Kichwa people are Ecuadorian skilled artisans and producers of textiles that have kept alive the handicraft traditions of the mindalas, an ancient indigenous elite specialized in the art of trade.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

Specialized "vertical" portals -- those that trade only in certain commodities or components -- also stand a chance of carving a niche for themselves among broad-based "horizontal" portals such as Global Sources, says Sweeney.

CNN: Grandaddy of Them All

Some readers will be willing to make that trade-off, especially if Irex is able to add specialized stores in the future that offer, say, a large selection of non-English-language books.

WSJ: A Review of the Irex E-reader