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Google has now enabled more complete access to online books.
Unfortunately, Google did not bother making the new features available where it would be most valuable:
"With this agreement, in-copyright, out-of-print books will now be available for readers in the U.S. to search, preview and buy online -- something that was simply unavailable to date."
Once again, Africa is neglected and we see nothing of that other favourite Google term: Net Neutrality.
Here in South Africa, books are stupidly expensive.
For example, if you buy The PayPal Wars from Exclusive Books, it will cost you R406 (approx $40). If you buy The PayPal Wars from Amazon.com, it will only cost you $10.85.
But to understand the price difference, you also need to look at the relative cost of living in South Africa. In San Francisco, a pint of beer costs $5 and up. In South Africa, a pint costs about $1.50. Thus, if we are to look at (what I'd like to coin) a Global Beer Cost Index, the book will cost 2 pints in San Francisco. In South Africa, the book will cost 26 pints! That's 13 times more!
And I'm not even taking into account average salaries and complex economic indicators like the World Beer Index
Then, you also have to take into account the lack of libraries in African countries and the unlikelihood that they'll have a book such as The PayPal Wars in stock in the first place.
So come on Google, make a bit of an effort! Providing access to online books to African readers will have a much higher impact than in the US where most people can easily afford to buy it or get it at their local library!
In either case, I borrowed a copy of The PayPal Wars from a friend in San Diego. In the meantime, I'll have a few more beers.
Unfortunately, Google did not bother making the new features available where it would be most valuable:
"With this agreement, in-copyright, out-of-print books will now be available for readers in the U.S. to search, preview and buy online -- something that was simply unavailable to date."
Once again, Africa is neglected and we see nothing of that other favourite Google term: Net Neutrality.
Here in South Africa, books are stupidly expensive.
For example, if you buy The PayPal Wars from Exclusive Books, it will cost you R406 (approx $40). If you buy The PayPal Wars from Amazon.com, it will only cost you $10.85.
But to understand the price difference, you also need to look at the relative cost of living in South Africa. In San Francisco, a pint of beer costs $5 and up. In South Africa, a pint costs about $1.50. Thus, if we are to look at (what I'd like to coin) a Global Beer Cost Index, the book will cost 2 pints in San Francisco. In South Africa, the book will cost 26 pints! That's 13 times more!
And I'm not even taking into account average salaries and complex economic indicators like the World Beer Index
Then, you also have to take into account the lack of libraries in African countries and the unlikelihood that they'll have a book such as The PayPal Wars in stock in the first place.
So come on Google, make a bit of an effort! Providing access to online books to African readers will have a much higher impact than in the US where most people can easily afford to buy it or get it at their local library!
In either case, I borrowed a copy of The PayPal Wars from a friend in San Diego. In the meantime, I'll have a few more beers.
First, if you didn't know, Sequoia Capital are the guys who invested in Google, YouTube, Cisco, NVIDIA and a whole host of other exciting clients.
The problem is: It's pretty hard to spell "Sequoia" correctly, being such a weird word. A google search for "Sequia Capital" will give you more than a 1000 results!
I reckon that the spelling is part of a filter. If you can't spell it right, then your emails won't go through. Perhaps they even have a Word macro at Sequoia that shreds up business plans with the name misspelt, as they come through the door!
I personally had to ask my friend and investor, Vinny Lingham how to do it properly.
Anyways, the spelling is pretty easy to remember if you're a true geek. And the reason for this is simple: geeks recognize patterns.
So in the interest of spreading geekness (syn: awesomeness) here's the Sequoia pattern:
1. Notice that all five vowels are present in the word "Sequoia".
2. Start with the "Seq" (if you can't remember this part, don't bother sending your business plan to them)
3. You now have 4 vowels left; in alphabetical order they are: A, I, O, U.
4. Put them in REVERSE alphabetical order: U, O, I, A
5. Now add these vowels the "Seq" we discussed in point 2 above.
And there you have it! SeqUOIA
Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for increased email traffic to Sequoia!
The problem is: It's pretty hard to spell "Sequoia" correctly, being such a weird word. A google search for "Sequia Capital" will give you more than a 1000 results!
I reckon that the spelling is part of a filter. If you can't spell it right, then your emails won't go through. Perhaps they even have a Word macro at Sequoia that shreds up business plans with the name misspelt, as they come through the door!
I personally had to ask my friend and investor, Vinny Lingham how to do it properly.
Anyways, the spelling is pretty easy to remember if you're a true geek. And the reason for this is simple: geeks recognize patterns.
So in the interest of spreading geekness (syn: awesomeness) here's the Sequoia pattern:
1. Notice that all five vowels are present in the word "Sequoia".
2. Start with the "Seq" (if you can't remember this part, don't bother sending your business plan to them)
3. You now have 4 vowels left; in alphabetical order they are: A, I, O, U.
4. Put them in REVERSE alphabetical order: U, O, I, A
5. Now add these vowels the "Seq" we discussed in point 2 above.
And there you have it! SeqUOIA
Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for increased email traffic to Sequoia!
