e-Guides
Travel Guide Books have always been essential for any first time traveler. And it will probably be so until the time we get to have same-language-speaking, efficient and trustful professionals in every place we want to visit. And, obviously, at an affordable price.
That, my friend, is quite unlikely to happen during the next half century. Thus, we will still rely on Travel Books for quite a long time.
Gutenberg presses have made the printing process not very flexible: there are quite a few travel guides and none of them sell enough to become customizable to the specific trip of your dreams.
Internet, though, has turned information a little more mobile and customizable. But it seems that Travel Guide publishers have not taught about it yet.
When you buy a Travel Book, I guess, it is because you are going to travel. To a certain place. With a certain objective in mind. But instead of the Google-It-Print-It technique, you ought to pay 30 dollars to have a printed summary of the places you are visiting, orientation, recommendation of places to eat, stay, perhaps some basic sentences in their idiom and other tips.
And Books are usually rated as higher as the more useful information they present. More useful information, though, requires a larger number of pages and consequently heavier guides.
However, nobody needs fifty pages with addresses of hotels ranging from 10 to 300 dollars throughout a country, when one is planning a month-trip to four or five major cities and with a given budget. If you are willing to spend a lot, you just need the resorts. If you are out of money, you just need the cheap hostels. Either way, you can simply wrap away about 45 (out of the 50) pages of your guide.
A good idea that Lonely Planet is implementing is offering these 50 pages (well, probably a lot more) of accommodation addresses (and their respective ratings) online, so that one can choose through their dedicated website, book the ones you chose and simply print the reservation. At most ten pages. Or 5 A4 size sheets and considerably few pounds less for you to carry during your trip.
The same would work for restaurants. But people do not plan where they are going to eat during their trip. Thus, the 50 pages with addresses is still useful. Obviously, you do not need the 10 address pages for Lyon if you are staying around Paris to visit museums. Barely nobody needs information for 50 cities in France, because most people are willing to spend 30 days in three or four cities.
On the other hand, there is not enough demand for three or four different editions of the same guide. Thus, publishers simply print information for all types of tourists. And, consequently, I know no Guide that weights less than 250g. Neither do I know any book with exactly the amount of information I need.
I went to Italy and got an Eyewitness Italy. The idea was to visit ancient Rome and historical sights. With a backpack. It was the best choice after considering Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, Michelin and National Geographic.
But, still, there are pages I read at home but did not need to take with me (such as electrical standards). There are pages I read at home and needed to take with me (such as maps). There are pages I needed to take but I did not need to read at home (such as suggested routes). And there are pages I did not need at all (such as fancy restaurants!).
A potential (and as far as I know un-touched) idea is writing (and selling, obviously) Travel Guides for electronic (and portable) devices, such as iPods (or any other portable video-player), Palmtops and even notebooks.
Eletronic guides will not substitute printed ones. You need large maps. People still need to show relatives and friends the adventure they have been through (or will). And these are definitely not a task for a 3 inches screen Palmtop. But e-Guides will force the industry to rethink the content of their guides and the channels through which they are sold.
With about ?? Palmtop users, there has to be some 10% users who spend some time as a tourist and will get a printed copy of Lonely Planet But he will take his Blackberry to France anyway and would rather have his Lonely Planet built-in in his cell phone instead. If he could. The problem is: nobody is selling it. Yet.
That, my friend, is quite unlikely to happen during the next half century. Thus, we will still rely on Travel Books for quite a long time.
Gutenberg presses have made the printing process not very flexible: there are quite a few travel guides and none of them sell enough to become customizable to the specific trip of your dreams.
Internet, though, has turned information a little more mobile and customizable. But it seems that Travel Guide publishers have not taught about it yet.
When you buy a Travel Book, I guess, it is because you are going to travel. To a certain place. With a certain objective in mind. But instead of the Google-It-Print-It technique, you ought to pay 30 dollars to have a printed summary of the places you are visiting, orientation, recommendation of places to eat, stay, perhaps some basic sentences in their idiom and other tips.
And Books are usually rated as higher as the more useful information they present. More useful information, though, requires a larger number of pages and consequently heavier guides.
However, nobody needs fifty pages with addresses of hotels ranging from 10 to 300 dollars throughout a country, when one is planning a month-trip to four or five major cities and with a given budget. If you are willing to spend a lot, you just need the resorts. If you are out of money, you just need the cheap hostels. Either way, you can simply wrap away about 45 (out of the 50) pages of your guide.
A good idea that Lonely Planet is implementing is offering these 50 pages (well, probably a lot more) of accommodation addresses (and their respective ratings) online, so that one can choose through their dedicated website, book the ones you chose and simply print the reservation. At most ten pages. Or 5 A4 size sheets and considerably few pounds less for you to carry during your trip.
The same would work for restaurants. But people do not plan where they are going to eat during their trip. Thus, the 50 pages with addresses is still useful. Obviously, you do not need the 10 address pages for Lyon if you are staying around Paris to visit museums. Barely nobody needs information for 50 cities in France, because most people are willing to spend 30 days in three or four cities.
On the other hand, there is not enough demand for three or four different editions of the same guide. Thus, publishers simply print information for all types of tourists. And, consequently, I know no Guide that weights less than 250g. Neither do I know any book with exactly the amount of information I need.
I went to Italy and got an Eyewitness Italy. The idea was to visit ancient Rome and historical sights. With a backpack. It was the best choice after considering Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, Michelin and National Geographic.
But, still, there are pages I read at home but did not need to take with me (such as electrical standards). There are pages I read at home and needed to take with me (such as maps). There are pages I needed to take but I did not need to read at home (such as suggested routes). And there are pages I did not need at all (such as fancy restaurants!).
A potential (and as far as I know un-touched) idea is writing (and selling, obviously) Travel Guides for electronic (and portable) devices, such as iPods (or any other portable video-player), Palmtops and even notebooks.
Eletronic guides will not substitute printed ones. You need large maps. People still need to show relatives and friends the adventure they have been through (or will). And these are definitely not a task for a 3 inches screen Palmtop. But e-Guides will force the industry to rethink the content of their guides and the channels through which they are sold.
With about ?? Palmtop users, there has to be some 10% users who spend some time as a tourist and will get a printed copy of Lonely Planet But he will take his Blackberry to France anyway and would rather have his Lonely Planet built-in in his cell phone instead. If he could. The problem is: nobody is selling it. Yet.
posted by fmgoto at 1:31 AM
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