Steve Jobs, Apple and India

The much awaited Biography of Steve Jobs was finally released almost two and a half weeks after he passed. Written by Walter Isaacson, the biography goes into Steve Job's life and times. The book gives us great insight into the life of one of the best inventors, who was otherwise a very secretive and private person. One of the major influences in Steve Job's life has been India, religion and mysticism.

Steve Jobs came to India in 1974 and stayed here for 7 months in search of enlightenment. He landed in Delhi, and was put up in a hotel where his taxi driver got a commission for taking guests there. He was also welcomed with dysentry, thanks to the rather clean water that the hotel gave him. It took him a long time to recover and he went to Haridwar for the Kumbh. He participated in the Kumbh and went to Nainital to meet Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj Ji). By the time Steve had reached Nainital, Maharaji ji has passed, or rather reincarnated. A local family hosted Steve and helped him recuperate. During  his stay, he repeatedly read the 'Autobiography of a Yogi' by Paramhansa Yogananda (It is believed that this is the only book he has downloaded on his iPad 2) and visited many villages. He also went to meet a Guru who shaved his head to save his health.

It is not known whether Steve returned enlightened or disillusioned. Isaacson's book says he returned more clear and learnt that not only are Indians rational but also intuitive. It was this trait - intuitiveness - that Steve tried to incorporate in all his products, making them the best in the world. Another view is that he went back to the States and said there was no enlightenment when more than half the country was so poor and miserable.

Either ways, the perception he had is not uncommon. Most of the West thinks of India as a country full of mysticism and spiritual gurus who can make all problems vanish. They think people in India still travel on Elephants and snakes happily roam the streets. They think all the people are poor and can hardly afford clothes hence they dress up like Gandhi (thats what someone in UK told me, and I was surprised at his ignorance and arrogance)  Many are shocked to see the level of English that we speak, perhaps even better than their's. Those who know of India only know the Taj Mahal or Goa. While this perception is changing rapidly, it is still the majority view in the West.

Steve went back and opened what would be one of the most valuable companies in the world. He launched game changing products, that changed the world each time around. He never returned to India, and perhaps never thought too highly of India as a market. It seems like the image of poverty still lingered and he thought Indians could not afford to buy an Apple product.

Apple has never treated India as an upcoming market. It launched the iPad and iPhone 4 a year after it released. It has often treated India as a dumping ground for older products when they were launching upgraded versions of the same. To add to that, Apple has officially sold roughly 21,000 iPads and iPhone 4 s respectively. This is hardly anything compared to the sales they make the world over. This is perhaps why Apple doesn't treat India as an upcoming market. There is no Apple Store in India, only resellers. But here's the flip side - the number of these devices being used is almost 5 times the number Apple has officially sold, thanks to the Grey Market. These products are available in India so late that those who want them buy them from elsewhere, and pay prices that are unimaginable. I know someone who paid 82,000 for a 64GB iPhone 4S.

There's no doubt that Indians can afford Apple Products. There are 33 million people in India who can afford to buy an Apple iPhone, iPad or MacBook. However the number of Apple Products in the market is very insignificant. The reason is that the choice is a lot and competitors like Samsung and Nokia and more visible and do more promotional efforts. Apple Products are more aspirational in nature, which everyone wants to own (and they may own one, one day). There are more than 800 million mobile subscribers in India. We're growing at a rate that will surpass China. We are as much a market as China is. More and more people are switching to smart phones. Apple can capture the market and gain significant market share. A good market share in India will only add to the iOS and Mac OS X ecosystem the world over, making it more prominent and dominant.

If Steve Jobs had to come to India today, he would be amazed to see the blend of spirituality, economy and technological development that makes this nation magical (and I mean it when I say magical - somehow things just happen like magic). We're an upcoming economy and our negatives now will turn out to be our positives in a decade or two (population). We are Apple's market, we are a defining part of Apple's future. We are an upcoming superpower, and a super company should take an upcoming superpower seriously.

Steve Jobs will Live On

I woke up this morning to the sad news of the demise of the Apple Founder, Visionary, Icon, Inventor, Entrepreneur, Genius and as some say the Newton of Apple Steve Jobs. I am truly saddened by the loss and know that the void and vacuum left by Jobs can never be filled in this world.

As a child, I had always heard about Apple. At that age, I was a little too young to distinguish between apple the fruit and Apple the Company. My first exposure to Apple Inc. came in late 1998 when my father's friend bought a turquoise green Macintosh. While these computers looked stunning, we all laughed at him because at that time Windows was so prominent in India, that using any other OS was just plain stupidity. More over, these Macs were so expensive and so incompactible that only  a mad person would buy it. Little did I know that in exactly 10 years, I would be laughing at those who din't use a Mac or an Apple product, and though not an Apple Employee, convince people around me to buy one. 

The first Apple Store in India opened in the Forum Mall, Bangalore. At that time, it seemed like a shop displaying pieces of art. We would all go, use their product demos, and come and say, "Wow, amazing but not what we need." My friend had bought the white iMac. When we visited his house we would all want to use his computer cause it was so uncommon. I never knew how to operate one, but the Photobooth Application greatly amazed me. 

I got the iPod very late. While most of my friends had already had one, I managed to get the Black iPod Video as a gift for getting good grades in my 10th standard board exams in April 2006. This marked a new era in my life and my increasing admiration for a man called Steve Jobs. While purchasing the iPod, I happened to explore the Mac, and I fell in love with instantly. I kept asking my father to buy me one, but it was expensive. 

As I started using the iPod, I started getting drawn to Apple. I started reading up more about them, I read a lot about Steve Jobs, downloaded Apple Podcasts, and at that time the D5 conference with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, a rage then as two competitors were on stage face to face. After watching that video, Steve Jobs had won my confidence. He dethroned Ratan Tata as my inspiration and icon. His vision, creativity, presentation skill, thought process, his foresightedness- he knew that users are not quite sure of what they want, so he created devices with features that made people want them made him by inspiration and motivation. I started reading more on his management skill, his marketing skill and more I read, the more I learnt and the more I admired. 

In 2008, I finally got what I wanted for so long - a Mac. It changed my life. I became more interested in technology, I became more productive and my academics improved. It was the Mac. In 2007, the iPhone was launched. It was the object of desire, but not available in India. As they say 'Good things are worth waiting for', I waited and finally got the iPhone 4. As much as I wanted the devices, I also waited for the keynote just to hear and see Jobs. I used to download them and watch them again and again.  I have never met Steve Jobs, but inside me it was like I knew him. It was like he was listening to what I wanted because his products were so intuitive that it had things you wanted as well things you never thought of but made your life so much simpler. 

Today, I am the proud owner of a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad 2, iPhone 4, Apple TV 1 & 2, AirPort Extreme, Two iPods. I am more confident, more productive, more creative, more focused, more capable (I say this in a very non-pompous way). And its all because of Steve Jobs, his vision and passion that led him to make such game changing products that the more I used it, the more capable I became. To a large extent, my identity is defined by Apple and Jobs. My friends know me as the Apple Guy. I help people with all their Apple Products queries as well convincing them to buy on. Infact, many times I have helped people in the Apple Reseller Stores much better than the employees there. And I feel proud when I do so. People call me a nerd. I am an Apple Nerd, not Nerd. And its a Mac, not a laptop or desktop, its an iPhone and not just a cell phone. 

Steve Jobs is no more with us today, but he will continue to live on forever. He will be in the hearts of all those people who's lives he touched with his products, he will be in every Apple product we use, every touch on every iPad, iPhone and iTouch, every key on the MacBooks and iMacs, because if not for him, all this would not be there, and the world would be very different.