Plan E
Because Plans A-D aren't usually interesting enough.
Sunday 10 December 2006, 6:45 PM
Christmas, Nostalgia and First Amazon Purchases
Sports Personality of the Year is on the Beeb this evening, and I'm waiting with baited breath to see what the new format is going to be like as this programme, above anything else, signifys the start of Christmas and needs to be watched on a big sofa, in front of a roaring fire, with the fairy lights twinkling on the new, not yet drooping, Christmas Tree and a glass or two of mulled wine in hand. I hope they don't spoil it, as the lack of an obvious winner makes this year makes it all the more interesting, despite being a sorry
advertisement for the state of British Sport. For what it's worth, I'm rooting for Beth Tweddle (the gymnast). Anyone who is still that supple at 21 deserves to be recognised.
Anyway, whilst waiting for this highlight of the festive programming calendar, I came across a posting on John Robert's Blog , responding to the question "What was your first Amazon purchase"?. Intrigued, I had to find out for myself.
It turns out that the first purchase I can find was in early November 1998 and it was Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. How embarrasing. Infact, thinking about it I was probably simply too embarrased to actually walk into a shop and buy this at the time, and I certainly can't remember actually reading it as back then it really wasn't the kind of thing you wanted to be seen with on a daily commute.
My second purchase, shortly afterwards was Net Future: The 7 Cybertrends that will drive your business, create new wealth, and define your future". Now that's more like it. Although funnily enough, I'm not sure I ever actually read this either. A quick dig around at home and what's more I can't actually find it, so I've put my hand in my pocket a second time round as I'm now intrigued to see which of those 7 Cybertrends predicted back in 1998 hold true as we go into 2007 almost 9 years later.
Looking at my Amazon history after this and 1998 was clearly my first recorded year of online Christmas shopping, with a flurry of activity in the last 2 weeks before the 25th December. Amazing to think that back then online shopping was largely limited to books and CDs. This year, 95% of my shopping has been done online already (I'm aiming for the big 100) without a book or CD in sight.
So, a nostalgic trip down memory lane - thanks for the prompt John - and just in time for the nostaliga of another year of British sporting greatness...
Sunday 10 December 2006, 5:55 PM
atlarge.com - new social networking site for business travellers
We're not used to doing stealth launches here at CNET Networks UK, so our latest project - the launch of atlarge.com is an interesting experiment on two fronts.
Firstly, its the first time we've launched a 'non-media' brand in the UK market. By that I mean that atlarge.com is about functionality first. It is an information service which brings user-generated content to the fore - written by business travellers for business travellers. The only input from our editorial teams is when they too are travelling and use
the site to share knowledge as any other user would. New territory for us and exciting territory too.
Secondly, we are relying in the first instance on word-of-mouth and connected communities to populate the atlarge.com database. We figured that niche, 'social networking' is exactly that - it can only be as useful to the community it serves as the effort they put in to getting it off the ground. So we've just kind of "put it out there" and are waiting with interest to see what happens. Thanks to the teams over at sites like Mashable a number of blogs have already picked up on the service and we're hoping that if they like what they see (which they seem to) it will slowly gain momentum and deliver the value back to the community that we want it to.
So what does atlarge.com actually do? It aims to provide, with the help of people like you, the information and advice that globetrotting business travellers need to get connected from any of over 2,500 commercial airports in the world.
Travellers can tell each other what they have found useful (and not so useful) - posting descriptions and ranking information on areas such as wi-fi, 3G, power points and even the quality of coffee and seating. Check out my review of Geneva Airport (GVA) and you'll start to get the idea. As an aside, you'll notice that I didn't spend long at the airport - it always ends up being a bit of a rush and you'd be wise to never travel with me, as several colleagues who have missed flights and even ended up in wrong countries can testify...
Anyway, atlarge.com is free to use, is quite addictive once you get going and we hope that it will take some of the pain of being a road warrier away - check it out, contribute if you can, and definately let us know what you think.
