It's a bit obvious, but...Blogs

I've been following blogs for probably about a month an a half now. Apparently I'm way late in the game, since it was 2004: Big Year for Blogs. Now I have to say, I have a personal blog, to help keep my family & friends updated, etc. I am by far the first person of anyone I know to have any sort of blog. Since I use MSN Spaces, most of them think it's just a new kind of online photo album. (Although I have to say that for ease of use, I love Spaces.)

US: Everyone is trying to figure how to use blogs to make money. I mean, that's what it's all about, right? When Business Week published Blogs Will Change Your Business last week, everyone was all over it. But we have yet to see the true impact of blogs. Like many new trends, there will be many blogs that are created and deserted the following day, but there are some that will survive and be amazingly useful.

I have kept my Favorite Blogs section rather short right now, because although I am following more than 20 blogs right now, I really only look forward to a small portion of the posts. Okay, well I haven't said anything new here that hasn't been said a million times in the past.

Mexico: The trend is just starting up here, and probably 99.99% of the population couldn't tell you what a blog is here. It will catch on more quickly here with the kids. Check out the links on the sidebar to Blog Directories, and compare the entries in the US version to the Mexico version. We're just getting started. Interesting read:Slowly coming to grips with international blogs from Business Week.

...Slightly off the topic: I'm currently starting a business here that relies on the internet for all of the purchases, and I am one of the very few in Mexico that will offer this. The culture here is becoming more internet savvy, but internet purchases are still not at all common. (Something you must know about doing business in Mexico is that the mail service is completely unreliable, so if you need to send anything, even a letter, it needs to go through a service such as FedEx. This really increases costs for a lot of businesses, and makes other business models from the US difficult to implement here.) And although Mexico is behind in everything "e", don't be surprised when they catch up soon. Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico) offers broadband service, restaurants around Mexico now offer wireless access, and even if people don't have internet at home, internet cafes are abundant and busy.