Baser also provided a scrap of insight on how to measure word of mouth on Facebook, which means how many unique people said something about your brand in, say, the last week?

FORBES: How Can Brands Make the Most of Facebook Fans?

As well as spreading the Word, the proliferation of churches provides a measure of defence against intimidation.

ECONOMIST: Christianity in China

But it's a measure of the dominance of oral culture over the printed word both here and in the rest of Africa that Ivory Coast's leading book shop chain says it's only sold four thousand copies of Houphouet Boigny's Imaginary Plots.

BBC: Political thriller wows African readers

The stock keyboard also offers Swype-style typing and even throws in an extra bullet point for good measure: as you drag your finger from letter to letter, a box pops up showing you the word you're currently typing.

ENGADGET: Google Nexus 10 hands-on (video) Mobile