OK it’s time to kick this thing off.

I paid a visit to the Book Depository yesterday, no not that one overlooking Dealey Plaza, this one – http://www.bookdepository.co.uk.

I grabbed a copy of the latest edition of Stephen Few’s “Information Dashboard Design”, one of the bibles of all things viz and a must-read for anyone with an interest in BI matters.

Anyway, upon completing the purchase I noticed this. http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/live

A real-time map of book purchases across the globe. Seems simple but utterly mesmerizing. Someone in Australia buying a guidebook to London – upcoming holiday perhaps? Harry Potter box sets flying off the shelves in the USA, The Moaning of Life purchased in Ireland (hope the book is better than the TV show) – I even saw my own transaction pop up 10 seconds or so after I completed it.

I spent more time watching the map zoom from Norway to Greece to Russia than I did making my purchase.

A bit of googling tells me this has been in place for some time already, but it’s still a lovely touch and something I’ll expect to see on other sites in the future.

Cheers, Paul