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Weekend reading (Oct 16-22): Funding for ‘Occupy Wall Street’, Steve Jobs’ biography and the recession of innovation

(Photo credit: David Shankbone)

Ever wondered how much rebellion costs? Apart from possibly losing your job and your house to be a part of it, it takes money to keep the revolution alive. This Bloomberg feature shows the other side of the revolution that is gaining momentum at Wall Street, America. Called “Occupy Wall Street: The Price of Protest”, the feature reveals how the protesters are living in blue tarpaulin tents and how they are taking care of the finances. Take the example of Pete Dutro, owner of a tattoo shop who is one of those managing the finances. He says, “It is like having an office job in a mosh-pit, it’s insane, but it’s getting done.” So far the donations for the protest amount to something between $150,000-200,000. Around $5,000-6,000 are collected daily from the donation bucket placed at Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. For media efforts and publishing the ‘Occupy Wall Street Journal’, the protestors have been donated an amount of $75,695. This article makes a case in favour of protests against corporate greed.

Steve Jobs’ long-awaited official biography by Walter Isaacson is finally going to be available starting October 24. This review by the New York Times reveals from excerpts that Mr Jobs denied surgery for the first nine months after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2003. His family and friends were furious about his decision to resort to exotic diets to cure his cancer, but Jobs found surgery too invasive. Later, when he did decide to go for medical science, he studied the details of each procedure that was to be done on him. The book also concentrates on his professional rivalry with Google over the development of the Android software for smartphones which would compete with the iPhone.

Jobs’ innovations like the iPod, iPad and iPhone have set the benchmark for the future of consumer electronics. But how do they compare to the innovations of the early 1900s, such as the radio, television, washing machine and refrigerator? In an article in the Atlantic, Derek Thompson compares data from two graphs showing the rate of penetration of TV, radio, Internet, mobile and mobile internet and suggests that this perhaps is the age of a “recession of innovation”. He quotes from a David Leonhardt blog,

“Yes innovations like the iPad and Twitter have altered daily life. And yes, companies have figured out how to produce just as many goods and services with fewer workers. But the country has not developed any major new industries that employ large and growing number of workers.”

A Mint article says that after Bangalore’s rallying growth as the hub of information technology, it is now Delhi’s turn to wear the startup crown. The piece quotes a survey done by the startup-tracker website ‘yourstory.in’, which reveals that while Delhi now has 220 tech-startups, Bangalore has just 159. Mumbai and Delhi have more access to funding than Bangalore, it continues. On the flipside however, Pluggd.in’s Ashish Sinha says, In New Delhi, its all about dhandha (business). Entrepreneurs are not doing long term products. The focus is on making money, he said. In contrast, entrepreneurs in Bangalore dont stress on monetization.

A Financial Times report shows that Cornell University’s Johnson Business School has become more proactive about enrolling women students. The school used to get a good 35-40% of female students a few years ago, according to report and that number has now dipped to 31%. The school is eager to get back to its previous percentage of enrollment of women students.

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