E-reader Petting Zoo: The PSP Brings Us a Menagerie of Toys and Devices
E-reading devices were shown off at the 2010 PSP Annual Meeting. Unfortunately, the iPad probably still dominated the setting, even in abstentia.
A Social Search Engine Approacheth, and Its Name Is Aardvark
A new social search engine comes onto the scene, sporting some moves borrowed from Google’s playbook. It’s an interesting approach. But will Aardvark just put ants in Google’s pants?
Who Controls Publisher Prices? Amazon Fires the First Shot, Then Forges a Bitter Truce
This weekend Amazon pulled all of MacMillan’s books, both electronic and paper, from their store due to a dispute over eBook pricing policies. Is this the first battle in the war for control of the publishing industry?
Where Is the Money in Custom Publishing? Your Answer Depends on How You Define It
How custom is custom publishing? Will custom publishing ever move fully into the user’s hands?
ArXiv Grows Up, Adopts Subscription-like Model
The celebrated e-print service will now rely on annual library donations. Meanwhile, it’s long-term business plan is still in the works.
Is It Still Disruption When You’ve Done It Yourself?
The fact that scientific publishing hasn’t been disrupted may be a sign of a problem, not an advantage. A future choice may be disruption or irrelevance. Which will we choose?
Highlights from This Week’s Comments in the Kitchen
Highlights from this week’s reader comments, pointing the way to dialog you might have otherwise missed. Also, let me know if you like this as a weekly feature.
The Real-time Web’s Utility Meter Spins Rapidly
Want to see the best-guess at the real-time Web’s activity level? Gary Hayes has a tool that let’s you peek.
Top 5 Trends of 2009 — Harbingers of Things to Come
As 2009 ends, its trends will propel change into 2010 and beyond.
Let’s Hear It for Reckless Enthusiasm!
Innovations in scholarly communications often come about through bold and often reckless investments in new capacity, for which the utility is not always obvious.
Churn in the Book Space: Rational & Irrational Behavior Among Book Publishers
Two fiction publishers decide to delay release of their e-books, further marginalizing their books. Meanwhile, an STM book publisher gets it right.
Get a Whiff of Google’s Augmented Reality Stickers
Do stickers point to integrated data in the real-world? Or is augmented reality easier to accomplish? What could data integrated into the real world mean to science and research?
A First Look at the Nook: An Also-Ran That Can Barely Get Out of the Box
The new Nook is over-packaged, and has design and technical issues that keep it from competing well with the Kindle. Too bad.
ScienceBlogs and “National Geographic” — A Partnership of Online Strengths
In addition to print’s continuing decline, blogs in science are mature, profitable, and going local, as SEED, ScienceBlogs, and National Geographic show through their moves.
Is the Apple Tablet Being Previewed by “Sports Illustrated”?
“Sports Illustrated” is showing off a new reading tablet for TIME properties. Is it also a preview of an Apple tablet?