"The most successful is Groupon (a combination of the words “group” and “coupon”, which buyers print out to pay for their service). Although the firm launched only in late 2008, it already operates some 230 local websites in 29 countries and boasts 15m subscribers. Flush with money from investors, it has embarked on a global land-grab, buying Groupon clones in other countries, such as Germany’s CityDeal.
Groupon is more about people than technology. It grew out of The Point, a Chicago-based website that offers tools to organise collective action. The firm employs a worldwide sales force of nearly 2,000 to identify interesting local merchants and 150 writers to describe the offers. It wants to be the company that finally allows small businesses to participate in e-commerce, explains Rob Solomon, its president."
Source: The Economist, 9th September 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Chinese eCommerce sales hit 3.6 trillion RMB (USD $530 billion) in 2009
""Qian Xiaoqian, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said online shopping is become more and more popular in the nation as more people have started using the service.
"E-commerce sales volumes surged to 3.6 trillion yuan ($530 billion) last year," said Qian. He said the Internet industry is also changing from an entertainment-oriented approach to a more balanced structure offering diversified services.
China e-Business Research Center said in a recent report that the nation's e-commerce sales volume surged by 60 percent in the first half of the year to 2.25 trillion yuan. Business-to-business (B2B) transactions accounted for 2.05 trillion yuan, while business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales volume was around 200 billion yuan.
"China's B2B market will continue to witness rapid growth in the next few years along with the nation's economic growth and rising e-commerce penetration," said the report, adding that online shopping was one of the few markets that was largely unaffected by the economic crisis.
There were 20,700 e-business websites in China as of June this year and more companies have started setting up online stores to cut costs and improve efficiency. The number of e-commerce websites is expected to reach 23,000 by the end of the year. More users are expected to use mobile e-commerce as it will gain ground soon, said the report.
Mobile e-commerce sales of real objects, like electronics, daily necessities and clothes, reached 1.3 billion yuan in the first half, and had nearly 55.3 million users."
Source: Chinese State Council Information Office, reported by China Daily, 18th August 2010
"E-commerce sales volumes surged to 3.6 trillion yuan ($530 billion) last year," said Qian. He said the Internet industry is also changing from an entertainment-oriented approach to a more balanced structure offering diversified services.
China e-Business Research Center said in a recent report that the nation's e-commerce sales volume surged by 60 percent in the first half of the year to 2.25 trillion yuan. Business-to-business (B2B) transactions accounted for 2.05 trillion yuan, while business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales volume was around 200 billion yuan.
"China's B2B market will continue to witness rapid growth in the next few years along with the nation's economic growth and rising e-commerce penetration," said the report, adding that online shopping was one of the few markets that was largely unaffected by the economic crisis.
There were 20,700 e-business websites in China as of June this year and more companies have started setting up online stores to cut costs and improve efficiency. The number of e-commerce websites is expected to reach 23,000 by the end of the year. More users are expected to use mobile e-commerce as it will gain ground soon, said the report.
Mobile e-commerce sales of real objects, like electronics, daily necessities and clothes, reached 1.3 billion yuan in the first half, and had nearly 55.3 million users."
Source: Chinese State Council Information Office, reported by China Daily, 18th August 2010
35% of US Adults have apps on their phones; only 24% use the apps
"Some 35% of U.S. adults have software applications or “apps” on their phones, yet only 24% of adults use those apps. Many adults who have apps on their phones, particularly older adults, do not use them, and 11% of cell owners are not sure if their phone is equipped with apps.
Among cell phone owners, 29% have downloaded apps to their phone and 13% have paid to download apps.
“An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project. “Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users.” "
Source: The Rise of Apps Culture, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 14th September 2010
Among cell phone owners, 29% have downloaded apps to their phone and 13% have paid to download apps.
“An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project. “Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users.” "
Source: The Rise of Apps Culture, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 14th September 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Justin Bieber reportedly uses up 3% of all twitter infrastructure
"Would you believe that Justin Bieber and his legion of fans use up 3% of Twitter’s server infrastructure at any given time — such a large amount of activity that “racks of servers” are dedicated to Bieber mania?
So said a Twitter employee, according to web designer and blogger Dustin Curtis. Yesterday he sent out the following tweet:
“At any moment, Justin Bieber uses 3% of our infrastructure. Racks of servers are dedicated to him. – A guy who works at Twitter”
[...]
