confused of calcutta

a blog about information

confused of calcutta header image 3

About this blog

I believe that it is only a matter of time before enterprise software consists of only four types of application: publishing, search, fulfilment and conversation. I believe that weaknesses and corruptions in our own thinking about digital rights and intellectual property rights will have the effect of slowing down or sometimes even blocking this from happening.

I believe we keep building layers of lock-in that prevent information from flowing freely, and that we have a lot to learn about the right thing to do in this respect. I believe identity and presence and authentication and permissioning are in some ways the new battlegrounds, where the freedom of information flow will be fought for, and bitterly at that.

I believe that we do live in an age of information overload, and that we have to find ways of simplifying our access to the information; of assessing the quality of the information; of having better tools to visualise the information, to enrich and improve it, of passing the information on.

I believe that Moore’s Law and Metcalfe’s Law and Gilder’s Law have created an environment where it is finally possible to demonstrate the value of information technology in simple terms rather than by complex inferences and abstract arguments.

I believe that simplicity and convenience are important, and that we have to learn to respect human time.

I believe we need to discuss these things and find ways of getting them right. And I have a fervent hope that through this blog, I can keep the conversations going and learn from them.

16 Comments

16 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Richard Francis // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    Great Blog - Like the sign Godot never left behind …”I’ll be back”

  • 2 C.A. Rutherford // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:06 pm

    Mr. Rangaswami:

    This is the first time I have used a blog but hope that does not deter you from reading my request for information. I am an MBA student at Wright State University in Ohio. As part of MBA 770: Information Technology and Business Transformation this quarter I am teamed up with two other individuals who are working on analyzing the case study “Blogs at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.” We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions for the purpose of adding to the case analysis. From research it appears DrKW has an external blog, and we would also appreciate any comments you have concerning external blogs.

    If you have time and are willing to answer a few questions please e-mail me at the given e-mail address. If need be, I can offer information that confirms I am a student of WSU and am currently enrolled in the course mentioned above.

    Thank you for your consideration,

    Cynthia Rutherford

  • 3 Justin Brister // Feb 14, 2007 at 1:09 pm

    JP,

    reading your blog, I thought you might be interested in the link below;

    http://laptop.org/

    I don’t know if you are familiar with the project, $100 laptop. I came across it quite by accident and it transpires that some of my collegues are involved with the project.

    The educational benefits of this in developing countries are, to my mind, phenominal. I would be interested to read your thoughts on this project.

    Best Wishes,

    Justin

  • 4 Stuart Isett // Mar 25, 2007 at 3:48 pm

    I have a photo essay in today’s New York Times on the palaces of North Calcutta that may interest your readers:

    http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/travel/20070325_CALCUTTA_FEATURE/blocker.html

    Regards,

    Stuart Isett

  • 5 Ardath Albee // Jul 6, 2007 at 2:54 pm

    Hi JP,

    I looked for an email, but couldn’t find one. So, this comment is to let you know that I chose you as one of the 5 blogs that makes me think. I’ve bestowed the award to you on this page of my blog. I really enjoy reading your posts:

    http://marketinginteractions.typepad.com/marketing_interactions/2007/07/blogs-that-make.html

    Thanks for writing,
    Ardath

  • 6 david cushman // Aug 9, 2007 at 9:24 am

    Wanted to send you this by email:
    I have written
    The Power of the Network = The Power of We
    Why Media is the new business ecology

    I am sharing/opening it up for conversation here:
    http://fasterfuture.blogspot.com/2007/08/white-paper-wiki-power-of-network.html
    You’ll find links to a wiki version there, too.

    If you prefer to simply print off and read, there is a word document attached.

    Please join in the discussion and share with anyone else you think will be interested/want to contribute.

    Best regards

    David Cushman

  • 7 Sumanta // Aug 9, 2007 at 3:04 pm

    Mr Rangaswamy,

    Just wanted to introduce myself and check if I can get a response from you.I am from Kolkata and have studied at St Xaviers College,Kolkata with Maths(major) afterwards went for a MCA degree as well.I read your comment about ‘blogs’ and I agree that it has very much started at Kolkata.On the road side bench ‘addas’ with a bunch of cards and puff to be specific and also ‘Cofee House’ plays a key role in bringing people together from different walks of life and hop around for distilled ‘adda’ sessions comprising of intetectual thoughts, criticism of anything on earth or in space :-)
    Hope to hear from you soon.Thanks.

