5 Websites I cannot live without
Sourabh’s conjecture - “No entrepreneur will survive in the market without a good website.”
Although unproven still, many of you will not disagree with me on this conjecture. But first some facts on the booming Indian IT industry from a NASSCOM - McKinsey report.
- Total revenue projection for Indian IT industry in 2008 is $87 billion.
- IT exports will account for 35 % of India’s exports.
- There will be a potential for 2.2 million IT jobs in 2008
That said, the state of web development in India is a far cry from the word “at least decent”. It therefore seems strange that a nation of such astute programmers would fail to perfect that one internet tool (building a good website that is) that would really set them apart.
But I digress. My intention of writing this article is two fold. First to tell you readers which websites I like and why I like them and invite user comments on their choice of their favorite websites. But my more noble intention is to drive the point that for any commercial or non-profit enterprise (this being a website/blog for entrepreneurs) a good website is absolutely necessary.
My List of 5 websites I must visit every day -
- Google, Google News - sister websites, so I put them as a single entry. The former set a precedent as to what a website MUST contain. A search box ! The latter is one of the coolest news websites ever made; Extremely customizable, great navigation, lots of information but presented in a non-cluttered way.
- Youtube - Although now owned by Google, it still is an individual entity. It has taken technical prowess from a few and distributed it intelligently to millions of its users. I find it a better and more productive social networking tool than Facebook or MySpace.
- Yahoo - It could be facing a hostile takeover from industry big-daddy-uncool Microsoft in the coming days but then Yahoo’s homepage is one of those few luminary examples of presenting tons of abstract unrelated data in an orderly fashion that makes you feel so cozy after a while, you might just be tempted to click on one of their ads.
- Digg - Another groundbreaking idea that takes the power to make news from the closed and smoke filled Chief Editor’s room and gives it to the common man, You.
- Wikipedia - Last but not the least, the mother of all free information on the net as of today, Wikipedia. To see such a splendid website with everything offered at no charge yet staying proudly unblemished by annoying online advertisements is one of the greatest moral and ethical achievements. Enjoy it as long as it lasts !
Of course I do visit Apple and Microsoft once a week, and Rottentomatoes when I am eager to save five bucks to know if its worth going to the new movie that hit theatres Friday but the 5 in the list sums up at least 75 % of my internet browsing time on any given day.
So friends, and fellow Indians, if you think Web development is in your blood and you are presently pursuing or would likely pursue this field in the future, then do pay heed to this nincompoop’s advice. Navigation, a search tool, simple background/layout and organized information are the most important tenets for building your website.
So guys and concerned readers, lets see some Indian websites in that list shall we ? No prejudice against the rest of the world but I can’t feel less concerned for her either.
Sourabh Chakraborty
Popularity: 7%
February 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
good post Sourabh! I think Wikipedia would last forever. Did you know that Kevin Ross, founder of Digg.com also started a new concept called pownce.com?(Akash told me about Pownce) Now, only time will tell whether it will be a big hit like digg.
Coming to “astute programmers” from India, it is appropriate to label them as “testers” than programmers. With all these indian IT companies like Satyam, Infosys, Wipro, TCS etc, concentrating on doing mundane tasks there is hardly any room for innovation. This is the reason why we don’t come up with a browser like Firefox, Opera, IE etc or search engines or any other cool web app. These “testers” do such routine jobs that those jobs are more of an insult to our Indian intelligence.
However, as you know, “necessity is the mother of invention”. And Indians by nature will not do anything unless compelled. Besides, these software jobs fetch more than enough money compared to the cost of living so there is less tendency towards entrepreneurship.
Lets hope this attitude changes and we come out of our comfort zone and take a few risks every now and then!
February 24th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Kartick,
Even there’s another term called ‘code monkey’. These guys only know the syntax of a language. When the programmers (the actual innovators/creators), give these code monkeys some algorithms or tell them what to do, they do it. Like a machine.
I even heard sometime ago that people differentiate between the term ‘coder’ and a ‘programmer’. This was in an article in Times Of India some time ago. It called those whom I refered to before as coders and the rest as programmers. Also to mention, this article made a clear statement that India has more coders than actual programmers.
But I do feel so, India really has more code-monkeys than true programmers. They are just labeled as programmers by the company to satisfy them. All around me I can find guys who say ” I’ll learn C, C++, Java, Oracle,” +++ all sorts of crap+++ “and get a good job”. Thats what they say when you ask them about their aim. To me it seems stupid. Because there’s one life to live. Why not live it differently and try something different. Why not create/innovate/discover something instead of being a code-monkey?
True… there are lots of opportunities, but only for those who want them. Or else you won’t find them.
February 24th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Well,
If u are a tech geek then you shouldn’t miss techcrunch.com. That’s Michael Arrington’s blog. He’s one of the world’s most powerful tech blogger. And he’s been ranked the 10th most most powerful guy on the internet by Forbes.
Actually the fact is, in the silicon valley, it is said that you cross with anyone of Mike’s friends and he’ll turn everyone against you. And he done it a lot of times. Silicon Valley’s famous VC, Fred Wilson was once stuck in such a situation.
And also adding to your post, Google News’s algorithm was written by Krishna Bharat, he’s one of Google’s principal scientist. He was tired of jumping from once news site to another to read news and hence wrote an algorithm that collects news from reliable sites. Thats what Google News does today. You can verify Krishna Bharat’s patent for the algorithm at Google Patent search.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:50 am
[…] me on this conjecture. But first some facts on the booming indian IT industry from a NASSCOM - McKhttp://www.bharatentrepreneurs.com/2008/02/24/5-websites-i-cannot-live-without/India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaBharat Ganarajya, that is, the Republic of India in Hindi, 9 […]