Category: Reality Bytes

RIP Floppy Disk

Sony (last remaining manufacturer) has officially pulled the plug on making 3.5″ floppy disks.

Brings back some memories –

  • My first memories of a PC bring back memories of engineering college too. The PC at home, the people I learnt C/C++ from, the CNC lab where I spent a lot of time, etc. All these memories are intertwined with the floppy experience (the 5 1/4″ variant to begin with)
  • Abort / Retry / Fail – the dreaded message!
  • 13 disks of Windows OS …the pleasures of installing 🙂
  • GrandPrix / Civilization / Majjige (forget the actual name) …how can you seperate the games from the PC!

Is it surprising that Sony was pursuing with the floppy business only because of the Japanese market (which still consumed 12 mil last year)?

Indians can’t be team players?

Aakar Patel’s article in Mint Lounge on Indians & our capability to be team players is nice & thought provoking. There is a ring of truth across many parts of the article that I completely identify with.

“They quell their instinct towards heroism and accept a subsumed role, in favour of team efficiency and consistency. Why can’t Indians do the same thing? The answer is that we cannot understand harmony. That’s why we are poor at things that require selfless interaction, like team sports. Indians do not have the instinct of acting in concert. We find it difficult to put the other person ahead of ourselves even if both might benefit. This lack of harmony isn’t limited to sports, it is inherent: We see it every day in our mindless traffic.”

In certain quarters, Indian roads have been projected as an example of harmony – lack of rules or norms & yet things move. For me, its a perfect example of a bunch of people refusing to look beyond their immediate individual wants. At times, even self benefits are sacrificed at the altar of getting ahead of others.

Extrapolating this group dynamic into the office environment (private sector included), one can relate to the organizational challenges of collaboration.

Is collaboration a challenge only in Indians?

References:

Squandering The Benefits Of Telecommuting

Recently I was faced with a situation that warranted me to telecommute (work from home) for a day. The very next day I came across a mate’s blog post about the economics of working from home. This made me wonder if its all’s rosy on the telecommuting front.

Whenever I have worked from home, I have been surprised by the productivity gain from the missing distractions of a typical office environment. But what has surprised me even more, is how easily the gains can be squandered(1) if one is not organized(2) & disciplined. Squandering away the gains results in one feeling more miserable than a normal dip in productivity.

(1) Some ways of squandering any gains …

  • By being more productive I might make myself some time for the gym …but I also raid the cookie jar once too often
  • I squander time on getting unnecessary updates & applications for the laptop / iPhone
  • I might finish lunch quicker since I am alone   …but I end up spending more time on useless newspapers or websites

(2) Organized could mean having a prioritized ToDo list & being disciplined would mean sticking to the prioritization