    Sumanta

  • 8 Scott Annan // Aug 31, 2007 at 2:47 am

    I find your blog and take very refreshing - and pretty bang on. Have you spent much time in corporate setting? I worked for 10 years for a fortune-500 in Europe and US and share your “beliefs” in information flow and where we are going.

    Great blog.

  • 9 JP // Aug 31, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    Scott, I have to confess to having spent all my adult life in corporate settings.

  • 10 Partha Kannan // Sep 30, 2007 at 5:46 pm

    JP,

    I came to know of blogging when I heard a colleague of mine referring to your blog a few months back. It took me a couple of months after that to locate your blog and start reading it. A few months after that I have started a blog of my own recently. The breadth and depth of the information you present in your blog in a simple langauge (given the confused person that you are) is really amazing. I always leave your blog with something new which kindles a hope in me that the new age of information is really flattening the world and the world is becoming a better place to live in. Keep writing and continue being confused of things :-)

  • 11 Luc Fayard // Jan 8, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Do you speak french?
    I’m a journalist (ex Editor in Chief of 01 Informatique, France), now consultant for Accenture in France and looking for people like you! But speaking french, to discuss with french CIO, in TV talk-shows, in a webtv project; topics like innovation, entreprise 2.0, SOA, web services and so on…
    (PS: I did’nt find your email, tha’ts why I use this form, sorry!)

  • 12 Jason Bomberger // Feb 5, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Hi JP Rangaswami,

    My names is Jason Bomberger and I am currently a Senior MIS major at the University of Connecticut. For my senior thesis I am developing a research project tracking the correct implementation of “enterprise 2.0″ applications within the corporate sphere.

    I was curious if I could ask you a few short questions on your implementation of the wiki within Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

    If you could provide me with an address to contact you at or send me an email at Jason.Bomberger@uconn.edu it would be much appreciated. Thanks

  • 13 Kishore Balakrishnan // Feb 13, 2008 at 3:29 am

    Wrt “I believe that it is only a matter of time before enterprise software consists of only four types of application: publishing, search, fulfilment and conversation.”

    People (in companies) emit signals of various kinds: the most common/important being 1) questions to be answered, 2) tips to share (answers for questions to be asked) and 3) ideas

    I believe that an enterprise needs 1 solution for managing these signals i.e., 1 system for non-audio/non-video communication and am working on it @ http://www.nextbestaction.com

    We need a solution to let the community (of experts) amplify the signals and execute them ASAP

    No signal should be ignored as “Interesting, but of no commercial value”

    I would greatly appreciate your feedback on http://www.nextbestaction.com

    btw: In the side bar section “Colleagues Past and Present” - “Jeremy Ruston - http://jermolene.wordpress.com/” is duplicated

    ps: Thanks for the must-read book mention @ http://confusedofcalcutta.com/2007/08/24/facebook-and-the-enterprise-part-7-communities/ - What are you top book/blog/movie recommendations in various categories ? NBA can support this too :-)

  • 14 Kishore Balakrishnan // Feb 13, 2008 at 3:32 am

    Please consider installing WordPress Plugin “Subscribe to Comments” - http://txfx.net/code/wordpress/subscribe-to-comments/

    Also upgrade WordPress from 2.1 to latest..

  • 15 philip shirley // Feb 23, 2008 at 1:22 am

    Just imagine there were not people like you in the world.

  • 16 janquim // Feb 29, 2008 at 10:39 am

    I added your blog to my personal feevy with more authors I try to follow to.
    I blog in Catalan about enterprise 2.0 and change in big organisations.
    http://janquim.blogspot.com/
    I also posted about your conference at LeWeb3 (Paris 2008).
    http://janquim.blogspot.com/2007/12/tenim-la-tecnologia-es-diu-web.html
    I’m very impressed by your ideas about the Web as the real tool.
    Thanks for inspiring us.

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