Comments on: Technorati Founder Dave Sifry Officially Launches OffBeatGuides.com: DIY Guidebooks On the Go

By: John

John — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:51:15 +0000

You know you can copy and paste the guide right?

By: Monte seu próprio guia de viagem | BlogAll

Monte seu próprio guia de viagem | BlogAll — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:26:58 +0000

[...] [via TechCrunch] [...]

By: TechWag » No it is not an ego clash of the tech bloggers

TechWag » No it is not an ego clash of the tech bloggers — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:31:13 +0000

[...] in total they are not. Amit Agarwal over at Labnol asks why everyone did not just jump on the Techcrunch bandwagon and cover Dave Sifry’s new web site, Offbeat Guides. The cool part is that there were tons of other things going on today other than [...]

By: Roundup: Intel cuts estimates, iPhone games taking off and more » VentureBeat

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:48:28 +0000

[...] founder Dave Sifry launches OffBeatGuides — The site lets you build your own guidebook, then buy a physical copy or download it as a [...]

By: Chiara

Chiara — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:54:53 +0000

I setup Booktailor, i.e. this very same idea, with Bertelsmann funding in 1999 – the functionality, sources (we licensed fromLonely Planet to the Financial TImes travel section) and technical platform was awesome, our team was superb, but the market was slow to react (our plug was pulled when awareness needed to be created through marketing) . A bit of a niche field to start a concept, but a very fascinating one at the same time

I wish you a lot of success! Maybe now the time is right, and after iPod/iTunes has proven that a la carte wins…

Chiara Medioli
(CEO of Fabriano Boutique, former founder and CEO of Booktailor)

By: » OffBeatGuides: Dave Sifry (technorati) startet neues Webprojekt, Blogpiloten.de - willkommen im wir.netz

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:49:25 +0000

[...] gibt´s drüben bei TechCrunch. Verwandte Beiträge auf Blogpiloten.de zu den Themen: dave sifry, offbeatguides, technorati [...]

By: Ronald Lusk

Ronald Lusk — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:38:44 +0000

We launched a similar product called Fresh Guides in the early 00s. We created loads of custom, continually updated content that could be printed on demand into a book format (the world’s most up-to-date guidebook!). Unfortunately, the marketing costs were huge, far beyond our projections and we quickly pulled the plug. So my experience is that Jason is correct: the big brands dominate the bookstores, and the free and user-generated online content dominate the search engine(s), making a hybrid product like this a hugely difficult sale. Not impossible, but very very expensive to realize. On the other hand, being a travel publisher totally rocks, so enjoy the ride!

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:20:43 +0000

Although I haven’t checked out any competitor sites, it seems to be quite easy to use and helpful for the traveler. I found one tiny error in English while browsing the Language section of the São Paulo guide.

Stop staring (at) me this way!
Pare de olhar para mim desta maneira!

Someone forgot the ‘at’.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:05:29 +0000

I’ve read about this service and would be interested in trying it out for a really cool country like Brazil. Disclosure: I run a website on why Brazil is really cool.

By: jason@tinycomb.com

jason@tinycomb.com — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:06:55 +0000

I don’t exactly know how Dave thinks he can compete in this arena. As an experienced world traveller, I can tell you that Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and more dominate the travel book industry. If I wanted to purchase one of those, I could do so online, buy it on Amazon used, or just pick one up when I go to my destination. Any non-westernized country will also have knock-off editions of all these travel guides that are around $5 once I get there. In addition, there are so many user generated travel resources out there, that I can print out myself if I wanted and make it into a nice little book. Wiki Travel guides, Bootnall Travel Network, Travel Blogs, Lonely Planet’s UG section, TripAdvisor, and so many more can give me this info for free. Come on, $24.95 for a printed version or $9.95 for a PDF? Sounds like you should have talked to a few more travellers before launching this thing. I just don’t see the appeal here. Nice functionality and design, but I give it a 2 on execution. Sorry.

By: Joe Dolan

Joe Dolan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:05:35 +0000

I was fortunate to use one of these guides when I went on my trip to San Francisco in August. The detail and depth that was given in the book was amazing. The history and review of the city was a great read to prepare me for my trip while the sections on food/activities/events/etc was phenomenal while I was in the city. I could not have asked for anything more! My favorite part of the book had to be the personalization (of what I enjoy and of the time that I was visiting) could never have been given in a traditional travel guide.

Great job to Dave and the Offbeat crew!

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:59:37 +0000

For a traveler like me, this is an awesome product. Simple to use and I love the fact it lists current events happening at a given destination. Congratulations!

By: Sebastian

Sebastian — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:38:13 +0000

tripwolf.com offers the same thing for FREE: DIY pdf travel guides. tripwolf guides contain professional editorial travel content, the stuff that you normally only find in books.
Disclosure: I’m the CEO of tripwolf.com, and we have a partnership with MairDumont, Europe’s biggest publisher of travel guides.

