[ad_1]
N. Sudhakar sits behind the counter of his hole-in-the-wall grocery store in Bangalore, southern India, from 7 am to dusk, seven days a week. Filled with everything from 20-kilogram bags of rice to one-rupee ($0.01) shampoo bags, this floor-to-ceiling one-stop shop fills most of the daily needs of many in the neighborhood. A carbon copy of the nearly 12 million family-run “rent” found on almost every street corner in India.
The shop is on a busy street in the Whitefield neighborhood, which used to be a quiet suburb but is now a major hub for the city’s thriving IT industry. Blocks of flats rise behind his shop and house hundreds of workers working in the tech parks that dominate the surrounding area.
These days, the same tech industry that helped Sudhakar’s business thrive is presenting a new challenge to stores like him. Across the road, a steady stream of delivery drivers line up to pick up groceries from a “dark store”, a mini warehouse located in the heart of the city and built to enable ultra-fast deliveries, run by Dunzo, a Bangalore-based startup. .
In India’s megacities, years of aggressive marketing, massive discounts from e-commerce players like Amazon and homegrown Flipkart, and massive doses of covid quarantines have left the urban middle class addicted to online shopping. These shoppers make up a fraction of the population, but their spending power is substantial, and the battle for India’s street corner continues in the more affluent pockets of major cities. Read the full story.
—Ed Gent
must read
I scoured the internet for today’s most entertaining/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 US child under five eligible for covid vaccines starting today
So almost all Americans will have access to immunization. (NYT $)
+ Here are some of the possible mild side effects they may experience. (CNN)
+ Why do young children who already have covid still need vaccines? (Time)
2 Canada bans single-use plastics
It starts in six months. (Guard)
+ Similarly, Wales is considering banning disposable tote bags and wet wipes. (BBC)
+ A spray plant cover can be an alternative to plastic wrap. (Engadget)
+ A French company is using enzymes to recycle one of the most common single-use plastics.. (MIT Technology Review)
3 China collects more personal data than we think
Including ‘voice tracks’ from the public to strengthen the authoritarian rule of the government. (NYT $)
4 Google Search isn’t what it used to be
Scrolling through ads and less blogging makes it feel more sterile and less human. (Atlantic Ocean $)
+ Lots of people Google ‘Bitcoin is dead’ right now. (cointelegraph)
5 We need to get smarter about how we use artificial intelligence to address climate change
Renewable energy is one area that could benefit from simpler systems. (Spectrum IEEE)
+ Renewable Energy Certifications may be exaggerating corporate environmental efforts. (NBC)
+ Renewables poised to rise. (MIT Technology Review)
6 Meta’s virtual reality headsets are pretty dull
But the company is itching to make a viable headset a reality. (Boundary)
+ Metaverse looks pretty practical right now. (WP $)
+ Already have a manual problem. (MIT Technology Review)
+ That’s why we all use the same terms when talking about it. (Fast Company $)
7 To liberate artificial intelligence from colonization, we must untangle its fabric.
And establish continuous monitoring from oversight boards. (Neo.Life)
+ AI creates a new colonial world order. (MIT Technology Review)
8 We still don’t know why the sea glows milky green
But going into space might shed some light on this mystery. (Hakai Magazine)
9 Internet Explorer is gone but not forgotten
Parts of the web still rely on it. (wired $)
10 Here’s What Tech Workers Do With The Loot From Failed Startups
Top tip: Don’t get your company logo tattooed. (Information $)
Word of the Day
“Fire practice!”
[ad_2]
Source link