'Goog'lish is common language

Stock Symbol : GOOG
Origin : goo.gol, 10 raised to the power 100.
Destination HQ : "GooglePlex", Mountain View, Ca
Fathers : Sergey Brin, Larry Page
Strengths : Superior search, simplicity, effective,
different, innovative, constant updates

With humble beginnings in a garage to the most anticipated IPO, Google has ballooned into a billion dollar behemoth in a very short span. All thanks to its flamboyance & simplistic visage, its working well. To constantly stir up Wall Street with news on stock prices, nail-biting software releases, eager analysts, Google must be one of its kind.

Sergey Brin & Larry Page had a chance meeting at Stanford's spring gathering, when intellectual sparks flew between the both of them. Tremendous grasp over fundamental concepts yet difference of opinions pulled these 2 thinkers to create one of the worlds 'most used' search engines. Google most certainly has stomped other search engines by its sheer mobility in acquiring results. Google was originally termed as 'backrub', owing to its unique style of searching the particular sites' backlinks to determine its importance and ranking it accordingly. Just then Sergey & Larry realised they had a potential business on hands, named it, pooled in capital and set up Google.com.

Smart enough to realise that there were other established engines in its domain, Google came out with a frills free look, one that concentrates purely on providing accurate results. Instant hit! People loved it load quickly & provide perfect returns. As Google's popularity grew, it slowly entered new markets proving very quickly that providing freewares and new softwares ever too often, increased anticipation and web-hits. The Google mill in quick succession churned out gmail, froogle, google reader, video auctioning, earth, desktop & enterprise search(google mini), toolbars....All giving eye popping reviews and amazing efficiency. And where does it get all its revenues to compensate costs? 99% through Ads! Every search page props up relevant ads if visited, revenues is shared between Google and the host.

It is clear that all is dependent on the Web. Google continued its conquest with strategic partnerships, buying out smaller lesser known companies, spread its tentacles globally, while taking giants like Yahoo! and Microsoft head on. I myself have been an ardent follower of Google, so much that I have downloaded its financials. I quickly took a look at its balance sheet, which showed revenues soaring sky high to a few billions in no time and prospects for more cash flows, fewer debts, high share value & P/E ratio. Such is the anticipation.

But Google too is not free of woes - Its heavy reliance on Ads as a source of revenues, growing number of lawsuits, growing competition and skepticism of being too simple everywhere. While enthusiasts predict Google's share value to climb to $2000, the present does'nt show prospects for this rise. Its early meteoric rise seems to have slowed down drastically. Does this mean Google has metamorphosed from growth to maturity? Or is Google tenacious enough to break free of its brief growth slumber with something big under its sleeve? Only time will tell, but the certainty is Google has created furor and indeed delivered quality goods to consumers.

Chintu.

Google when typed on www.dictionary.com, showed up as a verb! defined. search about something through Google.

Apple Consume(r)s

After decades 3 decades of brain drudegery, unending research and bitter rivalry with its famed counterpart Microsoft, Apple finally looms large in the market. What is its first break? 'iPod', the revolutionary music player that has represented an upbeat culture, urban attitude and a breathtaking convergence of style, quality and function. The 3 components I feel are essential for any gadget to make a sensation. And not just that, the gadget is well complemented by a very smooth music software 'iTunes' with ease of integration (sync), music shopping, simplistic navigation, radio and the groundbreaking podcasts. Apple's product line doesnt end there, its sleek ibooks, cute mac-minis, stylish softwares and the new iPod Hi-Fi - All receiving exceptional reviews.

A few years ago just when Apple was in doldrums, it released the iPod with a few of its other products being the Macs. It was Apple's first venture into the portable music player territory with absolutely nil experience. Dressed in pure white, slim, sleek and and geared with an innovative 'rolling wheel' for browsing, iPod hit the stores. Almost instantly it grew in popularity, when Apple knew it had struck gold.

Soon Apple kept improvising to stay ahead of competition and kept appending its iPod product lines. The improvisations were mostly on the grounds of size, weight, function, price & quality. Apple had done its homework on the marketing mix to perfection. And just when the iPod mini's released in early 2004 were showing climbing sales and amazing reviews, Apple & Steve Jobs decide to stop production! Why? To release a new product, a slimmer, lighter, sleeker player nicked 'iPod Nano'. Maybe it was to completely wipe off the inventory of iPod mini, means of cost reduction while promoting the new and next generation player. Although the nano looks delicate, it leaves an irking desire to own one. The competitors are speechless, some wiped out of the market, others trying harder to innovate, while Apple smoothly creeps away with most of the market share. Finally, Apple reduces prices of the iPods (shuffles, nanos), leaving absolutely no incentive to purchase other players. Youngsters rave the iPod + iTunes and Apple has gathered immense brand recognition.

The iPod wave has also propelled many businesses that make iPod accessories, kits, docks, covers, etc. Well, Apple also released iPod Hi-Fi not so long ago, a speaker dock which is believed to possess superfluous quality in sound, with 3 speakers all housed in a very portable white box faced black. Wow! That is Apple, undoubtedly the leaders in innovation and marketing.

Chintu.

Fan of Apple? Read on more at http://www.folklore.org. Very interesting!

Escape velocity into Blogosphere!

Presently crouched in the interiors of my cubicle at NESC, my part-time arena where I crunch code, manage databases, develop projects and of course pass time browsing, perusing on business oriented sites. Taken an immense affinity to Marketing & Finance as I pursue my MBA, which is probably what I want to end up doing.

Finally after investing immense time and thought, decided to blog- assuring myself that this was my chance to pore my thoughts (if I had any!) & improvise on my written skills. I have always though been in favour of a blog when supplied in judicious amounts (non-personal). It can act as a window for a reticent poet, an open road for a strategic thinker, a billboard for healthy debates & promises phenomenal networking opportunities.

So here I am blogging for the first time..some casual gibberish as I call it. Please disregard occasional spelling errors and gramatical mishaps. So welcome home & feel free to share your views or comments. I enjoy feedback:)

Chintu.

"Customer is king", said a once budding marketer.