My boss sent me the link to The Book Depository Live. They've linked up with Google maps to show, in almost real time it would seem, what purchases people are making across the globe. Have a look here.
I'm not quite sure why it would be interesting that someone in Japan bought 'Competition Policy in the EU' 15 minutes ago, and yet it kind of is. Someone in Australia bought 'Writing Feature Articles' – I wonder what they're like. I hope they get something published soon. Someone in Greece bought 'How Round is Your Circle' – what's that? Is it a self-help book? Sounds like it could be.
Oh no – I clicked on it. Turns out it's an engineering book. How do you determine if a circle is really round? How indeed. I'm mesmerised. The only way this could be improved is if they were using Google Earth and you could zoom in to see the person actually opening their package, and then looking up and waving at the satellite. Just an idea.