I’m recently back from vacation in the Greek islands. A good friend from college organized the trip for 24 people (from all over the globe—Seattle, Malaysia, London, NYC to name a few) spread over 3 sailboats to sail the Greek islands for 8 days (I then dashed off to Santorini with my wife at the end of the trip for a few days). For the first time, I liberated myself from my BlackBerry, didn’t check work emails, and let my voicemail roll over at the office. It was just what I needed to get myself psyched up to close out this year with great vigor! From my time overseas, there are several observations I’d like to make about my experience:
1. Internet access is available just about everywhere, from the airports to the remote islands in the Argo-Saronic Sea and the Cyclades. However, everywhere I went, Internet access was relegated to ISDN lines that crawl along at 64KB (on a good day). I visited several of my clients' Web sites and was dismayed to find the visitor experience Byzantine. While broadband continues to proliferate in the U.S. and across the world, 4 out of every 10 people in the U.S. alone are still using some form of dial-up to access Internet content. Broadband sniffers are relatively easy to implement on the front-end of Web sites to serve up low-bandwidth content. Unless your content strategy involves letting 4 of out every 10 customers crawl to your front door, consider an implementation plan to make your most salient content accessible to the dial-up world.
2. At one Internet café, it was entirely self-serve (and chock full of Dell computers with flat screens). You paid either with a Credit Card or through an automated vending machine, thereby eliminating labor costs. The most interesting aspect: pricing was variable based on the number of occupied machines. The more people who used the machines, the pricier the access became. If the café was empty, the price dropped. In a way, you can think of it like buying keywords; if no one else buys a word, you can have it for $0.05 or $0.10, but as demand grows, bidding increases to reflect the market. Now if only the movie industry would take a cue from this pricing to adjust how theatrical release tickets are priced.
3. Sadly, the proliferation of smoking continues. We perhaps take for granted the fact that you can go into a restaurant in the States and not come out smelling like the chimney-sweep. If you’re not a smoker in Greece, you are in the definite minority. In one restaurant, I counted 10 of 10 tables around me with at least one person smoking. Curiously, smoking on public transportation is frowned upon greatly, and if someone lights up on PT, they are chastised!
4. The Acropolis is breathtaking. So is Santorini.
5. The BlackBerry is the weapon-of-choice for international road-warriors. With one exception (the guy who worked for Microsoft), the folks on our flotilla of boats all used BlackBerrys to stay connected to the world outside our Elysian sailing experience.
6. Quick Greek Lesson
Kalimera = Good Morning
Kalispera = Good Day
Efharisto = Thank You
Parakalo = You’re Welcome
Yamas = Cheers!
Malakas = A**hole
I'll post pictures of my trip to my gallery this weekend.
Posted by eporres at September 9, 2005 03:39 PM