My Internet Notebook

a journal on software, mobile, marketing

Archive for October, 2006

Text Messaging Finally Catches on in USA?

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Once considered a service used only in Europe and Asia, text messaging is emerging as an important form of communication in the United States, with 40% of the nation’s 220 million mobile phone users sending text messages regularly, according to research from NPD Group.

By comparison, about 21 percent of U.S. subscribers have downloaded a ringtone (although only about 10% can be considered “active” downloaders), while about 9% have downloaded a mobile game.

According to CTIA-The Wireless Assn., U.S. subscribers sent close to 65 billion text messages through the first half of this year. That’s about double the number sent in the first half of 2005.

Text messaging catches on in music business

Written by Y.

October 30th, 2006 at 9:40 pm

Posted in Mobility

Karma Capitalism

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An businessweek article about the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ becoming the hip new ancient Eastern management text:

“… Indian-born strategists also are helping transform corporations. Academics and consultants such as C. K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, and Vijay Govindrajan are among the world’s hottest business gurus. About 10% of the professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business are of Indian descent–a far higher percentage than other ethnic groups. “When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or [Dartmouth’s] Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate,” says Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School.”

Karma Capitalism

Written by Y.

October 25th, 2006 at 11:27 pm

Posted in Business

Tutoring Outsourced to India

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Now outsourced tutoring has been increasingly reported in the news: latest from SF Chronicle (Sunday 10/22/2006). One of the India firm Tutor Vista even snatched a $11 million investment from Sequoia Capital.

So how big is the market potential? According to Tim Wiley, senior analyst at Eduventures, an education and research consulting firm in Boston, it is a $2.2 billion private tutoring market in the U.S., which reached 1.9 million K-12 students last school year. Although TutorVista’s ambition goes beyond U.S.

And how much can this outsourcer make? Growing Stars, which began offering tutoring in 2004, serves 400 students who pay $21 to $25 per hour. TutorVista, which started in November 2005 and charges $20 for a 45-minute session or $100 a month for unlimited hours, has 2,000 students and aims to reach 5,000 by next fall. That’s not a lot of money. But they pay only between $300-450 per month to their employees, compared to about $40-$60 a private tutor makes per hour in the U.S.

Written by Y.

October 22nd, 2006 at 11:12 pm

Posted in Business,Internet

Google Slows Down?

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“They (Google) created a bunch of crap that they have no idea what to do with,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the Enderle Group. This is how one analyst described the frenzy scene of google’s new product rollout, ranging from digital maps to a search engine for product catalogs.

The top brass at the company seems to agree: “I was getting lost in the sheer volume of the products we were releasing,” said co-founder Sergey Brin.

Details at Los Angeles Times.

Written by Y.

October 6th, 2006 at 9:40 am

Posted in Internet