What’s with the weird scrolling on this site?
Something to do with the WordPress Avada theme or one of the plug-ins/js I think.
What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
11–20 of 73 posts
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#12This so easily glosses over the linguistic apartheid in India (other African countries incl.), that it's shocking. See my previous interactions with the WASP imitations; I gather there are enough of them in India to form markets as large as Japan (oth. unicorns like Flipkart wouldn't survive). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12116787 A language without economic value dies eventually. It's likely that the complem…
> linguistic apartheid in India (other African countries incl.)
You appear to be a reasonably educated person, so I guess your use of the word 'other' above is a kind of oversight (because last that I knew, India was in Asia, and not in Africa).
> you need to feed the cow first...
I am sure the government - and all the citizens - of India will forever remain indebted to you for generously contributing and sharing this piece of infinite wisdom - whoever could have even thought of this otherwise?
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#13A lot of people in India can write in Hindi or English, but not the local language. They don't bother to learn how. For example my fiancée is a native Telugu speaker but she can't write a word in it. There's also a very significant amount of people who can't read or write in any language. It would make using the Internet very difficult.
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
The thing is - every state in India has its own language, more-or-less. Either you can translate into every single language at extreme cost, or you can use either Hindi or English. Of the two, English is likely slightly wider-spoken these days. India doesn't have a language which you can be guaranteed nearly everyone will speak. English is the closest thing for the classes that are being targeted for ecommerce. Aside…
As someone who studies culture (as you can tell), my hate is reserved for the neo-colonial entities and the bourgeoisie they cultivate to stay in power. If you call such entities by the names the kakistocracies christen, then yes, I hate most states in the global south. India, like China, however was a historic center (天竺 - heaven axis they called it) unlike most in the global south. To see it brought to the same lev…
Focusing on 'Culture' is blinding you to what's going on. Tribal cultures are inherently economically inferior due to scaling issues. Western culture is not the only way forward, but the limitation is not the specific ideas, but rather the level of organizational structure.
Stable and mature underground economy's for example operate based on reputation not just tribe. As allegiance to even arbitrary tribes (crips vs bloods) limits commerce. Nation states are arbitrary and transitory, however when larger groups of people limit us vs. them to those outside the nation the internal economy's has fewer self imposed barriers.
PS: China demonstrates other failure points, but as a very non western culture they still show the same trends.
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#15What’s with the weird scrolling on this site?
No scrolling if you disable js. Had to use google cache to properly view the page :(
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#16If you look at the internet users per country: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/
India has 462M people who can access internet at home, among 1326M inhabitants. That is a less lot than what one would think at first.
Given that most companies reading HN are americans and some europeans. That brings the question of should we bother for the Indian market (early or at all)?
Cultural barriers + Language issues and translations + TimeZone + A market which may not be that big and be fragmented or inaccessible
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#17Very interesting article, thank you... Gandhi used to say: "To give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave them" [1], because "We ignorantly adhere to their cast-off systems" based on education and status.
That's so true. I am happy to see businessmen and businesswomen that are really starting to grasp the concept, without naming it.
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#18If you look at the internet users per country: http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country/ India has 462M people who can access internet at home, among 1326M inhabitants. That is a less lot than what one would think at first. Given that most companies reading HN are americans and some europeans. That brings the question of should we bother for the Indian market (early or at all)? Cultural barriers + L…
There are some issues with that claim (462M): http://www.medianama.com/2013/07/223-calling-the-bluff-on-in....
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who studies culture (as you can tell), my hate is reserved for the neo-colonial entities and the bourgeoisie they cultivate to stay in power. If you call such entities by the names the kakistocracies christen, then yes, I hate most states in the global south. India, like China, however was a historic center (天竺 - heaven axis they called it) unlike most in the global south. To see it brought to the same lev…
Hasn't India always been like that though, with the caste system? Nobody writes epics about the person who dug Arjuna's toilets, and so we see the past through rose-coloured lenses.
Nobody has written epics about anyone digging someone else's toilets as far as I know. This is not unique to the Mahabharatha or other Indian epics.
As for the caste system, yes, it has had a lot of evils. But then almost all populations around the world have some notion of "class" that is loosely defined, with its own set of evils. I fail to see how this is unique to India, see for instance the topic of ghettos in medieval history. In modern times, the "class" is usually based on financial wealth.
Furthermore, in the sense of classification based on profession (the idealistic interpretation of caste), this certainly exists across the world (merchant guilds, high concentrations of a single occupation like Harley St, London, etc).
Finally, as for viewing the past through rose-coloured lenses, every historian has his/her own set of biases in terms of coverage and emphasis. There are some who are honest about the reality of this, such as Howard Zinn who mentions it in his preface to "A People's History of the United States", but many delude themselves into thinking that they somehow are magically "unbiased".
With respect to works of fiction, the same applies. In the case of Tolkien, the treatment of the orcs is an example, we never see an orc perspective or pov. In the case of the Song of Ice and Fire, there is arguably little treatment of the common population. Military engagements are reduced to the standard historical style focusing on the leaders and "important" entities involved. As for the Mahabharatha, similar issues arise. Nevertheless, it has a surprising amount of depth and complexity in many respects (e.g morally grey characters and a bittersweet ending).
Re: What I learned from the Chinese about our Indian online market
#20Excellent analysis.
> Access to higher education in India is available only in English ... this creates a general differentiation, an unwritten apartheid.
I couldn't agree more. Have always felt this without being able to fully articulate what it was until now.
I've always felt having so many languages has hurt India more. I can validate that Chinese people in the west can still think about heading back to China and living in a place like Shanghai, without causing a dent to their standard of living or salary expectations. It's nowhere near true for Indian expats. At least not yet. I would argue (but can't confirm) this was part of the reason why Punit Soni went back to US (https://www.linkedin.com/in/punitsoni).