It's long past its expiry date

Microsoft stopped all support for it in 2000.

Yet, these systems are still in use in several offices - but they aren't connected to the internet

They won't survive for long without firewall protection. But we forget that upgrades are not the only option.

Replacing the entire system infrastructure is hard to do, if not impossible. Even software patches are applied only after extensive testing

Beyond a point, the speed at which systems run is not an advantage. Not much of a difference between getting something done in 0.004 seconds instead of 0.008 seconds!

Microprocessors do millions of calculations per minute. But humans still speak or type at 130 words per minute, on average. 

Our thoughts don't arrive faster because we have speedy machines. Computers are only good at doing repetitive processes faster.

So, why do we upgrade our phones every couple of years? The interfaces don't change much. We have been primed to be dissatisfied.

And how will we progress beyond instant response and gratification? Beyond real-time, we won't even be able to process things.

And who's still running Windows 95? The Pentagon.

Upgrades aren't inevitable.

Does the arrangement bug bite?

Are you able to resist it?

A persistent urge to rearrange things every few months.

The sofas migrate from one corner of the living room to the other. 

The bookcases travel from room to room

The beds go from facing North to facing East

Some of us want home arrangements unchanging but we're territorial about the office.

What goes up in 'our' space. It could change from posters to knick-knacks to certificates to plain untidiness.

It defines our interests and our state of mind.

The same behaviour is exhibited on laptops and desktops

Some of us have screens devoid of all icons and wallpaper that stretches from one end to the other

Or we cycle family photographs as the screensaver

Or the favorite deity in ornate splendour.

And screens where hundreds of icons pepper the entire surface like a game arcade.

It extends to the mobile screen as well - the personalisation’s

Backgrounds, notifications, status updates, selfies.

Some of us go berserk with them.

Others could keep the same background picture and the ringtone that came straight out of the pack.

Do you recognise the types featured here?

Or are you in a class all by yourself?

Hitting the right Soor

How do you get people to pay for an app when the competition is free?

Soor has been rated as one of the best app updates in 2020. It's a paid music player app on the App Store

Tanmay Sonwane is the developer

There are several free options available, including the one that comes pre-installed on the iPhone.

So how do guys like Tanmay manage?

They are solo performers. By operating as a single person or small teams, they figure out gaps that free apps don't address.

Tanmay Sonwane is probably into music big time - and he's figured out things that the Apple Music app does not do.

He has figured out features that a sub-set of the audience is willing to pay for

How do software products solving the same problem manage to differentiate themselves and find a paying audience?

Tanmay saw the shortcomings of the existing apps - and developed workarounds.

He appeals to a tech, music-aware audience like him who will pay for features not available elsewhere.

So you have to be both - a talented developer tapping into a sense of how people navigate music.

Not just how they listen

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