Erik Funkenbusch wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 18:01:05 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> > Indian state takes on Microsoft
> > ,----[ Quote ]
> >| He said Microsoft executives were seeking to meet the state's chief
> >| minister this week. Kerala state is a potentially strong market for
> >| the company, with a population of 32 million and a 90.9% literacy
> >| rate - far above the national average of 68.4%.
> > `----
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_2045929
> Funny how you take one tiny paragraph of the entire article and make it
> seem like the entire article was about Microsoft harassing someone.
And then the way you take your quote to twist things in another bizarre
way.
They give some very valid arguments. Keep in mind that in India, many
retailers charge $25 per copy, even for new computers or used computers
that are recycles from US and Western European companies. To put this
in perspective, in Kerala, a 20 mile taxi ride that would cost $75 in
the United States, costs about $3. A full meal at a nice restaurant
for middle-class patrons would cost about $2/person, compared to $25
per person in the US.
Karala is not like Bangalore, where living costs can be 1/3 the cost of
US costs due to a New York City style hypergrowth in a city where Real
Estate in good neighborhoods is extremely limited. Karala costs are
about 1/10th the costs of US companies, and they are trying to build a
technology economy here that can be attractive to those who don't want
to relocate to the Bangalore area.
> They seem to be a bit on the bizarre side... I like this quote:
> "They have already tried to ban US soft drinks giants Coca Cola and Pepsi
> following allegations that the drink contained pesticides."
> Pesticides? Wow... they'll believe anything.
Actually, I was in India at the time this occurred. On of the bottling
plans, in Kerala, had a faulty pump and was putting unpurified water in
some of the bottles. Some children almost died, and for about a month,
while they were trying to establish how much damage had been done, and
how many people had been harmed.
The bottling plant was inspected and the lots involved were identified
and replaced with safe stock. Once the matter was rectified, Pepsi and
Coke both aired nationwide advertizing campaigns to let people know
that their products were safe.
Remember the Tylenol Murders? At the time, cyanide had been found in a
few tablets, but no on knew exactly what had happened. Eventually,
after almost a year of investigation, it turned out that the tainted
pills were part of a murder plot, and the tainted pills were designed
to make it look like all of the deaths, including the one which had
been planned specifically (I wife killing her husband?), would appear
to be random chance, victims of an insane killer or terrorist. Perhaps
they will ultimately find that some similar wilfull act was involved in
this case.
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