We shot an e-mail Twitter’s way to confirm, and while the Twitter rep we contacted didn’t confirm the figure, she didn’t discourage us from believing it, either. “While we don’t break out metrics like this, everything around and about Justin Bieber is consistently popular on Twitter,” she said.
Curtis also tweeted that “most of the popular users on Twitter have dedicated servers for their accounts.” He believed the Twitter employee and tweeted what he said in part because he thinks the numbers make perfect sense:
“Every time Bieber tweets, his messages have to be delivered to more than five million people who then endlessly retweet it. Apparently, his account receives more than 60 @-replies per second for a while after he tweets, which is something Twitter wasn’t originally designed to handle.”"
Source: Dustin Curtis, reported by Mashable, 7th September 2010
Note: It's a fun fact, but it's totally unverified.
So said a Twitter employee, according to web designer and blogger Dustin Curtis. Yesterday he sent out the following tweet:
“At any moment, Justin Bieber uses 3% of our infrastructure. Racks of servers are dedicated to him. – A guy who works at Twitter”
[...]
We shot an e-mail Twitter’s way to confirm, and while the Twitter rep we contacted didn’t confirm the figure, she didn’t discourage us from believing it, either. “While we don’t break out metrics like this, everything around and about Justin Bieber is consistently popular on Twitter,” she said.
Curtis also tweeted that “most of the popular users on Twitter have dedicated servers for their accounts.” He believed the Twitter employee and tweeted what he said in part because he thinks the numbers make perfect sense:
“Every time Bieber tweets, his messages have to be delivered to more than five million people who then endlessly retweet it. Apparently, his account receives more than 60 @-replies per second for a while after he tweets, which is something Twitter wasn’t originally designed to handle.”"
Source: Dustin Curtis, reported by Mashable, 7th September 2010
Note: It's a fun fact, but it's totally unverified.
58% of social network users play at least one embedded game
Click to enlarge
"[...] the latest stats on virtual worlds offer another huge incentive to experiment, perhaps with more tempered expectations. The survey stats, from Lightspeed Research...
58% of social networkers play at least one embedded game (ie, FarmVille or Mafia Wars).
68% of those started playing within the last year.
29% are playing every day.
14% have spent money in a social game, in some fashion.
17% considered themselves "addicted" to an embedded game.
10% play more than two hours daily.
10% play more than 5 different social games.
And, perhaps most surprisingly: 55-64 year-olds are more active than 18-24 year-olds. "
Source: Lightspeed Research, reported by DigitalMusicNews, 13th September 12010
There were 9,200 tweets per minute about Lady Gaga during MTV's 2010 VMA ceremony
"Sunday's Video Music Awards became an interactive experience unlike any before it as fans took to Twitter and sent approximately 2.3 million tweets during the East and West Coast runs of the show. Not surprisingly, the woman who swept the awards show was the most talked-about celebrity on Twitter: Lady Gaga was the subject of more than 9,200 tweets per minute, which was more than half of the total tweets being sent about all of the artists being tracked by MTV's Twitter Tracker.
[...]
This year's show also saw a significant increase in the tweet volume of last year's VMAs, which is impressive considering Sunday's show didn't have as controversial a surprise moment as Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech last year. The show also marked a big increase from when the Twitter Tracker was used at the MTV Movie Awards earlier this year. There, the most discussed moment of the night — Tom Cruise and Jennifer Lopez's dance onstage — only clocked in at 1,800 tweets per minute.
Overall, the artists tracked generated an average of 15,000 tweets per minute. Following Lady Gaga in popularity were Cher with an average 7,100 tweets per minute, Eminem with 5,000 tweets per minute, and Rihanna with 4,700 tweets per minute. Rounding out the top 10 were Ke$ha, Paramore, Taylor Swift and Kanye West."
Source: News item on MTV.com, 13th September 2010
[...]
This year's show also saw a significant increase in the tweet volume of last year's VMAs, which is impressive considering Sunday's show didn't have as controversial a surprise moment as Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech last year. The show also marked a big increase from when the Twitter Tracker was used at the MTV Movie Awards earlier this year. There, the most discussed moment of the night — Tom Cruise and Jennifer Lopez's dance onstage — only clocked in at 1,800 tweets per minute.
