Also: eBay unleashes a redesign; how Google Earth reunited two brothers.
Saroo’s Google Earth Quest: How an orphaned boy foud his way home as grown man [VANITY FAIR]
In 2009, having graduated from college, Saroo was living with a friend in the center of Hobart and working on the Web site for his parents’ company. Recovering from an ugly breakup, he was drinking and partying more than usual. After years of ignoring his past, it finally came crashing back—the desire to find his roots, and himself.
That’s when he went to his laptop and launched Google Earth, the virtual globe made from satellite imagery and aerial photography. With a few clicks, anyone could get a bird’s-eye view of cities and streets on the computer screen. “I was flying over India on Google Earth just like Superman,” he recalled, “trying to zoom in on every town that I saw.”
The other Zuckerberg [Harper’s Bazaar]
Without having seen the show, some people have accused her of selling out, and even of betraying her brother. In a post acidly titled “An Open Letter to Randi Zuckerberg: How Could You Do This to Real Entrepreneurs?” the high-profile tech writer Sarah Lacy took direct aim, writing that Randi had betrayed her geek DNA: “I hope she made plenty of money off the deal, because as far as I’m concerned she’s sold her Silicon Valley soul for 15 minutes of fame on basic cable.”
Online stores are moving into the real world [FORTUNE]
Consider it a modern twist on an old trend: since the birth of the web, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have been creating digital storefronts. Web sales of apparel and accessories, in particular, are growing far faster than any other e-commerce product category and are expected to reach $40.9 billion in 2012, up from $40.9 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer. But until recently, digital retailers rarely took to the streets. (When’s the last time you drove down to your local Amazon to pick up a skirt?)
Now that’s changing as a new crop of entrepreneurs are developing digital brands that migrate to physical locations. They know that the online opportunity may be big, but it is still dwarfed by more traditional shopping experiences; 80% of transactions still occur offline after all.
PC sales go into a tailspin [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]
Researchers IDC and Gartner Inc. said PC shipments in the third quarter fell more than 8% from a year earlier, the steepest drop since at least 2001. A third report, from IHS iSuppli, projected PC shipments for the full year would decline for the first time in 11 years.
eBay unveils a Pinterest-inspired redesign and launches eBay Now, a same day delivery service [TECHCRUNCH]
Mark Carges, CTO of eBay, introduced a completely redesigned website with a better search experience designed to help users more easily find what they want. Christina Mercando, responsible of Product And Design at eBay, has been walking us through the new interface. The big image grid looks a lot like Pinterest.
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