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-   -   Rant! 2019-20, the year of waiting! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/215104-rant-2019-20-year-waiting.html)

Hi fellow BHP-ians,

After a lot of silent reading over the forum and watching over topics with new posts, I have spotted a weird trend. The year 2019-20 is remarkably dull in more ways than one for a person who's looking to take up a new hobby or advance in the pursuit of his existing interests!


Quickly summarizing my observations:

1. (On buying new) Impending BS6 implementation leading to a 'when to buy' and 'what to buy' conundrum. Take the plunge now or wait for the flash sale?
2. (On buying future-proof) With NCR's pollution woes expected to worsen over 2020-2022, a crackdown (in the form of higher taxes/ early retirement) on gas powered vehicles is likely (an ill-informed decision if taken, IMHO). While circumstances call for a move towards EV/Hybrids - there is a clear lack of options for the masses. Domestic manufacturers have come up with half-baked attempts/ OEMs with global tech (read Honda/Nissan) who do have viable mass market options don't seem to be interested/ regard India as a laggard. More clarity on electrification expected over 1-2 years (for us, it's again a wait and watch)
3. (On going enthusiast) No reliable enthusiast car south of 20 lacs! Closely watching Hyundai N-performance/ VAG/ MG/ Kia/ Peugeot/ Citroen and their product pipelines, most of which extend to 2021-22!
4. Few options for a used project car below 10 lacs. Old diesels are a big no-no (read 10-year rule :Frustrati), decent petrol options such as the Civics/Accords/Jettas/Lauras of the world are based on 10+ year old chassis. The Octavia in its enthusiast avatar (with the 1.8TSI) has a reliability scare with its DQ-250 DSG

Other non-auto related hobbies I tried to take up, only to face a yellow flag amid my research:

1. (Gaming-related) Next-gen gaming consoles are 1-year away. Investing in a PS4 or an Xbox OneS just isn't worth its weight in gold
2. (Gaming-related) CPUs and GPUs are to go through a major overhaul over 2019-20 and are expected to be significantly better than what's out there in the market right now (Ryzen's new APUs with Navi are expected in 2021!, while Intel too is lagging) . Building a PC-gaming rig in 2019 won't be a smart choice
3. (Personal-tech related) 2019 iPhones are mere incremental upgrades. New design/overhaul won't be out before 2020! Mediocre development in the android phones as well. With 5G phones to come in 2020 at not so high prices, upgrading/switching in 2019 may not be a wise move/ lead to buyer's remorse (a 4G phone with 2+ years life in 2019 may not be future-proof)
4. (Investing-related) Value-based stock market investment scenario seems dull for the next 1-2 years over see-saw of geopolitical hostility, domestic interest rates, lagging foreign inflow and major growth correction. Though there are several opportunities in every market season, it won't be an ill-decision for someone to wait out the slow-down to minimize risk and look towards safer options in the meantime

In such a scenario, I'm hard pressed to call 2019-20 a year(s) of waiting (in several spheres of life) with little promise to show up for it in return. Look forward to hear from the forum on its views/ strategies of going about this transitional phase.
Please feel free to add to the list of areas where they are 'waiting it out' or mention any bright spots/ positive notes to this rather grim-looking saga please:.

Prelude: I have currently moved to a job in my home-town (Delhi-NCR) that provides me with ample work-life balance. Aiming to utilize my time better, I have been trying to take up a new hobby/ project (whilst being frugal as I try to save some bucks during the initial years of my career)

While, you are right on the new car purchases as well as the pollution situation in Delhi NCR, I beg to differ on the used car front. Well, I for one believe that anytime is a good time to pick up a used car, as long as you are a little bit careful. Case in point, I just picked up a 17-year old Palio 1.6 with registration renewed for 1/4th the price of the latest iPhone. Obviously there is work to be done, but as a hobby / project car, its the fun in doing things up that keeps me going.

Secondly, the mass market car manufacturers never even consider the enthusiast as a customer. They might make a car that doubles up as an enthusiast's choice but not one solely catering to us. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but then they are either too costly or end up with poor sales and eventual discontinuation.

I'm not up to date with the processor and graphic card scene these days, but whenever I used to get a PC, budget constraints forced me to pick up older gen components and frankly I never had the luxury of the latest. But, yes, I have been eyeing that 5k iMac since a while now, but honestly, there is no need to replace my current 2011 iMac that is working as intended. But yes, I can understand the itch to wait for the new tech rather than get buyer's remorse.

