SYNTHESiST Welcomes Amazon 79.0
Books are a big part of my life and a bookstore is the first place I go to in a new place I visit. I have discount cards at Fully Booked and A Different Bookstore in Manila. I love National Book Store for Anvil and, with Goodwill, their support for Filipino authors. It is Swindon’s in Hongkong and Kinokuniya at Ngee An City in Singapore, Sukhumvit Soi 20+ in Bangkok and the Suria in KL. Caves at Chungshan Pei Lo, Taipei and the Xinhua book store on Wangfujing, Beijing. Abby’s and Dymock’s in Sydney. Memories of second hand poetry books in Haight St., San Francisco in the early 1980’s and estate sales in Hamilton, New Zealand. The Stanford U bookstore in Palo Alto and Barnes and Noble at Union Square. These are the temples I visit.
Books are one of my passions (See About Synthesist); the others are innovation, political economy and history. I literally sleep with half-read books. Between us friends,they are probably more a vice.
An expensive vice. Today, I am waiting for two books from Amazon.
On technology for innovation, I am reading up on IT-enablers hence the books above and below on e-learning, social media, gaming in addition to previous buys on SEO or search engine optimization, search, etc.
On innovation as process, the ASIALICS conference in Hongkong this year focused on Research & Technology Organizations – like our DOST or Taiwan’s ITRI – and how with the right policy and public organization between firms, universities they result into effective National Innovations Systems (more of this in the next four posts).
At Swindon’s on Lock St., Tsim Sha Tsui, I bought the five books shown below on Sunday, July 5. They still gave me 10% discount. Twenty years ago, the old man owner lovingly sold me their last copy of Wang Yang Ming’s “Instructions for Practical Living,” a book I treasure.
Book stores reflect their markets. Hongkong with its deep business culture and closeness to China is more updated than Manila on business books and China. I can always browse for books on these subjects that I cannot find in Manila.
So it was just a matter of time for Amazon.com to appear on the front stage at SYNTHESiST with Google. Welcome!
