Technologies throwing our babies with the bathwater - Part 1

We always find ourselves in an endless mission to improve our life. We keep trying to make things around us look, feel and function better. The question is, however, is this making us any happier?

In our attempt to “improve” our life, we tend to maximize the employment of technology in order to do what we do faster, more accurately and with fewer resources. Well, that seems all good. However, there is a catch somewhere here.

Technology enables us to eliminate what we think is “unnecessary” from our life, so that we maximize our efficiency and be able to do more with less. What we wanted to do is to be as efficient as possible, to maximize our output and minimize our input.

But, wait a minute. We are not talking about a machine here, right?! For a machine, this output/input thing applies, but what is “efficiency” when you talk about the life of a human being?

A situation developed when we copied the concept of machines’ efficiency to our life. Doing this, we, unknowingly, started to convert people into machines, without adding buttons to them! We overlooked the fact that the purpose of a machine is to work efficiently, while the purpose of a human being is to live happily.

For example, you heard about tablets that are as nutritious as a complete meal. Instead of going for lunch, you can just have some tablets and you are done! This would save you time, effort and money. Further more, the tablets would provide accurately balanced quantities of all what your body needs. Accordingly, tablets are even healthier. So, why shouldn’t you spare the “unnecessary” time, effort and money you spend on having regular meals and just go for the nice little tablets?

The scenario above assumes that the purpose of having food is to fuel our bodies. While this is true, it is not the complete story. Actually, having food is a joy. We enjoy the colors, the smell and the taste of food. We enjoy the company of friends and family while having food together. We enjoy the atmosphere of the place where we have food. Sometimes, we have food even if we are not hungry, just to enjoy it! Now, is this joy “unnecessary”?! Of course not, unless you are talking about a machine!

So, are we trying to say here that technology is bad and we should get away from it?! This is something I will be talking about in Part 2 in order to illustrate from where twindi.com is coming. Till then, I will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

twindi Team
http://www.twindi.com/

What would you buy online?

Yesterday, I googled “buy online” to end up with 2.37 billion search result. Just in case you did not notice, it is BILLION, with B! There were websites out there to show me what to buy, from where to buy, how to buy and how much to pay.

It is amazing how easy it became to find and buy things over the net. Can you name a product that can not be found and purchased online? Few days ago, a little girl offered her grandmother for sale on ebay. In case you need one!

What I am wondering about is, however, what sort of products would people like you be welling to buy online? And what sort of products you would need to touch and feel before you buy? You may buy a book online, but would you, for example, buy a pet, a car or a grandmother?!

During the early stages of twindi project, one big question mark was: What to sell? We, at twindi, were trying to decide about what sort of things people would feel comfortable buying online.

As per the market analysis conducted by our business consultant, Ernst & Young, consumer electronics and IT products showed a high potential for people to buy online. Accordingly it has been decided to start with that.

Certainly, as we go, new types of products will be added to twindi catalogue like books, fashion, home appliances and others. Get ready to see more in the near future!

Now, how about you? What sort of things would you feel comfortable buying online? What are the things that you would not even think of buying online?

Waiting to hear from you!

twindi Team
www.twindi.com

New shopping experience!

You, most probably, went through the experience of buying a product or a service online. Or at least you used the internet to search for information to help you making a buying decision. Well, and who did not?!

I can hardly think of something to buy that is not already available online. But, is that all we need here? To find things “available” online?

When e-commerce was first introduced, it was about providing a solution that enables people to buy products and services online. The focus was on developing online catalogues and shopping carts.

Although this is valid, there are more dimensions involved in the shopping experience besides the act of buying. Dimensions that make shopping a joy and fun!

Think, for example, of the social aspects. We, the human beings, like to interact and share our interests and experiences. Sometimes, we enjoy talking to our friends about something we bought more than we enjoy acquiring it. Don’t we?!

From there, twindi.com comes with the mission to develop an online marketplace that offers a different online shopping experience. A marketplace that is people oriented, rather than shopping cart oriented.

What does the word “twindi” mean? Well, it stands for “Trading With New Dimensions”, which forms the theme of the project.


twindi.com is owned and operated by Twindi eCommerce. A company based in the kingdom of Bahrain.

twindi team is now in the process of developing the online marketplace. As per the project plan, twindi.com will be launched in December 2009. Till then, keep an eye on this blog to know more about what is in twindi for you and share your thoughts with us.

Have you shopped or considered shopping online before? What is it that you like/dislike about shopping online? What would you like to see in an online marketplace? We would love to hear from you. . .

twindi Team
www.twindi.com