My fortnightly column, A Dose of IT that discusses Rupees 1 Crore Crores Human Capital Impact Kapil Khandelwal QuoteUnquote with KK www.kapilkhandelwal.com

1. cmyk cmyk
THE
AGE
Google Microsoft India Music
New Delhi ● Monday ● 14 February 2011 11
loses some
Technomics
chairman Ravi service
market Venkatesan to Pandora
share to leave the files for
Bing. company. IPO.
A dose
of IT
The dirty little secrets of search
DAVID SEGAL talking, to be clear, about the
“organic” results — in other
SAN FRANCISCO
Feb. 13: Pretend for a
words, the ones that are not
paid advertisements. In deriv- Have you
The impact of moment that you are
Google’s search engine.
Someone types the word
ing organic results, Google’s
algorithm takes into account
dozens of criteria, many of
charged your
Human Capital “dresses” and hits enter.
What will be the very first
result?
There are, of course, a lot of
which the company will not
discuss.
But it has described one
crucial factor in detail: links
eyeglasses?
ANNE EISENBERG
KAPIL KHANDELWAL Schwartz model for possibilities. Macy’s comes from one site to another. NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE
human capital valuation, to mind. Maybe a specialty If you own a Web site, for
M
y presentation at we evaluated the value chain, like J. Crew or the instance, about Chinese A NEW device may be
the 21st World of different careers in Gap. Perhaps a Wikipedia cooking, your site’s Google joining smartphones, iPads
Quality Con- health sciences versus entry on the history of hem- ranking will improve as other and music players that you
gress a fortnight ago just other sectors. What is lines. sites link to it. The more links have to charge overnight:
highlighted the human interesting is that a nurse Ok, how about the word to your site, especially those electronic eyeglasses.
capital impact due to who decides to work in “bedding”? Bed Bath & from other Chinese cooking- These glasses have tiny bat-
healthcare and education India human capital Beyond seems a candidate. related sites, the higher your teries, microchips and
in India. A whopping ` value would be `19 Or Wal-Mart, or perhaps the ranking. In a way, what assorted electronics to turn
92,28,230 crores to the lakhs while a surgeons bedding section of Google is measuring is your reading power on when you
Indian economy at net with a master’s degree is Amazon.com. site’s popularity by polling need it and off when you
present value! around `1 crore. Other “Area rugs”? Crate & Bar- the best-informed online fans don’t.
This is like creating non medical sectors are rel is a possibility. Home Doug Pierce of Blue Fountain Media examined J.C. Penney’s ranking on Google. His of Chinese cooking and Traditionally, people who
over 1500 TCS or Infos- equally attractive in Depot, too, and Sears, Pier 1 analysis suggested a world of intrigue in the search business. counting their links to your hit their 40s often need
ys or Wipro in today’s terms of their human or any of those Web sites with site as votes of approval. extra optical help as far-
size overnight in our capital value. Hence the “area rug” in the name, like spike in online shopping. J. an expert in online search, approaches, which are But even links that have sightedness sets in. They
economy. issue for India is how do arearugs.com. C. Penney even beat out the Doug Pierce of Blue Foun- offered by hundreds of con- nothing to do with Chinese may buy bifocals or no-line
Let us understand, we make this attractive You could imagine a dozen sites of manufacturers in tain Media in New York, to sulting firms and are legiti- cooking can bolster your pro- progressive lenses. But
although India has 18% for aspirants to take up contenders for each of these searches for the products of study this question, as well as mate ways to increase a site’s file if your site is barnacled such glasses have a draw-
of world’s student popu- medicine as a career. searches. But in the last sev- those manufacturers. Type in Penney’s astoundingly strong visibility. Penney’s results with enough of them. And back: the lenses that magni-
lation that is the largest While shortage in sup- eral months, one name turned “Samsonite carry on lug- search-term performance in were derived from methods here’s where the strategy that fy fine print also blur
in the world, its policy ply of doctors, nurses up, with uncanny regularity, gage,” for instance, and Pen- recent months. What he on the wrong side of that line, aided Penney comes in. objects more than an arm’s
and direction on higher and health workers in the in the No. 1 spot for each and ney for months was first on found suggests that the digi- says Mr. Pierce. He described Someone paid to have thou- length away when a wearer
education, including economy will obviously every term: J. C. Penney. the list, ahead of tal age’s most mundane act, the optimization as the most sands of links placed on hun- looks down, distorting the
medical and health sci- push up their human The company bested mil- Samsonite.com. the Google search, often rep- ambitious attempt to game dreds of sites scattered view when on a staircase,
ences sector is not clear- capital value, knowing lions of sites — and not just With more than 1,100 resents layer upon layer of Google’s search results that around the Web, all of which for example, or when
ly articulated towards the disease burden of in searches for dresses, bed- stores and $17.8 billion in intrigue. And the intrigue he has ever seen. lead directly to swinging at a golf ball.
