13th Oct'05 was officially a non-working day but had to work for some reasons. It was a wet day at Bangalore and was raining intermittently, perfect weather to remain indoors and read a book of your choice with regular supply of coffee or tea.

I managed to do that only late night and slept quite late.I started reading a book titled "Siddhartha". "Siddhartha" is a novel based on the life of Buddha,inspired by the author Hermann Hesse's visit to India before the First World War.The novel is about the young brahmin Siddhartha's search for self-realisation. Disturbed by the contradictions between his comfortable life and the harsh reality around, he takes to the life of a wanderer. But an ascetic life, and shunning all temptations, does not give him a sense of fulfillment either. Despairing of his condition, he goes to the riverbank,sitting there quietly. And then in the silence , he coluld hear himself, his inner self. In the end he grasps the wholeness of life, experiencing the sense of fulfillment and which come with it. The book is written in a very simple style and as per me it is a classic book dealing with the meaning of life.

I have not read beyond a quater of the pages and plan to complete it in the next four or five days and then post my learnings and views on the same book.

When I was having dinner, I managed to see something for which I was waiting for long unveiling of the new video-enabled iPod by Apple Computer's Steve Jobs.He is renowned in technology circles for his skepticism about video on portable devices.

Just how ridiculous did he consider the concept? Jobs joked in a conference call with reporters last year that if Apple were to add video to the iPod, it might as well turn the device into a toaster, too. "I want it to brown my bagels when I'm listening to my music," he said at the time. "And we're toying with refrigeration, too."

His change of heart could have big implications for the media and entertainment world. In addition to announcing its new, video-enabled iPod this week, Apple introduced a departure from the TV industry's traditional business model -- generating revenue not by embedding advertising in the shows but by charging a small amount to download them.

Under Apple's deal with the Walt Disney Co., commercial-free versions of such programs as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" will be available for download from Apple's iTunes store for $1.99. The episodes can be played back on a computer or transferred for viewing on the new iPod.The shows will be available for download the morning after they air on traditional television. Echoing comments by Jobs at the Apple announcement, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger called it a "breakthrough" deal. It also works to Apple's advantage, providing content for the video-enabled iPod.

Steve Job's job is well done and deserves a pat and tons of accolade and probably this is the right to launch the product in the market when in a few weeks from now the holidaying season will start and also Christmas is round the corner. Although the video-enabled iPod is marked at 300 plus dollars, I feel once it is consumed in the niche markets, Steve will definitely slash down the prices to make a dent in the emerging markets. Probably thats how you do business.