El Blog de Daniel Nantón

Inicia viaje a Isla Chira 

Costa Rica is now struggling to adjust to the amount of traffic we deal with in a daily basis. Unfortunately all problems come together, such as the need to expand roads, with the impossibility of doing it because of the lack of land in the proximity of the road. This has been solved once more in a very Costa Rican fashion, or to be compared with the McGyver style. Some of the most important roads are now suffering a metamorphosis from a 2 lane demarcation, to a 3 lane. Although this is a solution, it is more like a patch and all drivers need to be specially careful when approaching a bridge, which have not been enlarged. All this is practically normal when you live in Costa Rica more than a couple of years, but it still somehow is interesting to denote the way we deal with problems. For one thing, we are extremely used to react against the problem, showing that the proactive has not formed part of our culture. We costarricans are also very accepting, we don't challenge wh...

Since the cars are now being outsourced starting with the BMW X3, we can think of the old “quality and brand image” to have gone away. After all, the difference in the make of a car is basically the engineering, and the materials but if all these is now shared by the same company through different brands, then maybe we are looking at brands with the wrong eyes. BMW is outsourcing development and production to Magna Steyr, which is at the same time handling other assembly lines. The experience is of course pouring into the company, and so is the ability to innovate and bring costs down. So why are we still buying cars according to a brand, aren’t they all the same? Doesn’t this assure us a premium quality across all brands? Maybe the market will change, when customers realize that the brand is not enough reason to sustain the major difference in the price tag, after all, are you really paying that much more to have a different insignia in the hood.

By reading this article in the webpaper New Intel Chip for Digital TV Could Remake the Market , it triggered my mind on what will happen down the road with our computers and appliances. Interesting article, where it shows again that Intel is starting probably another turn from their core business segment, and expanding onto the pure Consumer Electronics world. This could not only bring them a broader market, but hopefully help them create the long awaited, computers that work as well as a TV set. If this is not what happens, at least I think better monitors, and media will be created, since they already have investments in web TV broadcasting company feedroom.com, which has a very interesting approach at what TV will be. Meanwhile we wait for the transition to easier to use computers, I sure hope we don't get more complicated to operate consumer electronics. This thought comes from my many problems when using microwaves, it seems like there is no standard on how to ope...

Saddam is down, US fires up the economy, and hopefully Costa Rica tech sector will skyrocket in the next 6 months. I have been reading about the US economy, and all I see are good signs which I normally interpret as good signs to our country's economy as well. This is not only shown by the tourism hitting again our beaches, and other beautiful our country shares with the visitors, but also from the companies that have established here. The government is struggling with a chaotic telecommunications monopolies problem, and possibly with the helping hand of CAFTA the airwaves will be free to economic forces to dance. Christmas is almost here, and we may convert it into a green Christmas (no snow down here), which again is the standard color for things to go ahead. All and all, I see only good things coming our way, after all, life is what we want it to be, which really means "life is the way we want to perceive it". Until the next, let's all have a great ti...

When analyzing nationalism, many think protectionist (bad word). But if we apply it to Costa Rica, (proudly our country) it seems complicated due to our anti-nationalist culture which does not allow to appreciate our good things. We have always been bombarded with the idea that foreign = better quality, this is true sometimes, but not always. Costa Rican human talent has world class recognition. My conclusion is that we must center in quality recognition, independent from where or who it comes. I feel that it is as bad to not be nationalist as to be it excessively. Both of them disable each individual to self evaluate their true potential, which is very needed to deploy ideas, and allow economic growth, both individually as it's country. That is kind of the reason of which I think we are having a bit more trouble to startup our entrepreneurship driven economy. This is not easy to change, but for sure every person can make a difference. That is the only way. I am.

Oh boy, here I go again. If it wasn't enough, spending almost 4 years listening to angry customers, now I am in the customer side, even though I don't get angry, still my problems only grow bigger. I can picture myself behind the technicians I have been talking to, and I would automatically try to help a bit more the customer, basically to show that we are humans, but sadly I am not behind the tech. Well, at least I can now say that I have problems with 2 companies at once. UPS sent my computer to the repair facility, and in the process destroyed it. So Averatec is now giving me some options, 1. Do nothing and received pieces of a computer, with a smile on my face, 2. Pay for the damage I did not create, which by the way is even more expensive than the new computer's cost, 3. Call UPS and file a claim. Of course, the last part is the one I am doing, but interestingly UPS says they will only accept a call from the people that received the package, which is not me...