Musings on Global Travel and Universal Adapters

Most of us who have cellphones, blackberries and PDAs have come to accept the issue of incompatible chargers as a matter of fact. Many of us business travelers also frequently forget chargers either back at home or at the hotels. For instance, on a trip out of town last week, I forgot my phone charger in the hotel room while checking out and realized it only when I got an e-mail from the help-desk next morning asking if I would be collecting it or would like to have it posted to me. Frequent travelers have found workarounds around the problem [get a free phone charger with a little social engineering]

Of course, it is also a logistical challenge for offshoring-globe-trotting executives who have to carry universal adapters and chargers that can plug into different power plugs across the world.
 
The problem of incompatible chargers is not restricted to cellphone makers. Ever been in a conference room where you forgot your laptop adapter and asked around if others have one you can borrow, only to find that you have a Toshiba and your neighbor has a Dell or HP?

The problem of incompatible adapters/chargers is perhaps a fundamental design challenge we see back in the IT world too. And here we don’t even have to think of analogies since the problems are just the same: software vendors defining proprietary gateways and adapters – for reasons best known to them – and the end consumers, IT executives and CIOs continue to scramble around for ‘adapters.’

 

 [Image source: powermega.com]

 [Image source: vagabondish.com]

The  Enterprise Architect and consultant in me is naturally inclined to find a solution for such problems leveraging available toolkits including SOA, integration, software adapters etc etc… just like some innovative marketers who have found a niche supplying universal adapters

However, another part of me wonders if it is the consumer in us that accepts incompatibility from cellphone and laptop manufacturers which also accepts incompatibility from software vendors?

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Global mobile and internet numbers

Its always good to get a top level perspective of things.

As of 2010, there are:

• 6.8 billion people on Earth


• 5.28 billion mobile subscriptions


• 2.08 billion internet users


• 1.2 billion fixed telephone landlines


• 555 million fixed broadband subscriptions


• 940 million mobile broadband subscriptions

Lets look at the growth rates. During the last decade, the internet userbase has grown 8 times from a base of 250 million to about 2 billion, while the mobile subscriptions base has grown 10 times from a larger base of 500 million to about 5 billion.

Reality Check: the internet base is of “users” while the mobile base is of “subscriptions” i.e. SIM cards. Polygamy of SIM cards is common among mobile users

Source of data is this AFP press release.

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Global Swine Flu threat. Notes from the past: What next?

Most of us watching the news are probably up-to-date on the Swine Flu outbreak. The Media, bloggers and others are generating awareness . . . and a lot of buzz. I was reflecting on what this mean to those of us in the Business of Globalization. Such epidemics certainly a cause for concern. The way I look at it:

• In the short run the pandamic will certainly impact trade and business as people become hesitant to get on a plane, travel and attend critical meetings. Companies, especially multinationals, will send out travel advisories based on their individual corporate risk assessments. More governments may issue travel advisories. Cross-continental and international travellers may have to undergo additional screening. . . . etc . etc.

• In the mid-term, say next few weeks: one should be watching with caution, use common sense while travelling and of course have confidence that the authorities around the world are going to do their best to contain the epidemic. Of course, HR departments, corporate security groups and governments are perhaps doing a quick scan of lessons learnt from that the SARS era. Note to self: there is an irony that the SARS scare also came at a time of global slowdown (in the tech sector)
• Most of us in the business of globalization remember SARS virus scare that had a similar short-term impact on global trade . . . but was soon forgotten. In the long run, things will settle back into a pattern. And of course there will be new lessons learnt.
  

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