Living in a post-PC world
The latest data from IDC show the sharpest decline in PC sales on record. From the release: “Although the reduction in shipments was not a surprise, the magnitude of the …
Countries
Apple’s China apology and the value of a flexible global template
Here is the image used on Apple’s China home page to announce Tim Cook’s apology letter regarding Apple repair and warranty “misunderstandings.” Here is The Wall Street Journal take on …
BMW: The best global automotive website of 2013
We included 14 automotive and supplier websites in the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. The Web Globalization Report Card is an annual benchmark of how effectively companies internationalize and localize …
Coffee Codes of the World
I love coffee. I also love country codes. So it was just a matter of time before I created something like this (now featured at the FORUM artspace gallery): The country …
A map of the multilingual Internet
With Mongolia gaining approval for its new internationalized domain name (IDN), there are now 30 countries and territories with non-Latin top-level domains. I’ve updated my map and, as you can …
The problem with the Internet is that it’s too global…
From an interesting (and concerning) CircleID post by Milton Mueller: Three Chinese engineers are proposing a way to alter Internet standards to partition the Internet into autonomously administered national networks, using …
Slip Carefully
I came across a rather enterprising individual who is crafting and selling replicas of infamous “Chinglish” signs. His Etsy store is called: All Your Signs Are Belong to Us. Here’s …
Russia’s Internet growth is just getting started
I checked domain registration stats from Russia’s registry and here are the high-level numbers: If you combine IDNs and ccTLDs, Russia becomes the third-ranked country in terms of country code registrations, behind …
From Russia, with IDNs
A little more than a year ago, Russia opened up registration for its top-level IDN: рф. Since then, more than 900,000 domains have been registered, making this the most successful …
(Insert company name here) stumbles in China
From the article Groupon stumbles in China in The Wall Street Journal: Foreign Internet companies have long struggled in China, which has more Internet users than any other country. Yahoo Inc., one …
Without web localization, you’re just guessing
An interesting article by Alexandra Berzon of the WSJ regarding Hilton and Starwood hotels, which are offering menus and services tailored to Chinese travelers. This quote jumped out at me: After …
The top 10 country codes (and the fall of China)
Verisign published its quarterly industry brief a few weeks ago. In it, the guide includes the top 10 ccTLDs, reprinted below: There are now more than 81 million registered ccTLD domains, which comprise …
India: One country, many IDNs
If you’re interested in learning more about IDNs, UNESCO and EURid recently released a report on the evolution and challenges of IDNs. It’s a good read and it highlights some …
World 3.0: Making Sense of a Semi-Global Planet
I received an advance review copy of Pankaj Ghemeawat’s new book World 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It. I greatly enjoyed his previous book, Redefining Global Strategy, calling …
Think outside .com: A map of the world’s IDNs
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, you know I’m a fan of internationalized domain names (IDNs). Over the past year or so, ICANN has approved more than 20 …