Overall, the artists tracked generated an average of 15,000 tweets per minute. Following Lady Gaga in popularity were Cher with an average 7,100 tweets per minute, Eminem with 5,000 tweets per minute, and Rihanna with 4,700 tweets per minute. Rounding out the top 10 were Ke$ha, Paramore, Taylor Swift and Kanye West."
Source: News item on MTV.com, 13th September 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Trends in adult literacy, 1990-2008
8 September is International Literacy Day, which was first celebrated in 1966. New estimates of adult and youth literacy by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) show that the percentage of literate persons continues to grow worldwide. Even so, in 2008, 796 million adults aged 15 years or older - 17% of all adults worldwide - still lacked basic reading and writing skills and 64% of them were women (see UIS fact sheet on adult and youth literacy). By comparison, 24% of all adults were illiterate in 1990.
Figure 1 displays how the adult literacy rate and the associated gender parity index (GPI) have evolved between 1990 and 2008 for the 10 Millennium Development Goal regions and for the world as a whole. The gender parity index is the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate. For example, the female and male literacy rate in 2008 - 78.9% and 88.2%, respectively - yield a GPI of 0.9 (see Table 1). A GPI between 0.97 and 1.03 is usually considered gender parity. At GPI values below 1, women are disadvantaged and at GPI values above 1, men are disadvantaged. If a country or region reaches universal literacy, with male and female literacy rates of 100%, the GPI must be 1 by definition. This can be seen in the developed regions and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), both of which are near universal literacy with a GPI of 1.
Figure 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.
At the global level, both the adult literacy rate and gender parity improved over the past 20 years. The literacy rate grew from 76% in 1990 to 83% in 2008 and the GPI from 0.84 to 0.90 (see Table 1). Progress was especially strong in Northern Africa, where the adult literacy rate increased by 20%, and in Eastern and Southern Asia, which saw an increase of 15%. In Northern Africa and Southern Asia less than half of all adults were literate in 1990, less than in any other region. In 2008, the lowest literacy rates were observed in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 62% and 63%, respectively. However, even sub-Saharan Africa managed to increase the share of adults with basic reading and writing skills by 9% between 1990 and 2008. In the remaining regions, the increase in the adult literacy rate over the past two decades was as follows: Western Asia 11%; South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean 7%; Oceania 4%; CIS 1%; and the developed regions 0.3%. The rate of increase in the developed regions and in the CIS countries was neglible because both regions had already reached near-universal adult literacy in 1990. Literacy rates are also high in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean; in all three regions more than 9 out of 10 adults are able to read and write.
Gender parity also improved in all MDG regions, with Northern Africa again showing the biggest increase, from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.76 in 2008, followed by Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, where the GPI increased by 0.14 over the same period. In spite of this increase, Southern Asia continues to exhibit relatively high gender disparity in adult literacy, with a GPI of 0.70. The UIS reports similar disparities for sub-Saharan Africa (0.75) and Northern Africa (0.76). In the other regions the GPI for adult literacy was as follows in 2008: Western Asia 0.84, Oceania 0.89, Eastern Asia 0.94, South-Eastern Asia 0.95, and CIS and the developed regions 1.00.
Table 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.
National and regional literacy rates can be obtained from the UIS Data Centre. From the main Data Centre page at stats.uis.unesco.org, click on Predefined Tables and then Literacy. National literacy rates are available for the years 1975 to 2008. Regional and global literacy rates are presented by census decade, from 1985-1994 to 2005-2008.
Related articles
Permanent URL: http://huebler.blogspot.com/2010/09/lit.html
Figure 1 displays how the adult literacy rate and the associated gender parity index (GPI) have evolved between 1990 and 2008 for the 10 Millennium Development Goal regions and for the world as a whole. The gender parity index is the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate. For example, the female and male literacy rate in 2008 - 78.9% and 88.2%, respectively - yield a GPI of 0.9 (see Table 1). A GPI between 0.97 and 1.03 is usually considered gender parity. At GPI values below 1, women are disadvantaged and at GPI values above 1, men are disadvantaged. If a country or region reaches universal literacy, with male and female literacy rates of 100%, the GPI must be 1 by definition. This can be seen in the developed regions and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), both of which are near universal literacy with a GPI of 1.
Figure 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.
