What is a plog? Seems the term is currently being claimed by at least five groups: Project blogs, suggested by MIT’s Michael Schrage in this May article on CIO Amazon’s personalized blog idea, which ClickZ’ Pamela Parker quotes Amazon as saying is a beta-testing “diary of events that will enhance your shopping experience, helping you… Read More »
Service at Amazon, the great online store I’ve dealt with for years, is either declining or getting selective. A friend of mine in Indonesia placed an order on June 19, received confirmation the same day, and then…. nothing. She queried the order twice, and I’ve queried it once, without any response. The bank hasn’t received any… Read More »
In case you haven’t heard, Amazon has launched its own search engine, A9 and a toolbar (for now compatible only with IE) which dovetails with your Amazon account. Supposed advantages over other search engines (here’s A9’s own list): Simultaneously searches Amazon’s book store while searching the web. Amazon book search results, and a history of your… Read More »
Further to my post about the perils of offline browsing and online buying, here’s a possible solution, from Wi-Fi Networking News: Software that lets PDA users check out details and reviews of a book while in the bookstore. SmartWorlds’ free software lets PDA users (customers can borrow a PDA and scanner from staff) shop and… Read More »
Interesting piece on the downside of Amazon’s new book-searching feature, launched last month, which allows customers to do a full-text search on more than 120,000 books. The Register reports that it has quietly disabled printing after researchers managed to print out 108 consecutive pages from a bestselling book. As a failed bookseller, I sympathise.… Read More »