Transcript: Ajit Jaokar, publisher of Mobile Web 2.0, on mobile Web trends

This transcript is from a PodTech.net podcast at:
http://www.podtech.net/home/technology/1710/ajit-jaokar-publisher-of-mobile-web-20-on-mobile-web-trends

Guest: Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Host: Robert Scoble - ScobleShow

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
So, who're you?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Ajit Jaokar, as you all know, yeah.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Yeah, well the camera doesn't know that. People at home don't know that.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Okay. It's good to be here.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
What do you do? Yeah.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I run a company in UK called Futuretext. We are a publishing company, but I guess I'm more involved more than my log which is Open Gardens. --I'm also known my book which is Mobile Web 2.0.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Cool! So, you're a book publisher?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Yes. we're mainly focussed on publishing books in emerging technologies.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Wow! How did you get into that?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
After long story, by chance, it's like...

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
We've ten minutes.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Like I say, you don't become, you don't grow up wanting to be a publisher, you'll blunder into it by mistake often, as is in my case as well, but I enjoy it, I really like kind of building up people's careers and aspirations and that's a great thing to be a publisher.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
So, what was the mistake, the case that stuck in that?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
The mistake I think was getting too hyped up in the Dot-com 1 era. I learning from there I guess, to try to building up like consultancy business, I tried to publish reports, management reports, which is why I got into writing, and then I realized that if I made smaller versions of them ebooks, they'd sell more or I'd get more exposure, and then the books started doing more than my consultancy, and in the end, I realized that maybe this is not a bad business to be in, and if we had other people, writing for me so, I ended up being a publisher, a reluctant publisher as...

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Very cool! Now, what kinds of books do you publish?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
We publish books mainly in Mobility space, which is Mobile and that something I've truly believed in. I think the opportunities with the Web 2.0 and Mobile are absolutely amazing.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Now, we're here in London, right. We're not in Silicon Valley, which actually if you're a Mobile guy, so a huge advance, right, because Europe is way ahead of America. I've heard you are going 3G this week, maybe tomorrow, right?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Yes. Well, 3G has been here a while ago.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Right, but somebody was opening up.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
But the big difference is, operators now announcing fixed rate prices. Specifically, Hutchinson 3G, which is about two weeks ago, and I'm sure that they'll (Inaudible), which would mean like application like Podcasting, which couldn't be viewed or which couldn't be listened up even on phone because of the price plans would not be possible. We've opened up the whole market to video and audio, really video and audio data, which is really where the industry should have been which you have all this been. So, I'm really excited about that...

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
How much is the fixed break plan cost here now or it really cost?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Well, it depends. It's a long -- it's very complex situation, it depends on what you choose etcetera or the price pack etcetera. But, the bottom-line is if I can say that I'm paying X amount for a data for a month, that is fantastic because then I know, I can lose my (Inaudible) to work.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
There you go (Inaudible) cell phone.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
There you go, there you go. You just don't...it's just...it would be a...

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Right on here, right on (Voice Overlap).

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Yeah, we are in Europe and everybody is got to go (Voice Overlap).

Speaker
(Inaudible) Hey! Robert, say Hi! to Jason.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Hey Jason, what's up? That not a Jason Calacanis, that's Jason, the Wine Guy.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
That will be very interesting.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Too many Jasons here.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Well, who's he?

Speaker
Just normal guy.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Yeah, but here's the picture.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Picture.

Speaker
Is your cell phone decent or indecent.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
Anyway, you see the world we are living.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
So, what got you into Mobile Technology what -- other than just being here in your company...

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I've always believed in the ubiquitous way, by whatever name you can call it, and mobility is a very important component of that. I guess, I've always seen the Web and I still believe a lot in Open Gardens, which is really what it's all about. Really, the fact that everybody everywhere in the world can use the Web, the mob and to communicate with each other. I was born in India and coming from that background I see almost have people jumping across for the PC to the phone and I see the phone to be having a massive, massive impact socially and culturally at Indian societies worldwide and that transformation -- transforming capacity is really haven't even been touched. I believe that it will truly change the face of this world.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
What you think is going to happen in the next in six months? Where would you be investing in new companies or what kind of trends do you see happening?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I think that next six months and the next, to be fair even in the next few years are going to be all the hype which we talked about and which have never happened. Even if a fraction of that happens, that would be fantastic. I would still think that you'd struggle to get actual location based systems, well they're still around but not quite common. But, everything else being -- what I say that you've got entire Internet on your phone, but hardly any of us use it, and even if small portion of the people start to use that, the Web 2.0 the Mobile Web, that's truly transformational. And -that's what I see, nothing glamourous, nothing sexy, it's the same sort of thing which we always thought would've happened maybe about two years ago, and it's all happening now.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
What are the barriers in doing that? Why don't people try the Web Browser on their phones more often? I was watching a lot of people in trains and subways use their phones that seem like most of them were texting each other, they weren't using the -- they weren't going to Google or buying movie tickets, or doing stuff that might be more advanced like what you're talking about.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I think there were two barriers, and interestingly enough about both those barriers have obstruct to cut down significantly in Europe at least. The first was Price Plan, the fact that, the entire, the fixed live web also took off, only when people realize they weren't paying by the minute, but they were paying by a fixed amount. That is going away increasingly in Europe, and you see that model being very much in Japan and Korea as when Japan and Korea also have very much (Inaudible). The second model I think is the Walled Garden's approach. The Wall Garden's approach effectively it's frightful to a lot of innovation.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
What do you mean by Wall Garden?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
A Wall Garden effectively, I would say that, if you're a -- particularly the particular provider, you can only communicate or use the services of that provider, which means that a classic -- is really the same guys who've taken a complete U-turn and announced something different now. But a year ago, when they said, you browse the Web, meant to effectively browse their selected endorsed sites on the Web, which is not the Web, in my opinion, and most people's opinion as well.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Right. Yeah.

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
And today, the fact that you can use any site with a reason - obviously, excluding things which you shouldn't be looking into, is the main driver. Also, the fact that we have the full Web standards. We have VFS, we have AJAX, we have JavaScript, we have all these things running on the Web Browser, and what does that mean? It means basically a Browser like Opera or Nokia, is what they have on the Web, the same that you have in the mobile phone, which is not the same and having XHTML and all those cut down technologies or web, which gives that poor user experience.

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
Well, cool. Anything else we should know about you? Where are you working in?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I think to me what is most interesting is looking into that kind of next stage of publishing. What I see what view that as looking into Wikis and the publishing industry is changing dramatically. I think all the new technologies are going to I mean it's video or audio our Wiki so...

Robert Scoble - ScobleShow
That's an interesting point you're talking about because- I wrote my book on Blog while I was writing it, how do you see some of these newer technologies changing the book industry?

Ajit Jaokar - Futuretext
I think firstly the distribution model has changed dramatically already. The fact that you can distribute the book very easily. If someone like us can produce the book relatively cheaply, distribute it very easily. I think the big difference in -- with the new technology is probably I would see it and I would use -- I use the word almost like 2.0, is that I would see books being almost online and probably even ad-funded. So, leaning more towards free perhaps, but leading more towards ad-funded because today, to produce a book, it takes a long time, and by the time I have to produce a book it's outdated, and literally that is true. I would say that the trend being more towards online books, QuickBooks, maybe almost free books but ad-funded books which is what Web 2.0 probably use all about.

Robert Scoble - Scobleshow
Very cool. Well, thank you.