In terms of phones, 5G is expected, but considering the prices of phones these days, I'm put off buying them for one reason or the other. They are too big and cost a bomb without giving much benefits over the previous gen (or my current 3 year old phone). But as a technology, yes its better to wait for 5G roll out before plonking big cash for a phone.

You can take up hobbies like cycling, painting or if you are tech inclined doing electronics projects based on Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc. Yes, the future looks grim, but lets make the best of it!

au contraire! This was/ is such a fun year! clap:
Let's begin a topic wise comparison:
On cars:
BS6: Well, for a buyer anytime is right! You have the BS6 conundrum right now, next year it'll be Electric/ Hybrid and then in 2021 there will be something else. Because there is always something else.
Enthusiast car? Well, there is always a car for one who wants to buy, esp. in the pre-loved car market. For that matter, there is confusion at every price point! Want a C-SUV? Each model misses out on something! Want a premium hatch? None is perfect! Want a 25-30lakh car? No clear winner there too.
But then there were MG Hector, Kia Seltos and Hyundai Venue setting the charts on fire in a year when everyone was down and out! 3 cars exceeding everyone's expectations.


For gaming:
This has been such a fun year! COD mobile is here! And if you detest mobile gaming, OneX with 4K gaming is a charm! Play Gears 5 or Halo! Master Chief is always there for you! iPhones this year finally caught up with the rest to win the photography crown in one frikkin' year! From having no night mode, there have the best one now! I have a Xs and won't upgrade anytime soon, but dang they should have ported the night mode on X/Xs. 90Hz is prevalent in Android world.

For 5G, rest assured it is not coming extensively to India before 2021/22 as it requires line of sight which basically means you need to have the routers EVERYWHERE. Buy an iPhone now if you want or even an android phone.



For hobbies:

Read! Such a fun year for books! Get "LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by P.W. Singer, Emerson T. Brooking" to understand how social media manipulates us all or "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas" to understand the story behind the charities by the elite rich.

Want an inspiring tale: Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon by Robert Kurson
Want to understand the origin of the word computer: Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet by Claire L. Evans.


If you like to learn new stuff, "Automate Boring Stuff with Python" Udemy course is free to sign up today with the code "NOV2019FREE". Learn Python. You can automate a LOT of stuff.


New TV series/Movies:
Watch HBO series Chernobyl to understand the nuclear aftermath of a reactor near melt down.
GoT finally ended its 9 year run! Closure!
Stranger Things S3 finally picked up after a snooze-y S2.
Mind Hunter S2 is back and more riveting.
Apple TV+ is here; Disney+ is here! Netflix is producing some really good content.

Avengers Endgame! Closure after 20 years of movies!

Keanu in John Wick 3!
Dark Phoenix was released this year which means that turd level X-Men movies will finally stop and the property transferred to Marvel for better ones!
The Irishmen is here!
As Astra is awaited!


Cricket WC 2019!
Yes we didn't win but that final was a treat!
And beating Pakistan. LoL. Can you forget the biryani yawning captain?
F1: Lewis Hamilton the 6 time World Champion touching on the heels of the all time great Schumi!
PV Sindhu's Gold at 2019 Badminton WC!



Mr. Baghdadi was laid to rest with no casualties!
J&K is finally an integral part of India. We also have a stable govt for the next 5 years irrespective of the party.
Trade war between China and US led to Apple manufacturing phones in India.


Hobbies: Bangalore has some amazing gym/ workout places at really nominal prices which have come of age this year. Else play badminton/ sports with friends. Nothing like an hour of badminton/ tennis.
Photography: DSLRs and mirrorless cams are at an all time low price! Plus wedding photography/ baby shower photography, pre-wedding photo-shoots, baby bump photo-shoots, exotic getaway photo-shoots, etcetera is all a rage!



This year we even had the first ever picture of a black hole captured by Horizon!
I mean 2019 has been a fab year (yeah there were a few downers) and I firmly believe 2020 will be even better!


Live my dear friend clap:


PS: I can go on and on, but didn't want this to be an essay for 2019

Won't hit all points, but time to buy a console is RIGHT NOW!!!!

You have the best games available, and all of them at discounts, you have consoles available at discounts, hell you can buy them for dirt cheap off second hand markets. The Game library is huge with AAA titles lined up to play one after the another. When new console launch they would hardly have any games, the library will take time to build, get a second hand PS4 pro now and you are set for next couple of years.

Well strictly speaking, no particular year is drastically different from its preceding year and this year was no exception. When seeing in retrospect we tend to look at many years of the past as a single unit of time and think that we suddenly changed from that to this.

For me the increasing buzz around electric vehicles is definitely the highlight of the automotive industry this year. But were electric vehicles invented this year? Definitely not.