inclusive development. India. However, we will ding and area rugs. For total revenue in 2010, Penney starts in the sprawling, sub- “Actually, it’s the most JCPenney.com. The new electronic spec-
Regulation, size of fund- lose a whole generation months, it was consistently at is certainly a major player in terranean world of “black ambitious attempt I’ve ever Who is that someone? A tacles, called emPower, are
ing to this sector, both of boomers! or near the top in searches for American retailing. But hat” optimization, the dark heard of,” he said. “This spokeswoman for J. C. Pen- intended to handle that
public and private is one But all is not lost for “skinny jeans,” “home Google’s stated goal is to sift art of raising the profile of a whole thing just blew me ney, Darcie Brossart, says it problem with an unusual
of the key determinants India. Our enrolment decor,” “comforter sets,” through every corner of the Web site with methods that away. Especially for such a was not Penney. insert in the bottom part of
of India’s ability to gen- ratio in higher education “furniture” and dozens of Internet and find the most Google considers tantamount major brand. You’d think they “J. C. Penney did not the lenses: liquid crystals,
erate wealth (GDP). is 12% and is half of other words and phrases, important, relevant Web sites. to cheating. would have people around authorize, and we were not cousins to the familiar ones
Moreover sectorial pri- China’s at 24% of all from the blandly generic Does the collective wisdom Despite the cowboy outlaw them that would know bet- involved with or aware of, the in television displays. The
orities and directions in students passing out of (“tablecloths”) to the strange- of the Web really say that connotations, black-hat serv- ter.” posting of the links that you crystals change how the
sectors such as health secondary schools. ly specific (“grommet top Penney has the most essential ices are not illegal, but traf- TO understand the strategy sent to us, as it is against our lenses refract or bend light,
sciences, infrastructure Hence even to match curtains”). site when it comes to dress- ficking in them risks the that kept J. C. Penney in the natural search policies,” Ms. just as varying levels of
if not clearly addressed China’s enrollment, we This striking performance es? And bedding? And area wrath of Google. The compa- pole position for so many Brossart wrote in an e-mail. thickness do in traditional
could create future crisis would create a total lasted for months, most cru- rugs? And dozens of other ny draws a pretty thick line searches, you need to know She added, “We are working glasses. To call up reading
in the economy and fur- human capital of `1 cially through the holiday words and phrases? between techniques it consid- how Web sites rise to the top to have the links taken power in the new glasses,
ther impede economic Crore crores using the season, when there is a huge The New York Times asked ers deceptive and “white hat” of Google’s results. We’re down.” — NYT users touch the side of the
growth. same valuation model at frame. Batteries in the
A new makeover for Facebook
On the demand side, higher education level. frame send along a current
we already know that To meet this potential, that changes the orientation
India contributes to 18% we need to be opening of molecules in the crystals.
of world’s population, over 25 colleges every- Touch the side of the frame
however its share of day for the next 3 years again, and the reading
world’s disease burden is in the brick and mortar SEEMA HAKHU KACHRU new pages will include the This means you can power disappears. Turn it
20%. Hence to treat the world! We will again fail HOUSTON row of five photos at the top choose to receive notifica- off to hit a golf ball; turn it
increased disease bur- to create such huge of the page, a navigation tions about fan activity, on to read the scorecard.
