How about some service? by Jack Kapica, Globe and Mail (Jan 22) Sympatico and Cogeco say they are delivering more service for no increase in cost, but Jack Kapica shows that there are a lot of holes in their claims. Sympatico is leaving at least 25% of its highspeed customers paying full price for less than a 1/3 of the promised speed. Very shocking story.
Yahoo! Teams Up With Rogers Cable AP via Newsday (Jan 21) "Yahoo! Inc. is teaming up with Rogers Cable to sell high-speed Internet access in Canada, marking the Web portal's latest attempt to add more subscribers. "
On-line purchases flat by Jack Kapica. Globe and Mail (Jan 20) - Canadians are still not going online to shop. In the US, shopping jumped 30% over the Christmas time. In Canada, there was a slight drop in total dollars from $990 million in 2002 holiday season to $972 million in 2003. As to cause -- "Mr. Ferneyhough [Ipsos-Reid vice-president ] blames several different factors for the drop. The decrease in average spending, combined with the lack of an increase in the incidence of on-line shopping, a plateau of Internet access in Canada and an increase in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar all contributed to a lack of increased on-line spending during the holiday season by Canadians, he said."
Not mentioned is that it is not easy to shop online in Canada. There are a few well known stores - Chapters, Amazon, Canadian Tire, Future Shop etc. Chapters is not reliable for meeting deliveries (speaking from personal experience). Canadian Tire and Future Shop have limited stock. But the biggest holdback (imo) is that there is no comparison shopping engine or for that matter, directory site, where one can comprehensively search stores that are in Canada. It is not easy to find the stores or the products.
Canada's history under a new roof by Kate Taylor. Globe and Mail (Jan 19) -- About the pending merger of the National Library and the National Archives and the challenges. Says that "ultimate goal is digitization on demand: you ask for a document and the Library and Archives will make it available".
Canadian Business has been tracking the who's who of the 100 wealthiest Canadians for 5 years. Check the Rich 100: 2003 - 2004 edition. Who rose to the list, who fell. Has some articles on wealth by sector, lifestyles, and selected individuals.
Telecommuters or teleworkers will be interested in this new site by InnoVisions Canada (http://www.ivc.ca/), the Canadian Telework Association. It has an analysis of advantages / disadvantages, tax considerations, telework in the US, books and courses. It was reviewed in BOOKMARK THIS: www.ivc.ca By Art Chamberlain, Globe and Mail Update (Jan 14)
Library and Archives Canada has digitized Canadian Mail Order catalogues from Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Christie Grant, Dupuis Frères, Goodwin’s, Nerlich and P.T. Legaré for the period 1880s to the 1970s. Can browse by date, company, or keyword. Site will be great for students, historians, history buffs, and collectors. http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/2/33/index.html
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Websearchguide Canada is written by Gwen Harris as a current awareness service about Canadian web search news. It is a companion to the Websearchguide tutorials and the online courses Gwen teaches.
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