Tuesday, April 16, 2013

SingTel website performance

A picture speaks thousand words...

I still don't understand why the local firms still so obsessed with flash. If you guys ever visit the websites of the two telco's you would find what I am saying.
Unnecessary graphics and tough on eyes. Not key board friendly, not intuitive, not updated (e.g. MIO MOBILE which is dead as per the customer service but still in the website), non-working google custom search, 404 errors.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

India - Structurally unsound and yet the country seems to be sleeping.

As days get passed my optimism about India seems to be going down too. I was @ Bangalore, once a Garden city, and dubbed as silicon valley of India or the next innovation centre of world.
Also for a couple of days travelled to Hyderabad, Pune & Noida. Most of these places are supposed to the best places. But my experience shows that these places are as good as any other Indian slum cities. 

- Buildings, Facilities are built as if it's USA or some large country with good infra. 
- Pay/ Service charges are equal or higher than welfare states. i.e. the hotel accommodation costed us ~300/night.(Corp rates and similar hotels @ BKK would be around 200)
- Majority people are just like as if it's 1800. i.e. no sense of urgency, cleanliness, commitment
- Worse of all, it seems $$$ driving every single aspect of life. India, China, or the old world is famous for the values it shared with rest of the world. But now, it's the opposite..

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

SingTel Store & Share - Another me toooo service or any differentiator ?

Just got a message from SingTel that there is a free upgrade from Store & Share as I am their premium subscriber (?).
http://info.singtel.com/personal/internet/addons/store-share/detail

So I was curious on what made SingTel to believe they can go head-on with OTT players like Google Drive, SkyDrive, SugarSync & the ubiquitous Dropbox.

As expected it's NONE. There is nothing SingTel can do better compared to dropbox or for that matter sugarsync. Why should I even bother to upload my documents to SingTel even if it's free to me.

This is the biggest issue I've found with many of the TELCO firms. Especially in Asia where end subscribers are tech savvy, no point going with "me too" approach. If SingTel is thinking "consumers" trust a local telco compared to OTT player then sorry guys, I've to disappoint you. You are the same bandwagon (if not worse) and by the way I can't see your privacy policy details. I see FAQ but no privacy policy..

So is it the "SPEED" which SingTel is selling? If that's the case, may be there is a logic if the volume is high. For example 10's of GB. But if I've such a big data or huge data, I'd invest in a decent NAS and a backup disk. Also, the huge data may not be suitable to be stored as per T&C. And if you look in to the details, the terms of service, liability & Privacy is as good as a third party BV registered company.

So what is the VALUE SingTel offering and what am I missing here ? 



5.6 SingNet and SingTel Mobile reserve the right in its absolute discretion to suspend, discontinue and/or terminate (in whole or in part) the Service without any liability whatsoever to the Customer.

5.7 Upon any termination, suspension or discontinuation of the Service, all data stored by the Customer will be deleted and the Customer's account for the Service shall be removed and the Customer shall in no event hold SingNet nor SingTel Mobile liable for any such deletion or removal of data.


5.9 Neither SingNet nor SingTel Mobile shall be responsible for any loss of data or information pursuant to the use of the Service by the Customer.


8.1 SingNet and SingTel Mobile reserve the right to manage and control access to any computer or any SingTel system or any computer linked to any SingTel system and any data stored therein, in a manner deemed appropriate by SingTel, and to delete any data (whether belonging to, provided or stored by the Customer or otherwise), notwithstanding that such access and the storage of such data is a requirement or constitutes a part of the Service.


April Fool's Day statement from Finance Minister of India


"We are governed by the rule of law. We are a democracy. We have free press...We have a system of law and courts. Any dispute will be resolved through legal suit...that is what makes India not only an attractive destination but a safe destination."

If you are wondering about the person, then it's Chidambaram . He is visiting Japan and he made that statement yesterday . Ironically it's 01st April.

I respect him as an economist, but just like any other politician these respectable ministers, leaders are corrupted to the core.