den, India requires incre- capacity in the real brick Feb. 13: The popular social menu on the left, and activi- Like, and comment on other The glasses, made by Pix-
mental human capital of and mortar world as we network website Facebook, ties from other pages on the Pages as your Page, and get elOptics in Roanoke, Va.,
doctors, nurses and other have under supplied the has launched redesigned news feed. your own News Feed where will be on the market this
health workers. But the infrastructure sector due pages that more closely mir- With the “everyone” fea- you can engage with the lat- spring — first in Virginia
issues get very grave for to the boom in other sec- ror its recently revamped ture, page administrators est and most important news and North Carolina, and
India. We have around tor in the last decade. profiles, with newly added can choose to highlight from other Pages you like. later in the year nationally,
8% of world’s doctors, Hence the only option features and capabilities. items as top wall posts, giv- Administrators can switch said Dr Ronald Blum, an
nurses and health work- left behind for the pres- Soon these pages are getting ing them more flexibility between speaking as the optometrist and the compa-
ers. Hence we may have ent generation to gradu- an upgrade that will make about shining a spotlight on page’s brand and as an indi- ny’s president. The estimat-
to create more human ate through higher edu- them look more like user particular news. vidual. ed price, $1,000 to $1,200,
capital in healthcare to cation is through ICT profiles. And the update includes a A box shows the brand and will include frames, lenses,
treat India’s disease bur- (online) world. Over the The redesign has already method for page fans to dis- an option to comment under coatings and charger.
den. What’s more, of the last 5 years there have begun and will take effect cover the friends and inter- the administrator’s own Dr Larry Wan, a manag-
` 490,000 crores we cur- been many ventures that for everyone from March ests they have in common name. ing partner at Family Eye-
rently require for skills have come forward look- 10. with specific pages, Face- Facebook, which plans to Care Centre in Campbell,
repair to make the cur- ing at the wider opportu- Unlike individual-oriented book said in a blog. roll out additional changes California, tested the glass-
rent human capital com- nity in the ICT space for Facebook profiles, pages are One of the new features to pages in upcoming es with 10 of his patients,
ing out of our colleges medical education. How- designed for businesses, capturing the most online months, made these alter- all in their 50s. He said they
and universities, approx- ever the key barriers brands, public figures, and buzz is a set of features that ations in response to user were a hit, for example,
imately 25% of this is to have been the regulatory organizations and adminis- lets administrators interact requests for improved meth- with people who had been
the medical and nursing and accreditation agen- trators to typically oversee with Facebook via the ods to keep up with page bothered by blur as they
schools make the gradu- cies that have slowed their day-to-day operations. page’s identity. activities, the company said. walked down flights of
ate doctors, nurses and down the mass adoption. In a message sent to By selecting the “Use Under the new design, stairs while wearing their
health workers job ready. It is time that we wake administrators on February It’s now much easier to stored in albums, much like Facebook as a Page” option Facebook dropped the glasses. “With these,” he
On the supply side, up to the huge human 10, Facebook offered pages increase your brand’s visi- you can do for your profile. in the account section, familiar tabs format, moving said, “you can turn the
there are competing capital potential await- owners the opportunity to bility by liking relevant The ‘photos’ link is placed administrators will be able instead to small links under reading power off, so they
careers options and sec- ing India. If we fail to preview and upgrade early posts or articles, contribut- under the page’s ‘profile to get notifications when the profile pictures. are safer and you don’t have
tors that await the aspi- deliver, we not only to the new format. ing to discussions, or even picture’ like it is on your fans interact with or post Based on a review of 1,000 that distortion.”
rants that are entering diminish this human But the company will poking people, if that’s your own profile and the latest comments to a page; see comments posted in Of course, you’ll have to
the colleges and univer- capital worth `1 crore, enact mandatory upgrades thing. photos will be displayed activity in their newsfeed response to Facebook’s blog remember to charge them, a
sities to take up courses. but also increase the dis- in a month, it said. Owners It’s easy to switch on and above the wall. from pages they like; like by Friday, this step was nuisance required by no
Using the Lev and ease burden. can now browse Facebook off - there’s a link on the Essentially, a fan page will other pages and feature unpopular with many ordinary pair of glasses.
“as” their Page. right for each page you now look exactly like a pro- them on the brand’s page; administrators. Other The charge lasts two to
Kapil Khandelwal is a leading healthcare and In other words, comment administer. file page. and make comments as their administrators disliked three days, said Larry
ICT expert. Kapil@KapilKhandelwal.com on other people’s pages, You now also have photos Like the recently updated page on other pages, accord- Facebook’s step away from Rodriguez, an executive at
“Like” things, etc. for your pages which can be profiles format, Facebook’s ing to Facebook. chronological order. — PTI PixelOptics.
