Brand loyalty

Hrush Bhatt, founder and director (product and strategy) at Cleartrip.com is everybody’s gizmo guru. Extremely partial to his favourite brands Microsoft and Apple, he is looking forward to the latter’s new operating system, Snow Leopard.

What gadget have you purchased most recently?
I recently acquired an iPhone 3G and it’s an amazing phone. It’s like holding the future in the palm of your hand. Installing new applications from the App Store, it feels like a new phone everyday.

Do you have a gizmo guru?
Unfortunately, I happen to be everyone else’s gizmo guru!

Which is the most overrated gadget in the market?
I think the BlackBerry is the most overrated gadget in the history of gadgets. I can’t imagine what drives people to want all their emails on their phones the instant it arrives. The BlackBerry is almost solely responsible for destroying people’s work and personal life balance.

Which gadget do you think is one of a kind?
Though I don’t own one but the iPod is a classic example. The gizmo is massively successful partially due to good hardware, but mostly because it has the support of iTunes stores, which organises and syncs music, and the Music Store, where users can purchase music legally.

Is the iPhone craze justified?
If there is a craze, it’s definitely justified. I’ll probably never use a non-Apple phone again. Apple tends to take an all-encompassing wide view of the markets and execute its strategy well. If it approaches the mobile market the way it has approached the music player market, the whole world will be using iPhones in a few years.

Which laptop would you recommend?
I’ve been using Apple’s 15-inch Pro line laptops for over six years now and will be getting a new one in December.

The new line of laptops from Apple have some incredible new features such as seven-hour battery life and a unibody aluminum casing.

I will opt for Apple’s brand new Snow Leopard operating system.

Is there a gizmo you would like to get rid of?
I would gladly exchange my D-Link ADSL router, a complete piece of junk that doesn’t work well, and is extremely unreliable.