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Why should I read your blog, Bal?

Just before Christmas, I shared a blog post, within which there were a few items/suggestions, that you could buy as Christmas presents for loved ones.

These were centred around technology items, gadgets… for the home.

Now, whilst I don’t often do this (saying that, I did it again for Valentines!) – I will only share the best, and what I’ve actually experienced and/or tested with you. I wouldn’t be sharing any old thing, or something I feel does not hold value.

That is one reason why you should read my blog. For what I share, will have some value. And if you can read in-between the lines, there’s more value for you, than what you may realise.

Let’s take one of the items that I mentioned, it was Ring.

What is Ring? – well, to remind you… it’s a door bell, with a camera… which can communicate to your phone or tablet device, and you can see who’s outside. Great in so many ways…. for the older folk, the lazy folk, for those who are not at home, etc…

I also mentioned, how a number of these devices are all connectable making your home, a smart home. They can connect with the Amazon Echo, for example.

And this morning… what did I hear…

That’s right. Amazon… paid $1billion for Ring.

Now, 2 things here…1) Imagine you’d never heard of Ring, read my blog and thought – this looks good, might buy some shares in it…. 2) All these connected devices, surely they’ll come under one company one day… I should look into investing in them.

Either way, you’d be very happy this morning.

Now, I want to make it very clear – i’m not in a position to advice you.. in what to invest and what will provide you with great returns.

The position I am in, is for you to read my blog, have conversations with me… and then assess for yourself, what may work and what may not.

I too, have invested my money into various companies, businesses and start-ups. Moreso, to help them grow… and for them to help my pension pot to grow. Let’s be honest… who wants to be working when they’re well into their 50’s and 60’s… mind you, there’s even possibilities for many folk to be clever with their money and retire earlier! (On which point, I know some folk who have just done that).

So, you’re probably wondering… when will I be sharing my next ‘top things to buy for a particular occasion….’ well, I’ve nothing scheduled right now. But what I might do, is share individuals whom I’ve met, working with, listened to… who’ll be successful. Becuase at the end of the day, it’s the people that make the businesses work.

Oh… on the conversation of investment – there’s various places you can look and research, where you can invest your money… anything from Kickstarter (the potato salad was my favourite) to various websites & organisations. I would however, encourage you… to do your research. And continue to read my blog.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Accept and have faith…

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Stack ‘em high… sell ‘em low…

Mass manufacturing. Build, build, build…. sell, sell, sell… introduced by Henry Ford. The move was from Craft Manufacturing… where cars, were individually built for the customer.

Highly unlikely would it be that there were two cars that were the same.

Henry, saw this, thought… damn! – this is expensive, what if we made 100 doors, the cost would drastically reduce… combine that with the production line and hey presto, you had mass manufacturing.

Today, we’ve moved a little back into craft – were many folk, do like individualisation and are willing to pay for it.

Manufacturers are also using techniques to manufacture low batches and more variety.

But then, there’s industries, whom are looking at stacking them high… and selling them low. Take the airline industry. Norwegian Air are squeezing folks onto their plane…. and offering them a no-frills, low-costs ticket, to a number of destinations.

Now, why is this working?

1. You want to get from A to B… without paying too much. There’s many folks who’d happy, go backpacking, a holiday with their friends, and when cost comes into the equation – having the option to spend more on beers and sightseeing, and minimum amount on getting there – well, the maths is quite easy.

2. No frills is fine – It’s like having the basics and then you bolt on top, what you want. Like a car, you get the basic, and pay for extras. Maybe a friend wants that reversing camera but you want a heads-up display.

3. Close by…. the airports that Norwegian are less expensice then well known and the ones used by major airlines – hence they can keep the price down, but the good thing is, they’re close by. In this example, Gatwick. Not a million miles from Heathrow. Once again, depends on the final destination – there’s plenty of trains and shuttles from Gatwick to London. Central.

So it looks like there’s a mix between mass and craft…. in the sense, there’ll be lots and lots of people on the plane… but then you’re all individually adding on the extra’s you want. Which works. That’s why many of the low cost airlines are seeing it work. Now… for long haul… would it work?

Why not?… new technology, new planes… allows more options.

Just like the introduction of the production line by Henry, which had the cars going down one line faster than ever before… means, airlines can use aircraft that holds more people… travel longer distances… use less fuel… be more efficient… Yes – there’s a big outlay for a new aircraft, but then… just like Henry, you can stack ‘em (the people) high… sell ‘em (the seats) low.

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Bal’s Friday Thought…

Don’t Complain. Train.

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Technology…with Love.

Valentines Day soon. Very soon. This week, in fact. And if you’re like most people, you’re probably wondering, what do I buy!?!

Yes, you could head over to Pandora and buy some more jewellery… or you could get something from Amazon… where you’re more than likely to spend a few hours, searching… and going round in circles from one gift idea to another.

I thought… why not share my top 3 tech gift ideas for your loved one!

1. Apple iWatch

If your partner hasn’t already got one – this is a must, in my opinion.

Series 3 is the latest one. Full connectivity and does everything you’d want in a tech-loaded watch, from tracking your fitness to taking calls… from sending ‘I love you’ messages to notifications suggesting you ‘breathe’.

They’re £329… just think of the expression on your partners face, when you share your thoughts on how many calories they should be burning a day.

2. Headphones

We’re more and more using tablets and our phones to watch videos. So why not purchase a nice set of headphones to ensure the listening pleasure is as good as the viewing.

There’s a variety of headphones that are available… and there’s some great makes, but i’m going to play it fairly safe and go for something that’s not all about the branding… but about the beat.