At the global level, both the adult literacy rate and gender parity improved over the past 20 years. The literacy rate grew from 76% in 1990 to 83% in 2008 and the GPI from 0.84 to 0.90 (see Table 1). Progress was especially strong in Northern Africa, where the adult literacy rate increased by 20%, and in Eastern and Southern Asia, which saw an increase of 15%. In Northern Africa and Southern Asia less than half of all adults were literate in 1990, less than in any other region. In 2008, the lowest literacy rates were observed in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 62% and 63%, respectively. However, even sub-Saharan Africa managed to increase the share of adults with basic reading and writing skills by 9% between 1990 and 2008. In the remaining regions, the increase in the adult literacy rate over the past two decades was as follows: Western Asia 11%; South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean 7%; Oceania 4%; CIS 1%; and the developed regions 0.3%. The rate of increase in the developed regions and in the CIS countries was neglible because both regions had already reached near-universal adult literacy in 1990. Literacy rates are also high in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean; in all three regions more than 9 out of 10 adults are able to read and write.
Gender parity also improved in all MDG regions, with Northern Africa again showing the biggest increase, from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.76 in 2008, followed by Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, where the GPI increased by 0.14 over the same period. In spite of this increase, Southern Asia continues to exhibit relatively high gender disparity in adult literacy, with a GPI of 0.70. The UIS reports similar disparities for sub-Saharan Africa (0.75) and Northern Africa (0.76). In the other regions the GPI for adult literacy was as follows in 2008: Western Asia 0.84, Oceania 0.89, Eastern Asia 0.94, South-Eastern Asia 0.95, and CIS and the developed regions 1.00.
Table 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
| MDG region | Year | Adult literacy rate (%) | |||
| Total | Male | Female | GPI | ||
| Developed regions | 1990 | 98.7 | 99.0 | 98.4 | 0.99 |
| 2008 | 99.0 | 99.2 | 98.9 | 1.00 | |
| Commonwealth of Independent States | 1990 | 98.1 | 99.4 | 97.1 | 0.98 |
| 2008 | 99.5 | 99.7 | 99.4 | 1.00 | |
| Eastern Asia | 1990 | 78.9 | 87.7 | 69.7 | 0.80 |
| 2008 | 93.8 | 96.8 | 90.7 | 0.94 | |
| South-Eastern Asia | 1990 | 84.8 | 90.0 | 80.0 | 0.89 |
| 2008 | 91.9 | 94.5 | 89.5 | 0.95 | |
| Southern Asia | 1990 | 47.3 | 60.1 | 33.5 | 0.56 |
| 2008 | 61.9 | 73.2 | 50.9 | 0.70 | |
| Western Asia | 1990 | 73.8 | 84.2 | 62.6 | 0.74 |
| 2008 | 84.5 | 91.5 | 76.9 | 0.84 | |
| Northern Africa | 1990 | 47.8 | 60.8 | 34.6 | 0.57 |
| 2008 | 67.3 | 76.7 | 58.1 | 0.76 | |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 1990 | 53.1 | 63.7 | 43.1 | 0.68 |
| 2008 | 62.5 | 71.6 | 53.6 | 0.75 | |
| Latin America and the Caribbean | 1990 | 84.4 | 85.9 | 82.8 | 0.96 |
| 2008 | 91.0 | 91.9 | 90.3 | 0.98 | |
| Oceania | 1990 | 62.9 | 68.9 | 56.5 | 0.82 |
| 2008 | 66.4 | 70.2 | 62.6 | 0.89 | |
| World | 1990 | 75.7 | 82.2 | 69.2 | 0.84 |
| 2008 | 83.4 | 88.2 | 78.9 | 0.90 | |
National and regional literacy rates can be obtained from the UIS Data Centre. From the main Data Centre page at stats.uis.unesco.org, click on Predefined Tables and then Literacy. National literacy rates are available for the years 1975 to 2008. Regional and global literacy rates are presented by census decade, from 1985-1994 to 2005-2008.
Related articles
- Literacy data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
- Adult literacy in 2007
- Disparity between male and female literacy rates
- Disparity between adult and youth literacy
- Adult literacy in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Reported and tested literacy in Nigeria
- Adult literacy in Nigeria
- Millennium Development Goal regions
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
- UIS Data Centre
- UIS announcement for International Literacy Day
- UIS fact sheet on adult and youth literacy (PDF, 664 KB)
- UNESCO page for International Literacy Day
- International Literacy Day (United Nations)
Permanent URL: http://huebler.blogspot.com/2010/09/lit.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)