Sunday 22 May 2011

Is the end of the printed book in sight?

IS the end of the printed book in sight?

The announcement from Amazon that is selling more ebooks in America than print books might show it could be.

Since April 1, Amazon has said it has sold 105 ebooks to every 100 print books in America. The company brought out its Kindle electronic book reader there four years ago.

In the UK the ebook is bought by more people than the hardback, according to Amazon. They released figures showing they have sold more ebooks than hardbacks. The Kindle was launched in Britain in August 2010.

You can buy up to 650,000 ebooks at Amazon.co.uk.

The bestselling ebook titles at Amazon.co.uk of this year are Stephen Leather’s The Basement and The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris.

Despite all the fuss of ebooks, I still think I would rather buy an actual book than purchase an ebook.

Although I have yet to read anything on an ebook, so I don’t know what they are like.

Talking about download books outselling print books in America Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon told the Guardian: “We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen so quickly.”

Meanwhile, it was a shame that Liverpool could not grab fifth place from Tottenham for a place in the Europa league. Let’s hope Liverpool do better in the league next year.

Thursday 19 May 2011

Double dose of The Apprentice last week

LAST week there was a double dose of The Apprentice.

The show, which this year sees Sir Alan Sugar give £250,000 to the winner to start a company, was just as watchable as ever.

Some of the people on The Apprentice often come across very poorly to the viewer and there are some funny moments.

The boys lost to the girls on the first two tasks they have had to carry out.

Last Tuesday night both teams were given £250, which they had to invest in food. They then had to sell the food to people in the city.

The girls mainly sold fruit salad, while the boys flogged soup. Alex Cabral was fired.

On the following night’s episode the teams had to produce a mobile phone application. I though that both apps were uninteresting and there seemed to be no point to them.

The boys app, I think was called Slangatang, and if you downloaded it you could hear different regional dialects.

While the app the girls produced was named Ampi App. Those who downloaded it were able to hear a number of annoying noises. At the end Edward Hunter was fired.

I think it is too early to pick out a clear favourite.

Meanwhile, last Friday’s £107 EuroMillions jackpot was won by a ticketholder from Spain.

That’s enough money to get you a place on the Sunday Times Rich List.

There is now a EuroMillions draw on a Tuesday night also.

Saturday 7 May 2011

Golfing great Seve Ballesteros has died

IT was sad to hear of the death of Seve Ballesteros who had been battling brain cancer for a number of years.

His life was cut short at the age of only 54, however he had achieved so much in the world of golf.

He won the Open Championship in 1979 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, at St Andrews in 1984 and again at Lytham in 1988.

Seve also clinched the US Masters in 1980 and 1983.

Many other European golfers were inspired by Seve after his triumphs in the majors.

His success was the beginning of a halcyon period for European golf with Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam all taking major after Seve’s first Open triumph in 1979.

The Spaniard also played a big part in the achievements of the European Ryder Cup team.

Great Britain and Ireland (GB and I) had not won the cup since 1957. In 1979 it was decided to let players from Europe play against America. Seve played a part in the first European teams that began to turn the table against the Americans.

Europe were to win the Ryder Cup in 1985 and again in 1987 in America – the first time America had lost the cup on their own soil.

Seve was a successful Ryder Cup captain too and led Europe to a win against America at Valderrama in Spain in 1997.

He will be remembered for his flair and spirit. His driving was often wayward, but when he was at the top of the sport, his short game was the best in the business.

When he won his first Open, he was called the car park champion because he drove into a car park at the 16th, however Seve still managed to win.

Meanwhile it will be good to see The Apprentice return to our screens this week. The last series only finished at the end of last year and there are due to be some changes this time around.