Worst technology quotes and predictions…

Sir Alan Michael Sugar, the founder of Amstrad, in Feb 2005: “Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput.”

Steve Chen, the co-founder of YouTube in March 2005: “There’s just not that many videos I want to watch,” At the time YouTube featured about 50 videos. Today it is 3 Million videos Per Second!

Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp, in 1977: “(There’s) no need for a computer in the home,”

Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM reportedly in 1943: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, in 1990 called PC “a ridiculous device”

Darryl Zanuck is an Academy Award-winning producer, in 1946: “TV won’t last because people would, “soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night”

Lee De Forest, an American inventor in 1926, about TV: “While theoretically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.”

Boeing engineer, in 1933, after the first flight of the Boeing 247, a plane that could hold ten people, said, “There will never be a bigger plane built.”

Similarly in 1904, Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre: “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.”

Bill Gates in January 2004: “The problem of spam e-mail messages will be gone within two years”.

Dennis Gabor, British physicist and author of Inventing the Future, in 1962: “Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.”

Western Union Co internal memo in 1879: “telephone” has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”

IBM in 1959 to founder of Xerox: “The world potential market for copying machines is 5,000 at most.”

Editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, in 1957: “I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.”

Virginity Auction…$3.5 million!

Going once…Going Twice….Gone

A student (Natalie Dylan) is auctioning off  her virginity. The bidding for her virginity has hit $3.7 million. She certainly sounds proud of her “selling point”. Her inspiration is her sister who paid for her college by working as a prostitute for 3 weeks! This student plans to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy. Yeah, as if her future therapy clients would like to go to her??

Looks like an expensive school to get your degree  in Family and Marriage therapy. To he honest, this was the first time I heard a degree by this name!

Well, whom I to judge? I just posted this article because it just shocked and surprised me.

Sadly, I guess it is all about money? Or is it? The question is would you do it?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/4222155/Student-auctions-off-virginity-for-offers-of-more-than-2.5-million.html

Vonage sucks!!

I have been a Vonage customer for few months…that was until recently.

The story goes like this…

One day I decided that I was done with the Vonage phone service and decided to call it a day. Moving to a new place which made me decide to combine all my accounts i.e. HD Channels, High speed Internet and Phone. The next thing for me to was to call up Vonage, DirectTV and my ISP and cancel the service. Everything was smooth with DirecTV and the ISP. Next in line was Vonage – told them that I wanted to cancel my Vonage account. The very moment there was a surprise stored in for me - the customer representative told me that an amount of $96 will be deducted from credit card due to the early cancellation! No other explanation on the fees. I argued that I never had a contract with Vonage (because no one told me about it when I ordered the service!). How can I agree to a contract which Vonage didn’t disclose? She said you are bound by contract when you order online and it is mentioned in the “Terms and Conditions” link which is way at the bottom of the page!

So I was bound by the contract even though it was never disclosed to me i.e the terms of cancellation. A contract from my understating is an agreement between two parties where both invloved parties agree by the terms and conditions. Correct? Well, I was duped in accepting the contract just by signing up for the account.

Anyway, late that evening I again called up Vonage to get a clear explanation of the fees which I was charged for. This customer representative explained this – the early termination cost me $39.99 the other charge was for the router they “sold” to me + promotion fees which was offered during the account sign-up. Well, I told him I wanted to return the router (like I do with my ISP or with DirecTV) but he said it was for me to keep – it was sold to me by default because of the breaking of the contract! So, now I have Linksys Router which I have no use – expect trash or eBay.

Hang on there is more….this takes the cake – When you call them to cancel the account they will cancel it the very same day – so be careful. They will not allow you to use the phone for the remaining days for which you have paid for. I thought the norm was that you pay and use a service for the period you have paid for or you get the pro-rated amount as a refund – Right? Wrong! Well, the cust0mer representative told me that the cancellation policy with them is - the service is gone and so is the money the very same minute you call to cancel their service!  I don’t know what to call this – Scam? Fraud? Deception? Maybe not as everything is mentioned in the “Terms and Conditions” which is way way at the bottom of the website.

By the way the phone service sucks….if your internet is down then your phone is down. So make sure your internet is always up and running. You cannot afford to have your modem or router to freeze up.

Anyway, I was looking up on Google and found various posts people venting their frustrations; everyone with a story to tell. Suddenly came across their stock price…it closed at $0.59 as on 1/12/2009. Well, I guess they need my money more than I do!

I don’t recommend Vonage to anyone.

Next blog postings will be my experience with DirecTV…later my experience with ATT U-verse.

Welcome 2009…

Today is the 1st day of the year 2009. Well, time to get the resolutions rolling. I am pretty sure everyone has some sort of resolutions. Some people really roll with it but some people (like many) just stop mid-way and give up.