That’s right – Dr Dre’s Beats.

Now, whilst looking around, I noticed there’s some great offers available!… for example, check this out…

3. Power Bank

It’s all about budgets. The iWatch is expensive… but worth every penny. The headphones is a mid-range present.. but if you’re thinking, Bal… I don’t really have that sort of money to spend, but would like to buy something tech related and something nice for my partner… what could I buy?

Well… these days, we seems to be needing to charge and power, virtually everything. From watch’s to phones, from cars to Sony’s Aibo (the robotic dog). So why not purchase a power bank.

That’s right… a power bank!

This is a Tecknet power bank, that is available on Amazon. Good quality… good ratings… good to power up anything! And let’s be honest, it’s one of those things that isn’t glamorous… nor is it sexy, but it’s realiable, trusting and always there when you need a little ‘pick me up’.

Obviously, other types and brands are available, and there’s great variety on some of the leading on-line stores…. like Amazon.

There were other tech items you could purchase for your loved one, I did think of Fitbits, but thought the iWatch does much more.

There’s rings that store your personal data… but then, this could get a little complicated and what happens if you lost your ring… you’ll lose your personal data… but moreso, if it got in the wrong hands, that’s a bad thing!

You could also buy DIY electronic kits… Nintendo Switch’s… the list is quite endless. It’s all about, what your loved one will appreciate. And i’m sure, one of the above with some flowers… will do the trick!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

In memory of my friend, Satnam Thamu…. who recently passed away.

Always happy, always smiling…

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Throwback Thursday… my days at Kodak!

I thought I’d relive some of my old memories… And one to start off with, is my time at Kodak.

That’s right- I used to work for Kodak. In fact, it was my first ‘proper’ job.

By that, I mean – I had several summer jobs, and other side jobs… to earn some spare cash which I’d spend on my car… (BMW 318iS Coupe – just for reference!).

So what did you do at Kodak, Bal? – Well… I was one of the five graduates for the year that I started. I know… Out of hundreds and hundreds off applicants, they chose me… as one of five… to join them!

To answer the question – I was a graduate, rotating for 2 yrs within Kodak, experiencing various projects, programmes and activities. It was here that I worked for someone who is an inspiration… and for someone whom I lucky to call Sensei today (but more on this topic another day).

Kodak was a great place… for those who remember, the makers of film, paper and other photographic products. Huge factory in Harrow… UK, is where I was based. Rochester, New York was the home of Kodak in the USA.

Unfortunately, film declined… due to Digital Cameras… and we all know how the rest of the story goes.

Kodak is used in many ‘innovation’ presentations – highlighting how ‘digital destroyed a huge company’. Didn’t fully destroy it.. but definitely disrupted the industry.

Kodak is still going! – I know… I get my pension letters from them! – well, what’s happening to my pension, i’m a few years away from withdrawing it.

It’s funny… because Kodak actually invented the digital camera (also, isn’t it funny, we don’t actually use the term ‘digital’ when we talk about cameras – it’s just the norm…)

The problem was – we.. I mean Kodak, were making so much money from film, they decided to keep it under lock and key – and invest the minimum amount into it.

As mentioned, we all know how the story goes… and digital cameras became the norm, Kodak were late to the party… in fact, they weren’t that late, they quickly ramped up and started making them to meet customer demand… but as people didn’t need film… didn’t need paper to print on… the core business was shaken, and the fortunes of Kodak changed forever.

It’s easy to sit here now… and say, well, they should’ve done more… should’ve have done this and that… but when you’ve got huge sums of money rolling in… why should you? why should you fear? – you’re huge… you’re Global… you’ve got thousands and thousands of people working…

There’s one key lesson we can all learn… don’t get comfortable.

Someone, somewhere…. somehow… will come and disrupt.

What can you do? – Collaborate. Engage. Understand. Explore.

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Technology and getting hands on…

You may recall, I shared a blog post towards end of last year about Lego – and how they were encouraging children to play with Lego and learn about robotics – introducing technology with Lego.

It’s always a hard one. Children these days, do spend a lot of time on tablets and consoles. Either playing games, on social media or just watching YouTube videos of someone jumping up and down.

It’s beginning to change… Nintendo have recently decided to introduce the Labo… and hoping to encourage children (and adults) to not just play on their Switch, but learn by making items out of cardboard and interacting with it.

The Labo is a do-it-yourself cardboard kit, that offer projects for children to make and learn from, with the Switch.

For example, you could make a piano out of cardboard, insert the Switch.. and then learn and play the piano! Rather than tapping on a screen… you actually pressing down on keys (admittedly made out of cardboard, but remember… learning should be fun!)

You can make a remote control car… a motorbike… and a few other items. There’ll also be a Robot kit. An interactive cardboard robot!

Couple of reasons why I think this is great –

  1. Really brings out the ‘engineer’ in the children…. get them physically making things… thinking how it works, how it goes together and how it will work. They could even make improvements… make a larger piano (if possible)… there’s so much that can be engineered out of cardboard. And it’s all in a safe learning environment.
  2. Moving away from the screen – Technology is great. But too much screen time, isn’t that good. This allows children to a) move away from the screen for a short duration and b) learn how technology with real life moving interactive items are connected and how they can be controlled to perform certain actions….

The Switch is a great console – and there’s data to back that up, by record sales figures… and this is a great add-on, which will only make the console more appealing and further increase those sales.

So, if you were thinking what to get… and what to make… here you go… make – play – discover.

 

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Had a setback?…. don’t worry… work on the comeback.