Since one of the reasons for this site is for it to be a single place where one can find all my old articles, I am moving it here. –ac

I have been quite vocal with my reservations about India’s “techno slavery” approach to IT business, and I definitely haven’t made any friends at NASSCOM that way.

Sure, the tech slowdown in the US *has* been a rude awakening for Indian IT companies, but I bet that we haven’t yet seen the worst of it.

Many IT Companies have relied purely on software export to the USA, and they are in for a miserable ride, because they have painted themselves into a corner.

Should the US market suddenly begin shutting down on them (as could very possibly be the case right now), they will be left with no alternate markets, no alternate sources of revenue, not other option but to start pink-slipping their talented workforce to reduce expenses.

If that isn’t shortsighted, tell me what is.

An analogy, if you please – much of the Indian software industry is all about leaves and branches. Sadly, you also need strong roots for a tree to survive the winds of change.

With the primary market (the USA) in doldrums, it is time for the industry to strengthen their roots in more local markets – not just India, but Asia, since Asia will without doubt be a far bigger market with more lasting challenges and opportunities than found in the US.

The current policies that the Government is dishing out make it far more attractive to work for other people than for one’s own.

I am old enough to remember an India where software companies were actively persuing local markets. I watched the Wipros and the TCSs, the Knoxwares and the SRGs, the big guys and the small ones – all chasing the holy grail of “Indian products, Indian markets, International Quality” with earnestness, determination and a lot of innovation.

I watched all these efforts disappear like puffs of smoke in a gale as the export-oriented policies began appearing.

The current policies have killed the Indian software industry.

Don’t laugh – think about it. By catering exclusively to American clients (who will never acknowledge the Indian roots of their products/services when marketing them), you are part of the American software industry – an industry that caters to a market that (despite globalisation) suffers from a chronic case of “Not Made Here Syndrome”.

Take away the carrots that make it more attractive to cater to American markets than Indian markets, or at least create a level playing field – create policies that reward catering to local markets in the same way the industry is currently rewarded for bringing in export dollars.

Understand the need for balance, and for keeping more than one iron in the fire. Don’t make the “Think Global” mantra an excuse to ignore (and erode) your local markets.

As you are about to witness (and possibly painfully experience) – there is no place like home (markets).

The articles focussed on communications and networking, and attempted to clear up issues and questions about this field.

The articles appear in chronological order. The first article in this list was the first one that was published – in January 1993.

Please note: These articles are old, and in many case do no longer have any relevance to stuff that exists today. Please do not write to me trying to “update” me on things (like “hey, haven’t you heard of 56kbps modems?”) – most of this stuff was current when it was written – back in the 1990′s.

A qualified Bachelor of Engineering holder in Mechanical Engineering, he has always been fascinated with the world of technology – especially computers.

Atul began writing technical and techno-social articles in the early 1990s, but his dabbling with writing goes back to his childhood, when he and his brother used to “publish” newspapers and magazines, writing all the material themselves.

His first piece of technical writing was a “User manual for our Home” that he wrote in sheer frustration after his family moved into a new home, where nothing seemed to work, and which contained the immortal instruction “To get water out of the shower, flush the toilet first…”.

In 1992, he was encouraged by Prasanto Kumar Roy, then editor of Indian computing magazine PC Quest, to write a series of articles for the magazine. These articles appeared to have been quite popular, resulting in a permanent column in PC Quest between 1993 and 1996, named “COMversations”. He was also consulting editor to PC Quest until 2002.

You can find out more about Atul, visit his site – http://atulchitnis.com.

The column dealt largely with data communication, BBSs, modems and later on the Internet. By 1996, I was also covering topics such as Linux and OpenSource, as well as a lot of networking stuff.

Apart from the fact that it brought me an unbelievable amount of attention and exposure (some people might call it “fame”), it was more than anything else a lot of fun to research and write.

Since then, technical and techno-social writing has been part of my life, and I often find myself sitting down and “penning” (if one can still use that term in this day and age) an article on some topic or the other.

Additionally, I keep an online diary on the web at http://atulchitnis.net. While the diary was meant to track my personal life for friends, family and anyone else who may be interested, I also found myself mixing in a good dose of technical and techno-social writing, confusing the various types of visitors to my site.

Clearly, I needed to keep things separate.

