animating the slide, it just works seamlessly. And you feel that its all there in front of you, ready to be used at your command.

That is how User Interface should be for your software product. You should know how your user is going to interact with the product. You should know the types of users and how they work, how they think, what they need first when an app starts. Don’t make the user think. Don’t let him pause for a moment and stare at the screen. Moreover, the User Interface should help the user use functionality of the product which he didn’t even intend to use in the first place, and which will enhance his work even more.

I know that the User Interface of Open Office Impress is very similar to MS Office 2003 version and I have used MS Office 2003 for lot of presentations. But now I am used to the look and feel of Office 2007.  I think only about ‘what’ to do, not ‘how’ to do, while using it.

That is the reason I love MS Office 2007 and wish to buy the same.  Lets see what can be done with my presentation. Will give it to someone who is still very familiar with Open Office or do it on a machine that has Office 2007.

The Real Entrepreneur

I attended the NASSCOM Product Forum, Pune on 25th September, 2008, where they unveiled  ‘NASSCOM Software Product Study’.The Study was quite informative, but there was a concern that the companies profiled in the study were mostly existing since 3-5 years. For me, it did not exactly reflect the pain points faced by companies in their early months. Anyways, some people from the audience were voicing their opinion about the real issues faced by startups and small companies. It was a good discussion at the end of which Subash Menon, Founder and Chairman of Subex Technologies said (not exact words)  : “No matter what difficulties or problems you face, a real entrepreneur overcomes them and solves those problems. Others might close their shop and find opportunities elsewhere. That is the differentiating factor between an entrepreneur and others.”  Well said, very well said.

On similar lines, the theme for the current issue (October 2008) of I.T Magazine (in India) is Tech Entrepreneurs. And their cover art shows a Man in suit unrolling the road as a carpet in front of him. In true sense, it means the man is paving the way for himself.

Now I think it is really difficult to become a true entrepreneur. The qualities discussed above are the ones that sets them apart. It is easier said than done. Believe me. You need to focus, concentrate, strength of character, support from loved ones to stay on the path. I am not sure whether I am fully qualified to call myself as an entreprenuer. But I hope I will be. Someday.

Light and Darkness

As an entrepreneur, I need some inspiration from time to time. The source for this comes from non-fictional books (some fictional also) and blogs. Its interesting and comforting to read about people who have been in similar situations like yours during their journey and eventually found success. You could relate to them and their situations/circumstances.

And then, at times you read blogs like these : Uber Heads to the DeadPool. (For the uninformed, Techcrunch maintains a list of blogs as DeadPool which are related to the demise of startups)

Going through the DeadPool list is also interesting. Reading the absurd situations in which Startups had to shud down shop is scary. There are many startups which were successful in obtaining first round (or even second round) of funding and due to unseen circumstances, they had to close and let their employees and customers go. And startups in the DeadPool list were generally ones who were in news since past 1-2 years. Who knows, how many other startups are there in this world in remote corners of the world, who attain some success and eventually die out.

Why I am writing this ? Well, even I dont know. The news of Uber shutting down because of crisis in the economy and investors stopping their support all of a sudden is scary. Who thought that such imbalance in nation’s economy could affect a startup in the lower order of the ecosystem.  Who could forsee this happening ?  Back in May 2008, when Uber was clinching a Series B funding of $7.6 million, did the executives know that American economy is on the verge of collapse which will lead to investors backing out.

Here we are, managing our own business, taking care of daily activities, trying our best to satisfy our customers, trying to generate sources of revenue, searching for funding and during these tasks, there are other forces in action which you or your company are not even concerned about. And then these forces eventually wipe you out before you can even comprehend what you did or what you shouldn’t have done. So either you keep your risks low and maintain a risk mitigation plan or just be prepared for whats going to happen. In the end, whatever happens, happens for good.

Thank You For Calling, Have A Nice Day

I just called Airtel to register my Home Landline for National Do Not Call (NDNC). When I say ‘just called’, I meant I called them at midnight (too busy to do these things during the day!).  I called from my house in Pune, India and am sure the call was received by some Indian working at some call center in India. He asked for my landline number and where I am calling from. Anyways, it took hardly 1 minute to do that, and there were no issues in getting that done, but at the end of the call, the fellow at the other end wishes me ‘Thank you for calling Airtel, Have a Nice Day’. You see where I am getting at ? For God’s sake, its midnight, you know I am from Pune, why can’t you just wish me good night, instead of wishing me a good day. I guess a IVRS might do a better job at it (you just need to program it to wish a customer according to the time he/she is calling).
I know all these BPO operations are a huge source of revenue and employment generation for India. It has changed the whole demography of many small towns and Tier-II cities. We have better spending power now. It has given a rise to all malls mushrooming all over India, which in turn generates more jobs. Good for us! But then we don’t use our common sense any more. Even though the guy from Airtel who recieved my call was trained to say ‘Thank you for calling…’, I think he should have wished me good night. But thats not the way it is.

Don’t Be Evil ??

Try Orkut in Google Chrome

Just noticed this message while logged into my Orkut account using Firefox Browser. I knew this will happen sometime, when Google will try to push Chrome through its Web Products and Services. In due time, I might see this message on my Google Reader, then Blogger (and all blogspot.com), and finally on Google Search Page itself.

Anyways, I am not judging. They are a Company and what they are doing might not be wrong. Even I might do this with my range of products. But since Google believes in Don’t Be Evil, I thought otherwise….

Btw, I did try Orkut on Chrome then. And then got this message…

Awesome, you're using Google Chrome!