In the world of technology the increasing adoption of AI stands out. But AI wasn't invented this year either.

Drones are being used increasingly in diverse applications. Vloggers are having the time of their lives shooting HD drone videos and travelling to exotic destinations to capture them.

Cycling has gotten a leg up with fitness, environment and traffic woes. Again, people suddenly didn't wake up to this in 2019.

The 'gig economy' is starting to get bigger. There was never a better time to be a freelancer.

On the gaming front, it is easier said than done. Hordes of people wait for the new console to be launched, but once it is launched the first thing one hears is how overpriced it is. Then people wait endlessly for the price of console and games to come down. By that time the new console is on the horizon.

On phones, let's be realistic. How much do we expect phones to change year on year? Breakthrough features such as touch screen come once in a while. All along phones have been only improving incrementally with regards to their processing power, display resolution etc.

Even if something drastic were to happen in 2020 in terms of technology, it will only be a culmination of many years of effort.

Since you mentioned hobbies specifically, there has been no better time for Indians to indulge in their pursuits. I see younger people following their passion more than any generation of Indians has done.

agree:
When I got Xbox One in late 2015, it was really new in India and the title support was almost nill. I was cursing myself for not getting 360 which I was getting at almost 1/3rd price of one and it had all the games really cheap. However I stuck with it and now have caught up with games in last 2-3 years. Now is the best time to get OneX/S because the prices are at all time low and the title library is huge. Similar case with PS4. Pretty sure if you pickup the new gen consoles, you will have to wait a while till the games are settled or shell out huge money to buy games as not all the current games will be compatible for newer consoles.

Pickup a console dirt cheap now and put the money to buy latest games or take a look at Google Stadia.

I beg to differ. With Google Stadia on the cusp of launching it makes absolute zero sense to invest on a gaming console right now IMHO. Cloud gaming is the future, you simply pay for the games and play on whatever screen you want and let cloud take care of CPU and GPU heavy lifting

And you think you will get 4k 30 GPS gaming on the kind of internet speeds we got. Stadia might be launching, I will still give it some time to stabilize. Plus I like playing games on my 65" OLED TV only, not even on my high end mobile. Gaming is immersive on big screens.

That said you do have a point, but what about console exclusive games like God of War, spiderman, uncharted, how do you play those masterpiece.

4k 30 FPS in almost two decades of console evolution and Stadia is at 4k 60 FPS at launch with 8K 120 FPS in the pipeline. Max Requirement of 40 Mbps is a bare minimum speed these days with a cheap Fiber connection. Stadia is MEANT to be played on big screens, mobile support is an added bonus.

I'm not against consoles, its that point in time where it's better to wait and see what Stadia does rather than buying a console outright. Coming to exclusives, it is just a matter of time i would say. Low entry barrier potentially allows anyone to tryout Stadia, this has made each and every game developer, from Indie to AAA on this planet glued to the Stadia scene with starry eyes

I purchased PS4 but hardly play any games now. I only like two or three franchises like Fallout, GTA and Soulsborne and there are no signs of them coming in next two to three years.

Innovations in Phones have also stagnated and I will probably stick to my Op5T until it's battery dies and there is no option to replace it.

I got Creta Automatic this year on company lease and it will serve me good until lease ends. I was pretty much excited during purchase but surprisingly I am not driving as much I had hoped, I find myself wanting to go for bicycle ride more.

Only thing I am enthusiastic about is Artificial Intelligence and specially Deep Learning which I have been learning for two years now. I have a computer vision project in my mind which will make good use of my Creta, a dashcam and a workstation for training Neural Networks. I would probably build a computer with Ryzen CPU and Nvidia RTX Graphics card required for training deep neural networks. This will also serve as occasional gaming computer so no PS5 for me.

Three years ago I went into depth of fundamentals analysis of stocks and had developed a decent modeling tool to evaluate and analyze stock. Then I watched a video from Ashwath Damodaran who in his talk to google employees made a suggestion that people like us who are in tech should rather invest in mutual funds and spend more time in improving our job skills as it would bring more money in long term. There was some truth in his advice and I stopped my short lived stock market chase.

To be more specific about the infra requirements for Stadia, it requires min bandwidth of 25 mbps for 4k30fps and latency below 30ms. More than bandwidth issue in India will be latency as the nearest stadia servers are going to be in EU with 100 ms or more latency. There is no plan announced as of yet from Google on launching any servers in Asia until 2021 so we will have to wait a while in India to try out Stadia. All depends on how successfull the launch is in the first 14 countries.