The Branded and Gilded Life

Has the internet changed the world?


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We still go to work every day. Online.

We track our steps, our heartbeats, our calories and our social capital. With tiny rushes of adrenalin and fear.

We snap pictures but not on old-fashioned cameras anymore.

Headphones have become essential.

We move through the day from one screen to another, even when we say we aren't addicted.

Conversations are hard. Texting is preferred.

Our concept of money has become way more ephemeral.

We dislike unpredictability even while saying we welcome it.

We're watching movies about people and countries to expand our minds.

We prefer simulations of the world compared to the real thing. 

We think there's nothing unusual about meeting people on screens and maintaining relationships that way.

We've got tens of thousands of emails in our inboxes which we may never read. But we still don't delete the old ones on the off chance that something important will be deleted.

We've got into micro likes and dislikes and don't know why we defend these positions.

Emojis have become our nuanced expressions instead of words.

Swipe, browse, submit and attach mean completely different things online compared to what they meant in the real world.

The worst part? We believe little has changed.

Does satellite broadband work?

Update: Starlink has played a key role in the Russia Ukraine war. But at the time this post was written, its real-life impact was still unknown.

Elon Musk is building Starlink.

The man seems to announce a project a day to change the world.

If he's not blasting spaceships off to Mars, he's tunneling underground.

Or creating a transport system for cities.

There was an announcement as well in India for those who wanted to be on board with Starlink.

Inviting you to pay about Rs, 7000 and then wait for the kit to be delivered.

All those who decided they needed it should read the detailed review on 'The Verge'

It's a sobering thought.

We've just about got our TV satellite dishes sorted out now.

But every time it rains, the screen goes blank - 'Your satellite dish is not receiving a signal'

Some of the tech involved is brilliant but it is still 'Work in Progress'

And quite likely to be that way in the not-too distant future.

The problem, apparently, is trees.

Anything that interrupts line of sight to the satellite network affects the signal.

So the broadband works in fits and starts.

Maybe in a desert where there are no trees.

But everywhere else, it's wishful thinking for now.

In case you were planning to fire your current broadband provider...

Hold your horses.

Hotter than hot cakes

Miners’ vs gamers.

Earlier

, I had written about crypto miners competing with gamers to buy powerful GPUs amidst stock sellouts.

You can read about it here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6766201744457261056/

Bots are being used to buy up stock as soon as it hits the online market

The contest has escalated with companies taking preemptive action.

They have created high priced product bundles to deter miners from purchasing all available stock.

At stake here is a battle between customers who could disappear overnight and those who have helped companies grow - the gamers

Now, that's creating a fresh set of problems.

Miners are still aggressively stocking up because these processors have the power to guarantee profits in bitcoin mining operations.

And to recover the inflated costs they're paying, they are likely to dump the rest of the bundle components like processors, motherboards and SSDs on Ebay and similar auction platforms over the next few months.

Creating more headaches for manufacturers with prices for the components being higher in the online markets.

There's real demand. And there's unreal demand.

Nvidia is planning differential premium pricing to make miners pay more.

There's no timeout for games in the real world.

Every week, I'll plant a few ideas in your mind on branding, behavior and markets. Triggers for your thoughts. Spread the word to your friends. All you have to do is click the link and enter an email address.



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The Branded and Gilded LifeBy Connecting the not-so-obvious branding dots