By: Richard Jalichandra (CEO - Technorati)

Richard Jalichandra (CEO - Technorati) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:31:02 +0000

I love this product, Dave! I’ve traveled the world several times over, and this would have been so helpful on those soujourns. Great stuff. (disclosure: Dave is the Chairman of my company)

By: David Sifry

David Sifry — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:15:34 +0000

I’m surprised! We actually have a bunch of people from Rochester, I’m surprised at the oversight. I’ll have our folks look into it.

Dave

By: David Sifry

David Sifry — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:14:39 +0000

Yes, that’s right, @yongfook. We’ve also developed a licensing platform so that we can work with travel book publishers in getting their info out in personalized books, powered by Offbeat Guides…

By: Steve Poland

Steve Poland — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:49:51 +0000

haha. Love the sarcasm

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:33:54 +0000

Ian,

Thanks for mentioning Virtu. I’ve just added to PlanetEye’s travel planning service – http://tinyurl.com/57tovj.

cheers, Mark

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:39:24 +0000

Hmmm,,, I just tried it for Healdsburg, CA. It left off Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen at Hotel Healdsburg. I am now officially unimpressed.

By: Paul Merrill

Paul Merrill — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:30:42 +0000

Can’t believe no one has said anything about how it might be dangerous to read while driving…

By: Roy Rubin (Magento)

Roy Rubin (Magento) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:20:11 +0000

Congrats on the launch David – this is an excellent product. Much success.

Roy

By: david g

david g — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:50:57 +0000

You can also steal a guidebook in a bookstore

By: Technoratiのファウンダー、Dave Sifry、OffBeatGuides.comをローンチ―出先でも読めるDIY旅行ガイド

Technoratiのファウンダー、Dave Sifry、OffBeatGuides.comをローンチ―出先でも読めるDIY旅行ガイド — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:42:07 +0000

[...] Technoratiのファウンダー、Dave Sifryは家を遠く離れて中国の大連（Dalian）にいた。これは遼東半島にある人口700万の大都市である。彼はガイドブックをいくつもめくってみたが、兵馬俑や北京についての記述はいくらでも見つかるものの、大連の情報はなかった。その体験がきっかけでOffBeatGuidesが生まれた。われわれは6月にこのサイトを紹介したが、ストックホルムで開かれたSIME 2008でいよいよお披露目となった。ユーザーはこのサイトで、自分の名前、訪問地、出発地、日程、ホテル（オプション）の情報を入力する。するとシステムは、 Accuweatherの天気情報からCreative Commonsライセンスで利用が認められたプロのライターによる旅行情報などさまざまなソースからの情報を収集してくる。目的地付近の地図、レストラン、観光スポットなどの情報も標示される。ユーザー向けの「旅行ガイド」が生成されたら、$9.95でPDFフォーマットでダウンロードできる。あるいは$24.95でPDFに加えて印刷製本された本も購入できる。インターネットに接続さえできれば、出先でもオンラインで読むことができる。Sifryによると「ドライブ中でも使えるようなガイドが欲しかった」のだそうだ。つまり、電源やインターネット接続が要らず、旅行中でも手軽に参照できる情報、という意味だと思うが。Sifryはまた「実際に手に取れる製品を送り出す」ことができて大いに満足している。このデジタル時代に賞賛すべき高貴な態度というべきだろう。サイトは現在、公開ベータテスト中。[原文へ]（翻訳：Namekawa, U） ShowListings(”arc3″); ShowListings(”arc2″); AddClipsUrl = ‘http://jp.techcrunch.com/archives/20081112technorati-founder-dave-sifry-launches-offbeatguidescom-diy-guidebooks-on-the-go/’; AddClipsTitle = ‘Technoratiのファウンダー、Dave Sifry、OffBeatGuides.comをローンチ―出先でも読めるDIY旅行ガイド’; AddClipsId = ‘2CBE02C952CFE’; AddClipsBcolor=’#78BE44′; AddClipsNcolor=’#D1E9C0′; AddClipsTcolor=’#666666′; AddClipsType=’1′; AddClipsVerticalAlign=’middle’; 前の投稿へトラックバック [...]

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:38:39 +0000

Interesting application. We were just in Rochester, NY, which is a little out of the way , so I just built a guide to check it out. Lots of good “static” information – like the history of the city, getting around,,,, I was disappointed with the Eat chapter. We ate at a restaurant called Virtu that was opened in Feb 2007. It is a very good restaurant, located right on the Erie canal, with a gorgeous deck overlooking the water,,,,, and it was not mentioned in the Eat chapter. I wonder where they pulled their restaurant information from and why Virtu would be left off?

By: yongfook

yongfook — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:34:59 +0000

One point that this article doesn’t really emphasise is that (at least to my understanding) OBG is using licensed content as well as creative commons content. So it’s not just pulling a bunch of free content from the web and wrapping it up in something you pay for, there are content deals going on in the background that the end user benefits from, and this is exclusive content that isn’t simply the Wikipedia page for any given country stuffed into a PDF.

Maybe someone from OBG can clear this up.