The end of the printed guidebook?
Hostel Trends and News
I'm back in Okinawa and was looking through a travel guide that was published in 2005. It says that there are only two hostels in the main city of Naha at 1500 and 3000 yen per dorm bed.
It is very outdated information. There are many hostels in Naha ranging from 1000 to 1800 yen per dorm bed. Even now, none of the English-language booking engines have complete information on hostels here. I doubt that there were only 2 hostels in Naha back in 2005.
Better information can be found on Web sites by using a search engine. User-generated-content (UGC) means that the online travel Web sites have thousands of "travel writers" in the field continually updating content.
I saw that even Lonely Planet has started offering digital versions of their travel guides – maybe a way to keep the guides updated better?
Is there a future for printed travel guides?
- Comments
16 years
possibly - but not as we know them now. the age of prepackaged books written by experts is over. i think we'll see more customisable guides written by actual backpackers on forums like tripadviser or HW.
there still something to be said about a tangible book as opposed to purely electronic devices. i dont think im the only person who prefers to read an actual newspaper rather than a computer screen. having a physical map and directions, even brief bulrbs are still useful.
or maybe thats just what id like to see...
16 years
there still something to be said about a tangible book as opposed to purely electronic devices. i dont think im the only person who prefers to read an actual newspaper rather than a computer screen. having a physical map and directions, even brief bulrbs are still useful.
I prefer books to computers too... maybe just getting old :)
I think that Web sites will eventually offer things like printable maps...
16 years
hi have a look at mydaytrip.com ... there u ll find a fast growing online travel guide .. i believe the future is about online information combined with may be guiding systems for your mobil ... like choosing online which are the places i would like to visit and just upload them on my mobile ... if i will even be able to decide about recomandations by knowing who gave them and when someone talked the last time about it .... i would say if all this comes together .. hopefully soon on mydaytrip.com .... i would use guidebooks just for the background information about history and culture ... having something to read on the beach ...
16 years
I don´t believe in the cellphone hype. Mobiles don´t have a keyboard and the screen is just too small to surf the web.
IMHO, things like the EeeBook are the trend. People will have a proper PC at home and a small, light and robust notebook they use when they travel: with a 1024/768 display, but without cd drive and hard disk - instead a few slots for memory cards. Maybe it´s even possible to put the CPU in a slot so you can replace it anytime when faster things become available.
16 years
I don´t believe in the cellphone hype. Mobiles don´t have a keyboard and the screen is just too small to surf the web.
I have a PDA (Palm|TX) but surfing the Web is difficult on it. Cell phone is even harder...
Surfing the Web on cell phones is popular in Asia though. I had some statistics recently, but not sure where I put them.
Surfing with cell phones will grow because Google is going to popularize 2D barcodes. (Japan is already plastered with them.) You take a photo of the square barcode with your phone's camera and the phone goes to a specific Web site.
You can put the barcodes anywhere -- billboards, posters, receipts, products, flyers, etc. There are many possibilities. You could put them on hostel rack flyers and guests could take a photo of the rack flyer and be instantly taken to a mobile version of your Web site that has directions to the hostel with interactive street maps.
Cell phones won't replace regular computers, but mobile surfing is going to be big...
People will have a proper PC at home and a small, light and robust notebook they use when they travel: with a 1024/768 display, but without cd drive and hard disk
I recently met someone with a micro laptop. The keyboard was just large enough to type on. It was running a full operating system. It would definitely be nice to travel with...
16 years
I recently met someone with a micro laptop. The keyboard was just large enough to type on. It was running a full operating system. It would definitely be nice to travel with...
Thise micro laptops are horribly expensive, but too small to work with all the time. I think most people wouldn´t consider to buy two expensive PCs - rather a good desktop PC for at home and a cheapo thing for travelling, for not more that $ 400. Just enough memory to store photos and some music (maybe 24 GB) , a Windows OS and a decent 1024 pixel screen - that´s all you need for a week away.
16 years
I recently met someone with a micro laptop. The keyboard was just large enough to type on. It was running a full operating system. It would definitely be nice to travel with...
I just read an article about a guy who was not allowed to board a plane due his laptop was too thin (Macbook Air!) to be believed as a laptop by security guards... LOL
16 years
I just read an article about a guy who was not allowed to board a plane due his laptop was too thin (Macbook Air!) to be believed as a laptop by security guards... LOL
I just looked it up and here is the blog post.
Strange...
14 years
Interesting how much has the smartphone market changed since 2008 :)
Nowadays smartphones have huge screens, awesome keyboards (be it physical or software keyboard) and have all the modern amenities.
When traveling I always noticed those weird types reading avidly their guide books. I never given a crap to guide books. I research about the location on the internet (wikitravel, lonelyplanet, etc) and mark up the good things to do and see. Make a list and note it down somewhere. When I actually arrive at my destination I just go around talking about the things to see and do with the locals. They know better than any shitty guidebook.
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