So what does one do with all that material? Does one leave it to bit-rot in my archives, to slowly turn irrelevant? Or should one get them out there, in the hope that others may enjoy reading them, and possibly learn from them?

The answer is this site – COMversations.com.

Over time, I will start filling the site with stuff I have written – not just old articles, but new ones as well. In fact, the newer articles will come in first, while older articles will be “retro-fitted” over time.

I hope that you, dear visitor, will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Atul Chitnis
Bangalore, India

He couldn’t immediately find it, so he asked the sales personnel to help him. They in turn asked him for the exact name of the book, the publisher’s name, etc. – all information that my friend didn’t have. He had just read about this book (either in a magazine or on the Internet), and since it was of interest to him, he thought he’d buy it. He didn’t think that he’d have to bring in so much information just to find it!

Well, he didn’t get the book, so tried in another shop, with similar results.

He gave up, went home, came online on Instant Messenger, and cribbed like mad to me about the inefficiency of bookshops.

I can sympathise with him – I too have run into the situation he faced at the shop – and I have been facing it for the past twenty years. The difference is – these days there are tools a shop like that can deploy to help the customer – computers and the Internet.

How it could have been

Picture this (imaginary) situation that my friend could have experienced at the book shops he went to:

Not immediately finding the book he was looking for, he walks up to the a counter where a helpful looking staff member could be seen staring intently at a computer screen. Explaining what he was looking for, both people quickly realise that the exact title of the book is the clue to advancing the transaction.

So the shop assistant pulls up her browser (naturally, she is connected to the Internet), and dumps in a few search terms into her favourite search engine (probably Google).

Working with my friend, she quickly identifies the book, the publisher and other information. Then she quickly searches her internal inventory program to locate the book in the shop.

She realises that the book isn’t in stock, but does find a source for the book right here in the city. She quickly calculates what it would cost her shop to buy the book, slaps on a small margin to cover procurement and courier costs, tells my friend that the book isn’t in stock, but can be procured and couriered to him within a day, and names her price.

My friend is thrilled, whips out his credit card, orders the book, and goes
home. The book is delivered the next day, with a personal note from the shop assistant thanking him for his business.

Would my friend ever go back to this shop?

You bet he would. In fact he would probably never go anywhere else.

Why isn’t this more common

So why isn’t this a common enough scenario?

Because these bookshops (at least here in India) just don’t get it (yet).

Let’s look at some of their arguments against using a system like this:

1. Too expensive

This is rubbish. Most bookshops are using computers already anyway – so throwing in a Rs.3000 modem and a dialup account can’t really be that expensive, can it? And these days cable Internet and DSL always-on connections are so cheap that it is laughable.

2. No software

Another bogey from the past. You don’t need any expensive search software, or even any in-house infrastructure to be able to search for information – services like Google and Yahoo are a million times more powerful than anything you could set up anyway, and they are free.

3. Will be misused

This is a possibility – if you don’t do it right. If you set up access terminals all across your shop and offer them to your customers, there is a very good likelyhood that they will come to surf and not buy.

You can easily fix that – make them pay a small amount to use the terminal, and adjust the amount in any purchase they make. Just make sure that this amount is more than what a cybercafe would charge!

Or just make the terminals available to sales staff only. In the above scenario, the sales assistant not only located the information required, but also found a source for the book, and was able to swing a deal because of it. Good for the shop, good for the customer.

4. Too complicated

Come on – if your 8 year old daughter can do it, I am sure you and your employees can, too.

5. Not worth the returns
Ahhh, here we go. The “what’s in it for me” factor.

What’s in it for you is your own survival. Without facilities like these, you might as well shut down and retire – the online bookstores will wipe you out in no time at all.

What’s also in it for you is greater customer satisfaction, and that translates into a more sales.

Ever been to a roadside shoeshine “shop”? You walk up to him, he polishes your shoes to a high gloss, you pay him a small amount, and both of you are happy. Sure, you could have spent time at home shining your shoes yourself, but this is so convenient.

See the lesson in that?

People don’t mind paying a little extra for extra service. And that little extra can translate into big profits for you in the end. That’s an age-old business wisdom.

But the more important thing is – you are raising customer satisfaction. And nothing is better advertising that word-of-mouth from satisfied customers. Not only do they keep coming back – they bring their friends along, too.

But all this seems wishful thinking. I have not seen any changes in the way the bookshops operate for many years – they live in an age long gone by.

And soon they will be history themselves.

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