“The Big Short” Gets Singed by Inflamed e-Book Passions
When customers get angry, they’ll resort to all sorts of tricks to be heard. Is it wise for a publisher to take a hard line over the inevitable?
Shoveling from Two Piles: How Will Publishers Solve the Conundrum of the iPad?
Publishers can now shovel from two sources: print and online. Will they shovel again when migrating to the tablet? Or will they think anew?
The Future of Publishing: Do We Have It All Backwards?
Clever, clever, and oh so worth watching through to the end:
Do Free E-Books Drive Print Sales? Other Forces Seem More Powerful Than “Free”
A study making the rounds about free e-books and their effect on sales has major flaws, both micro and macro.
A Renowned Literary Author Self-Publishes
Is this a watershed moment for independent publishing?
Penguin Previews How Books Might Look on the iPad
Penguin is experimenting with the iPad, and sharing what they’re thinking in this video demo. It’s pretty amazing stuff.
Shirky at NFAIS: How Abundance Breaks Everything
“Abundance breaks more things than scarcity does. Society knows how to react to scarcity.” Clay Shirky speaks at the opening session of NFAIS.
E-books Get a Leg Up from CrossRef
CrossRef moves into the reference works area for e-books, with a linking approach and pricing that might just work.
Why the iPad Marks the End of Price Controls for eBooks—and Why Publishers Have Lost
Publishers may have won the pricing war, but the real struggle is now on for users’ attention. Because the iPad is not a dedicated e-book reader there are, unfortunately, many things that users can do with the device other than read books. Unlike the Kindle, where publishers have the device all to themselves iPad users will be able to surf the Web, play games, watch movies, view their photo collections, listen to music, watch TV, send e-mail, work on a presentation, or access over one hundred thousand applications that do any number of distracting things.
Lessons from a Neighboring Industry — Demand Media’s Disruptive Impact on Journalism
Demand Media has created a journalism and custom content platform that disrupting neighboring publishing models. Can we learn something from their approach?
Are Google and Microsoft Squaring Off Over Public Domain Works?
Why Google apparently gives government documents more protections than 19th century texts is just one of the puzzles in their usage guidelines.
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.
Two Updates: Amazon Buys to Build a SuperKindle, Google Parries Aardvark
Amazon and Google respond to competitive moves.
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?
Things About the iPad That Already Annoy Me
OK, I’ve read enough — there are 5 things about the iPad that might just annoy me (and others).