Category: Thailand

Red Bull the media company

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Ions ago I wrote this :: https://seedvc.blog/2011/05/22/red-bull-story/

Now L2 has a small post about Red Bull and their dominance in media. Which is super impressive :: https://www.l2inc.com/how-red-bull-became-a-media-company/2017/blog

Red Bull not only airs videos across social media, but has expanded its media presence to other platforms. Like Netflix or HBO Go, Red Bull TV can be screened on Chromecast and smart TVs as well as smartphones. On Android, the Red Bull TV app has more than one million downloads. While it’s hard to say if that will translate into beverage sales, the brand has used its digital video presence to achieve the coveted goal of being top-of-mind – an increasingly difficult mission in a digital age.

Thinking about AI

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Back at work and loving it. When I am off work and usually hanging at my wife’s parents house, I am constantly reminded how untechy the emerging markets are. Not talking like Bangkok which I am guessing some folks think is an emerging market – but it’s not. It is super hip and techy in a typical SEA way. You have to get further off the beaten path where life is still basic and tech is not infiltrated the world yet.

This is an area where getting a DSL line is possible but not worth it. Fiber is not possible so the best option was to pick up a wifi router that works with a SIM card. I used TRUE when I am in the sticks since it reliabily has 4G and pretty good packages. I loaded up the SIM with 16GB and it got me through a few weeks with everyone in the house using it.

But apart from basic connectivity and folks making calls, using facebook and whatsapp/line – tech is barely used. Twitter is nowhere to be seen and many of the power toys or apps are not even touched in this part of the world. I tend to think what everyone thinks is simple is actually still too hard for rural folk to wrap their head around.

Making things simple is super hard.

Brings me back to this post :: https://seedvc.blog/2016/12/25/magic/ – people sometimes forget how to make something super simple but incredibly useful. Like the AirPods. I know the haters will hate but you have to try them out to see how simple they are to connect, use and charge to get a sense for how amazing they are. Even my wife figured them out fast and wants a pair where normally she gets so frustrated by bluetooth stuff she stops even trying. Now she is trying to take my AirPods from me. 😉

This brings me back to thinking about AI and the beginner’s mind. Lately been using Google Photos after giving up on Flickr – why? Super simple to use, I know my stuff is backed up and it uses AI to do nice tricks like fixing photos, albums and keeping all my stuff in sync. It is making life easy for me when it comes to photos. Flickr used to but we all know what happened there.

There is some amazing stuff happening with AI and I can only imagine more to come. It will be interesting to see where it all goes but I am wondering who will tackle the killer stuff what will make life easier but is not the sexy stuff to work on? For example. My daughter needs to start a new school and the school sent me a 6 page PDF that needs filling out. Most of the form is mundane stuff – ID’s, phone numbers, addresses and so on. Lets say 50% or more is all boiler plate stuff. Wouldn’t it be cool if the email client or the OS or a cool app picked up the PDF, magically filled most of it out and then pinged me to print it and fill the rest up on my own? I would pay for that. Most of the info needed is on my phone anyway.

I know lots of folks are afraid of AI. I get why. I can see it in the rice fields of Thailand where now a machine takes over the work of harvesting that used to be done by people. Sure you can say these people have time for other things now but what? They worked for money and they don’t have skills to offer for that same amount of time that will pay. They are just sidelined and time saving tools won’t help them. I know the world has always gone through this but AI makes me think it might happen at a much bigger scale than we can imagine.

For sure I want code to help me and same me some time. I can think of many ways that will happen and wonder who will build these things but I also worry about the greater impact on humanity.

Thailand and Apple musings…

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I am sitting in the newly remodeled Don Muang airport and using an unlimited WIFI pack. Which I bought for 39 baht to get unmetered WIFI till midnight. For all of you penny pinchers out there – that is like 1.12 USD. Pretty decent in my opinion. I have been using 4g for the past week for 99 baht. Been getting good speeds but that has 2GB cap for 7 days of usage. That’s 2.84 USD. For a whole week of 4g but of course I used it up and added 400 MB for 15 baht. That’s .43 USD. 

Crazy the competition in wireless data and how easy it is to get it and top it up.

This week I paid for our truck insurance but this was after realizing that we don’t have the bill for it. So my wife called the insurance company who then sent her 1 SMS with a number in it we took to 7/11. Paid the bill and the 15 baht convienence fee for paying at the ATM. The services one can pay for at 7/11 or other convienence stores is cool.

It is always interesting to me the fintech stuff that pops up in rural Thialand when credit cards are not the thing and cash is king. Not sure if this type of stuff will flourish more or if credit cards start to take over but given the way my wife’s parents bank, they will never get a credit card so these cash delivery systems are key for them.