Anyway, what a year that was…we are pinning our hopes and dreams for this year.  Well, we say that every year but every years brings you the share of it’s’ story. Every year people gather around and dance, dine and drink their way to what is is call “the New Year eve’s bash”. They kick the old year and welcome the New Year. What a wasteful way of spending money! In these tough times people are still willing to dole out the extra cash just to welcome an “imaginative friend” i.e. the New Year. Sometimes I am ashamed to see the level which we have reached. Wars, famines, droughts – is the world we live in but still every year we gather around to welcome the New Year – welcoming more of those momentous events of life.

It is time to reflect on our deeds and not on our waistline; time to see whose life we can make better besides ours; time to forgive and forget things; time to help a person in need; time to sponsor a child; time to love others; time to love your parents; time to love your kids; time to shed of the greed; time to give; time to make your heart a better living place for others…

My resolution? Be Unselfish…for years to come. Welcome 2009.

So this year is going by…

Finally, this year will to an end in few hours. Gone will be this year for good.

This year certainly has fair share of it’s happiness and sadness – in and around. It was a year full of fullness. It would be nice to not to look back but look ahead to the year ahead with admiration and hope. Resolutions will be made and will be broken. It is just a part of new year’s blitz.

So many things to do and so little time. Well, life moves on.

On will come the next year and then it will end too.

Good luck everyone and God Bless. Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas and have a Joyful New Year!

We want to wish you a merry Christmas and Joyful New Year of 2009! Be safe.

Where am I?

It has been such a long time since my last post. I am still here…around…somewhere.

Things have been crazy. Life is has been hectic. Marriage is wonderful!

In the past few months I have come to realize important things, especially – why things happen? Suddenly a cliché’ comes to mind – everything happens for a reason!

Anyway, I am eager to share but before that I have collect my thoughts and start keying down every stroke with thoughtful and peaceful mind.

The City of Mumbai…

I was born in Gujarat – a neighboring state to Maharashtra where the city of Mumbai (Bombay) is located. I have been to Bombay quite a few times and it was such a fun place to be!  Reminds you very much of New York – expect for tall buildings in NY. Mumbai is very much like NY – with the diverse crowd, busy streets, overcrowded trains and congested traffic!

I pray for the departed souls in Mumbai (Bombay). What a horrendous way to end the year…sometimes you just wonder why we human beings can be just humans and stop acting like animals. Why is it so difficult to comprehend? Well if we had an answer to this million dollar question – then I guess the world would have been a peaceful place?

We humans have constantly fighting over things since the Biblical times…hopefully, someday we will stop or will we?

Enjoy your day today…enjoy the Thanksgiving! Give thanks to God for everything you have in life…

Prayer in marriage…

Today (May 1st, 2008) we started a new trend within ourselves. We have decided that we will pray every day before I go the office. We did talk about it about earlier, but it never happened as we both are used to saying prayers in private.

So, today we prayed in the morning – the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. It felt very refreshing. There was a feeling of connection when we started the Rosary. It was mystical. Though we started off bit awkwardly it got smoother as we went along with the prayer.

I have always heard that couples who pray together have their relationship enriched and strengthened.

Praying together helps to build trust between partners, allowing issues and joy to be shared openly. Issues and problems can be solved together with God rather than trying to solve them alone.

One month of Marriage…

It has been almost a month since my last post. The last post I talked about me getting married. Yes, it has been one month of my marriage, and it is going just fine. We are adjusting to our new life, new style and new concept of life. It is interesting; it is fun.

We seem to enjoy each other’s company – whatever we do – it maybe watching TV or going out for a movie or just when we fool around!

She is someone I have been looking for – someone very down to earth and very understanding. Shy and passive in nature. Sometimes I feel that she is an exact opposite of me when it comes to personality! But we attract each other in a big way.

She is a great cook! She really does an amazing job when it comes to cooking. I help her out wherever I can – say washing dishes and cleaning up the house over the weekends! Marriage is all about sharing everything with other and treat each other with respect.

We have understood that we are two different people, but a single soul. It has been exciting one month. It still all new.

I am glad that I chose her and she chose me. Perfection is sometimes blended with differences.

Today is the Day!

It is 6:50am in India – March 31st, 2008.

The Sun is rising over the horizon and people are still waking up from their deep sleep. Today, I was up by 4:30am and went for an hour walk. Now, I am sitting here typing out a brief about a new journey, which I am supposed to commence today at 5:00pm (IST) 7:30 EST. Sweet.

So, today is the day when I will be getting married. Hmm….it does gives me the usual jitters, but I guess it is part of life.

Many of friends and relatives have already arrived and some are still on the way. This place is going to get crowded by and around 10am this morning. They will get busy with car decorations and other misc stuff. Meanwhile,  I will wait for the clock turn to 3 when I will start dressing up for the wedding.

By the way, I am getting married to Loveleen Crowther; a soft-spoken beautiful girl. The nuptials will be held at St. Xavier’s Loyola Church here in Ahmedabad, India. Well, this is the school I have spent my years running around the track, playing soccer, playing basketball etc. It has been some journey.

Today is the day. Good luck – hmm to me!