I don’t drive regularly — mainly because of working from home and not wanting to develop fossil fuel dependence. But in the past few days, I was required to be in office, and work till later than usual. This resulted in me becoming a reluctant car driver faced with the Bangalore rush hour for 28 kms a day.

I noticed that as I became more used to the commute, my confidence on the road was up, but so was my impatience. I was basically in a rush to get to my destination — either thinking of the work that I need to do on the day, or about returning home and chilling. The commute part was a chore that I wanted to be over with as soon as possible. This attitude is probably what causes road rage and accident.

Here’s an article on the rules of the road that I quite enjoyed.

The gears in my bike were not working very well. I called up BSA stores and tried writing to their customer care; unfortunately I didn’t make much headway — The store I called up told me that they will service only the bikes which were bought from their store. Customer Care didn’t give much away either. Then I decided to go looking in Malleswaram for some cycle repair store which might help. I resorted to Just Dial to look for such places. I found a few but when I went looking — invariably early morning — the place would be shut or non-existent. Later I realized that expecting a shop to be open before 11am in Bangalore is some sort of fatal mistake.

The bike, by the way is a hand-me-down from my brother. So I wasn’t exactly familiar with the ins and outs of own a Hercules ACT 105 yet.

Some days later, my bicycle ended with a flat tyre and — surprise, surprise — I didn’t know where to get it fixed. I went to Sweden in May, and once I was back in June, the thing sort of slipped my mind. Couple of months later, it was when we were looking for a place to get one of the tyres in the car examined, that I came across a place in Guttahalli which seemed to fix cycles. Salvation, possibly?

Now imagine my displeasure when I found out that the number lock securing the bike had suddenly decided not to budge! First I thought that I had forgotten the combination — I emailed my brother for it, and tried again but to no avail. Maybe the lock needed some oiling, but I didn’t have any … Very soon I gave up on the lock and decided that breaking it is the way to go.

One locksmith in Malleswaram suggested that I take a hammer and have a go at the lock. I was not so sure … I came across another guy in Sadashivanagar who suggested that I cut it using a metal file. He agreed to lend me his for a day. Pleasantly surprised by his generosity, I took home the file and spent the best part of an hour cutting the metal chain. Finally the chain gave way and I felt as if I made some progress in my quest to ride the bike again.

Couple of weekends later, I rolled the bike to a shop in Guttahalli where I thought the guy fixes punctures. When I approached him, he told me he doesn’t do it; and directed me to somebody who does it. I found Kasturi Cycle Works on Nagappa street. The guy there fixed the puncture and rear brake (the wire had come off) for Rs. 15. Would I be able to ride the bike now? Ah the possibilities! I got onto the bike uncertainly and rode back home.

Once home, I checked the BSA website again for stores nearby. I had remembered seeing one in Rajajinagar recently. I called up the Rajajinagar outlet, and this time the guy agreed to fix the gears!

I plan to go there today. (Edit: the gears are working now! All that is left is to clean the bike properly)

Being a bit more wiser about my surroundings, and being persistent about wanting to fix the bike, brought me to the “right time” when the bike was supposed to get fixed.

Being someone who has believed in the goodness of free software,
having felt 'proud' at being able to accomplish all my daily computing
needs with software which cost me nothing, and having nodded in
agreement and retweeted Cory Doctorow's anti iPad rant (link offline
for some reason), I did feel as if I was selling out when I paid for,
and started using Apple products. That feeling of betrayal is not gone
yet and to wrap my head around why I'm using these things which
purportedly threaten my freedom as a computer user, I'm writing about
my experience, and some resulting observations.

An analogy that I have heard of is that an Apple product is like a car
(Porsche?) with its bonnet sealed off. The user cannot look under the
hood and tinker around. A lay user can't even change the battery of
his device. By not trusting the user to know what is best for their
purchased product, and by exercising such control over the user
experience, I'm tempted to believe that the creators are pompous
control freaks. Why would Apple do this?

-Lack of protruding screws make the product look good?

-To prevent people from trying to reverse engineer their work?

-Ensuring that users visit an Apple store to get their product fixed,
thus earning from after-sales support?

These were some of the reasons I could come up with. Having said that,
if the company's bottom line was the only concern, giving the OS X
Lion upgrade for $30 and the iOS 5 update for free does seem generous
when you compare with, say, the Microsoft Windows revenue model.
Apparently they do care for their users even after having sold the
product, which cannot be said for quite a few companies.

Apple products seduce you with their design. I wouldn't call my self a
convert or a fanboy, but it is a welcome change to use computers which
have been thoughtfully built, keeping the user's interests front and
centre. Hardware and software made by the same guys makes all the
difference (plus having a good deal of control over what can be
installed). I even read John Gruber for a while, trying to understand
the thinking of a Mac devotee; now I can't seem to stand him :)

Apple's hardware is definitely superior to their competitors, not
always in terms of specs, but in the way it's built. So the next time
I'll be shopping for computing hardware, going for something made by
Apple -- even if it means paying a premium -- does seem to be an
option. The reality these days is that most users don't assemble their
own computers, nor do they they write code on it. They just want it to
work, and be able to accomplish the myriad tasks modern computers are
capable of. And Apple more than delivers on these fronts. I wouldn't
hesitate to suggest Apple to all the tech luddites (among others) out
there. In fact, I think an iPad would be the perfect computing device
for my mum (I have been at the receiving end while providing tech
support far too many times)

I don't mind paying for software. At times I have come across software
which is insanely great and I want to pay, to: reward the creator;
make sure I keep getting to use it. The app store does make it easy to
make purchases and for programmers to monetize.

What I'm doubtful of is learning Objective C to create native
applications on Mac. Xcode is a 4 GB download, in addition to costing
money. Plus I would have to invest on a platform where I would have to
bow down to Apple's wishes. These are reasons enough for me to
procrastinate. (But I have no excuse for not brushing up on my
rudimentary Python skills; it comes preloaded with OS X)

Notes -

1. We (wife and I) have an iPad 2 running iOS 5, and an iMac with OS X
Lion, and have been using them for about three months now.
2. This post has been written on the iPad w/ wireless keyboard