Now shorter e-books for smaller devices
JENNA WORTHAM are overflowing with paper- sively for distribution on pixels. new breeds of content pri- zon. Cowen, a contributor to the
backs. But without a physi- smartphones, e-readers and The Atavist is The Atavist integrates marily through mobile The rise of the digital for- Economic View column in
NEW YORK TIMES SERVICE
cal reminder of a book on a tablet computers. among the growing clever tools into the text, like devices. mat has allowed publishers Sunday Business, says the
WE’RE BARELY two nightstand, it’s easy to forget The Atavist is among the number of organi- interactive timelines and TED, an organization best to sidestep some traditional ability to swiftly release
months into 2011, and I’ve that an extensive digital growing number of organi- sations that are cul- character biographies to known for the gatherings of constraints, Mr. Grandinetti something with “a lot of
already crossed the main library is at my disposal. sations that are cultivating a help a reader quickly find intellectuals it holds in Long says. “Written works have intellectual content but with-
New Year’s resolution off When I do remember to certain niche of writing — tivating a certain her place without spoiling Beach, Calif., recently either had to be short out the padding of many
my list. swipe open an e-book, it’s stories and articles that are niche of writing the plots. I found that this announced a new leg of the enough for a magazine or books” harks back to a time
It wasn’t a pledge to join a usually such a pain to dive longer than a typical maga- articles that are helped me spin through enterprise. Called TED long enough for a paper when pamphlets discussing
running group or to call my back into the narrative and zine article but shorter than a longer than a typi- “Lifted” without the digres- Books, it produces short book,” he said. “This is print new theories and ideas about
parents more often, though remember all the plot twists novel — in the hope that sions that have usually works based on the talks on a diet.” economics were churned out
those are important goals that it doesn’t stay open very they will find a comfortable cal magazine arti- turned me off of e-books. given at TED events. Another distinct advantage regularly.
and I’m sure I’ll get to them long. Which is why the first home on the glassy screens cle but shorter than Mr. Ratliff did not share In late January, Amazon is a shortened turnaround Mr Grandinetti declined to
eventually. My aim was to e-book I devoured on my of evermore prevalent a novel specific sales figures for his introduced Kindle Singles, a time, said Tyler Cowen, an give details about how the
read an entire e-book. smartphone was no typical mobile devices. “Word venture, which began in late catalog of one-off essays economist at George Mason first batch of Kindle Singles
My failure until now had tome. counts are getting shorter in he adds: “It’s the platform.” January, but he said interest and short stories that cost $1 University. was faring. He said that sev-
been a secret shame. After It was “Lifted,” an article most magazines,” said Mr. The physical dimensions was “much higher than to $5 and are downloaded to Mr Cowen, who has writ- eral works, including “Leav-
all, I’ve fashioned a career — at 12,000 words, a very Ratliff, who is also a con- of mobile devices are, in anticipated.” The Atavist the Kindle itself, as well as ten a dozen print books, ing Home,” a short story by
around a deep love for new long article — about a $150 tributing editor to Wired some ways, quite limited. So isn’t the only boutique pub- Kindle apps for smart- released his most recent Jodi Picoult, have cracked
technologies, and have even million Swedish bank heist. magazine. “On a mobile it’s important to exploit the lishing house planning to phones and PCs. work as a brief e-book Kindle’s top 100 seller list.
sunk $30 into books for my It cost me $3. device, we shouldn’t be advantages that the devices exploit what it believes are Kindle Singles is Ama- examining the current IT might be easy to explain
iPad and iPhone. Still, I had The work was written by bound by those constraints.” do have, he contends. Suc- readers’ nascent appetites zon’s attempt to “populate American economic slump, the emergence of these serv-
yet to make it past the first Evan Ratliff, a co-founder of The attention spans of cess, he says, depends on for more medium-length the no-man’s land between exclusively for the Kindle in ices as nothing more than a
chapter of a single one. the Atavist — a new digital readers — many of us, any- thinking beyond a “one-to- material. Many digital bou- books and magazines with late January. life jacket for publishers or
It’s not that I don’t read publishing house that com- way — are actually not get- one transition from book to tiques, including Push Pop digital content,” said Russell “It got out much more writers seeking new and
books. The various shelves missions and sells nonfic- ting shorter, Mr. Ratliff says. e-book,” and on doing more Press, Cursor and Byliner, Grandinetti, vice president quickly, in just a few potentially lucrative outlets
and tables in my apartment tion articles written exclu- The problem lies elsewhere, than replacing paper with are also promising to deliver for Kindle content at Ama- months,” he said. Mr for their ancient craft.