I believe it is critically important to have role models, teachers, mentors, gurus, leaders, spiritual guides – from whom we can draw courage, inspiration, enlightenment, guidance – in times of need at various stages of our life.

So here’s a short list of my role models, who have all tremendously inspired me, taught me, and given me courage in difficult/tough/desperate/sad/challenging times.

Times when I ask myself…

What would Nick Vujicic do?

What would Seth Godin do?

What would Steve Jobs do?

And of course, I never stop thinking this….

What would my beloved Father do? (And what is he doing now?)

- Ravi

Awesome story.

Just goes to show that if you have the will, and the skill, and some creativity, you can make money pretty much doing anything at all!

Meet the iPod Doctor

It’s not really purple in color. But I did mean that it is Purple.

Why?

It’s because of the way it was successful in creating an entirely new industry of “athlete marketing” like never before. Because of how it created a frenzy among consumers. Because of the innovative ways Nike marketed it [for instance, they paid $5,000 in fine for every match that Michael Jordan wore these banned (then) shoes on court].

Not even Apple – to this date – has been able to match the hysteria that these shoes created (have you ever heard anyone getting mugged or killed for an iPod or iPhone?)

And yes, I was a teenager when I read and watched news about people getting mugged and killed for Air Jordan shoes.

Now go make your own Purple shoes.

The iPhone launched at $599 (8GB) and $499 (4GB).

About two months later, Apple deprecates the latter, and slashes $200 off the former.

The early adopters get mad.

Should Apple care? They didn’t have to. But they did (Steve Jobs letter).

Great strategy (in-store credit). Great PR. Gotta love Apple.

“Steve Jobs said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? And did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things over rather than do them? We were all born with a gift to give in life, one which informs all of our desires, interests, passions and curiosities. This gift is, in fact, our purpose. And you don’t need permission to decide your own purpose. No boss, teacher, parent, priest or other authority can decide this for you. Just find that unique purpose.”

Beautifully written.

Here’s the entire post: 10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs

So is this the start of yet another monopoly?

Why hasn’t anyone else gotten into this? It’s not like there are major infrastructure setup pains involved – just buy a darn satellite and start broadcasting – it’s not like it’s hard to do for someone with a lot of cash and people – something that matches all media companies!

Content is the big challenge of course. So any of the big guys with content, could easily started a satellite radio service. So why hasn’t anyone done it?

When are they going to make it easy for you and me to start our own radio stations? Oh wait, we can do that already ….

Ok, now I get it. It is because On-broadcast (push) radio cannot compete with On-demand (pull) radio.

The consumer wins, after all.

As a follow-up to my original lusty iPhone rant, I decided to scour the web for a closer look at the iPhone.

The hype is dying. Real people have used it, some have heard about real people using it, but everyone definitely has something to say about it. So go on and see if you can cut through the hype yourself.

Here come the critics:
Between Scoble and Kidrosky, they’ve got a few valid points:

From Paul Kidrosky:

1) The touchpad. How do you operate a touchphone in your pocket, or under a table by feel at a meeting? You scoff, but you’d be amazed how often that is how business emailing happens. …
2) The closed system. Is Apple serious that it won’t let third-party developers build software for the thing? If so, and put simply, the device will fail. A closed-box consumer electronics mentality will work in music players, but the future of mobile devices is as a platform, and that requires…
3) The Cingular relationship. While every wireless carrier has its haters, Cingular has more than most (both for its service and for its Edge network). Tying up exclusively to Cingular forces some of the loudest among the digerati to wait for an unlocked iPhone before they can begin touting …
….

From Robert Scoble

6) Battery is only up to five hours and is not replaceable (if you play video). …. Watch a video and your battery is dead. Now your cell phone is dead too. So, you won’t want to watch a video on a plane flight with this thing like you would with your iPod.
7) It’s Cingular only and GSM. That automatically keeps more than half of Americans from considering this and for the rest of the world? They are laughing about the iPhone now.
The camera sucks. It’s a 2megapixel device without flash, without zoom. Nokia’s newest cameras…
9) No GPS. …

From Seth Godin: Inventing a new cell phone

Here’s a few things a reinvented cellphone might be able to do:

* Let me leave voice mail for groups of people all at once.
* Let me initiate conference calls with groups of people with just one directory entry.
* Let me call friends based on where they are at a given moment.

iPhone trashed by Robert Scoble and others:

Comedy: iPhone being used as a universal device – for doing, er, everything!

Two nerds:

iPhone quick demo:

Steve Jobs presenting a closer look at iPhone:

More links:

Pogue’s Posts: The Ultimate iPhone Frequently Asked Questions

From Engadget

The Uber Geeks: iPhone misconceptions corrected

- Ravi Jayagopal

What would happen if Microsoft were to design the iPod packaging?

Really witty, self-deprecating video, apparently made by ….. Microsoft employees!

- Ravi Jayagopal

And you also thought that the crazy hand-waving, screen-manipulation stuff Tom Cruise did in Minority Report was just computer-generated special effects.

Just wait till you check out (below) Jeff Han outdoing Tom Cruise with the multi-touch displays.

The cool thing about Apple is not that they put one of these displays in the iPhone – it is that Apple simply had to be the first to bring it to the consumer. In spite of the big players like Nokia and Motorola and Sony, why is it that only Apple can blow people away like this? Is it great technology? Or simply great marketing?

Yep. It’s final. Apple = Uber Cool. Even if I don’t own a single Apple product!

Be it in your career or in your business, do you similarly strive to boldly go where no man has gone before?

Jeff Han videos:

- Ravi Jayagopal / LinkOverLoad.com

The iPhone is out.

No, not that stupid Cisco thingy. I’m talking about “the” iPhone.

Yeah, baby – the one from Apple!

But why am I feeling like this about the iPhone? I’m not an Apple fanboi. I’ve never owned an Apple product – nope, not even the iPod. Well, 6 months ago, I did download iTunes, but I barely use it. I did drool about the Mac Mini a while ago, but heck, I haven’t even touched a Mac yet.

I do stare longingly at the white headphone cords coming out of all those subway commuters’ clothes, but my Treo 650 solved my music and podcast needs, while also fulfilling my phone and address-book needs. What more could I ask for, right? (keep reading…)

So just go away, Apple! I love my Treo. Wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world! Nothing would make me change my mind. I’ve never been more happy with my phone, so you can’t make me switch. Nope. Not a chance. Can’t do. I have sworn my loyalty to Tr…

What? You said it has a wide screen? I can watch movies?

And a 80G hard drive?

And it really is only a half-inch thick?

And a 2 mega pixel camera?

It won’t hang like my Treo does when downloading email?

And it is really as beautiful as it looks in the picture?

Ok, now give me my damn iPhone, will you?

Gotta pay close to $600? No problem.
I’ll skip lunch for a month.

Gotta switch from Verizon to Cingular? No problem.
Screw my friends and contacts. I’ll switch on them, even if it means getting a new number.

Can’t import my Palm address-book? No problem.
I’ll enter all 1700 of them manually. Better yet, I’ll make my 8 year-old do it (or else, no McDonald’s chicken sandwich on the weekends until she’s 18!)

Will get smudged with finger and face grease? No problem.
I will buy an expensive piece of anti-static, glass-wiping cloth, and wash my hands and face 17 times a day.

Hey Cingular, where do I sign the contract?

- Ravi Jayagopal / MyWebmasterInABox.com