As a side note this is what is always bugging me about Apple. In the rural parts of Thailand you just don’t see a lot of iPhones except for the wealthy or the aspiring wealthy or hip teenagers who want to show off. I think in all the emerging markets this same phenomenon exists in that outside of the cities you see way more android than iOS phones. I personally have never thought this was only about the price of the handset but it is more about the ecosystem that Apple has created which is basically a wall that only people with credit cards can climb over. Apple continues to power the App Store and Apple services with credit cards where Android, who pushes Google pay, but allows app developers to integrate lots of local payment methods is flourishing. Apple really should do telco integrations or work with wallets that are not card based to get something going before it is too late.

When I was a resident of Thailand, it was always uniquely frustrating place as an expat trying to make it but when I visit I tend to look at things with another lens and I am impressed with the infrastructure growth, the mobile connectivity and the startup mantra that is slowly permeating the place. Maybe some day even politics will get changed but that is not a subject for this blog.

At the airport now they have a sign for a co-working space which I find odd to be located here but who knows. Is it peak co-working spaces in SEA yet?

For the time being I will have some overpriced airport coffee but enjoy my all day 39 baht WIFI.

Apple and auth

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

I wrote this yesterday and realized I left something out.

In trying out that stupid taxi app that only offered a botched Facebook login or 7 fields, I was reminded of why didn’t Apple do something about auth for apps? The iTunes ID has to be used by anyone getting an app and it would seem to me if Apple got behind something simple for iOS apps that is tied to the iTunes ID – it would simplify things a bit.

Furthermore it is time to Apple to combine this with dropping the commission from 30% to 20% to fuel more use of payments. They make enough money – they don’t need to make it on the backs of this charge.

Last post from Samui. Back home and on to the next thing.

Fixing Samui – life as a product guy…

~ michael_msft ~ 1 Comment

Closing out my holiday. Bummed but also miss my kids, but my wife is back and I am ready for my new journey.

I realize that in many ways I am my father. My dad is a mechanic – he fixes cars, build houses and generally tinkers. I wish I was half the man he was when it comes to fixing things. His ability to diagnose a problem and solve it never ceases to amaze me. He helped me build my first car as a way to teach me self reliance and to have my own wheels. 

Loved that ride.

Anytime I am on holiday, I never really shut down, I am constantly thinking about how to make my life better – how to be happier. How to enjoy myself more. Problem is that I can’t control my surroundings.

After my wife finished her Yoga School, we decided to spend a few nights in Koh Samui chilling out before heading home. I found a nice rate on Agoda for The Kala Samui. It’s always hard to pick a place but I like to stay away from the riff-raff and enjoy a bout of good service. The Kala looked like it might work for that.

The main problem I have with the Kala has nothing to do with the the Kala apart from breakfast. I never understand why these places always think everyone wants a breakfast buffett that costs an arm and a leg. We don’t. I would rather be able to order some eggs, some toast and a decent filter coffee. That would be awesome. But no, The Kala only offers a buffet. No thanks.

The other issue is the ridiculous transportation situation on the island. It sucks. Taxis that essentially charge form 300-600 baht to go anywhere. The songthaews are not any better – tryin to charge the same for sitting in the back of a bouncy vehicle pretending that the mere act of offering you a ride at exorbitant rates is costing them the school fees for their kids. So much angst.

It reminds me of Kuala Lumpur, prior to Uber, where getting around town just sucked. The last few trips to KL were awesome though. I never dealt with a taxi driver one time. Not once. Uber was there for me. Say what you will about Uber but taxis in KL suck. They are the worst.

Taxis in Samui are just as bad. Ruining your stay by never offering to us the meter and walking away when you do ask. Many folks might say just rent a motorcycle but as an experienced motorcycle rider we all know that going down is going down. When you wake up in the hospital trying to remember how you got there you won’t be concerned about how you went down or that it wasn’t your fault. You will just be worried about your busted leg or your missing skin. Renting a motorcycle is not a option for me in accident prone Thailand.

Samui would be just perfect with Uber.

I perked up a little when I say some signs for NaviGo Samui. Downloaded it and after the Facebook connect login failed I have given up since it presented me with like 7 fields to fill in. Let’s be honest. It only needs about two so after Facebook connect failed I bailed. So much for that.

Folks – if you want people to use your app during an impulse, for fuck’s sake make the login easy. 

Back to enjoying Samui. There were are at 8pm trying to get to our hotel. Starting from 500 baht and working our way down to 300. Kind of puts a damper on the holiday.

Anyways. Fuck taxis. Roll on Uber.

Yes, I know this is SEA and we have Grab but frankly their support sucks. Still does.

Maybe I can influence Linda to fix it.