Developing the Infrastructure for Direct Marketing
In order for publishers to engage in direct marketing, they have to build new infrastructure. Simon & Schuster is hinting at new developments with its use of QR codes.
Economic Stocks and Flows — A Lecture Using a Phillips MONIAC Economic Analog
A fluidic computer designed to model a national economy holds lessons for doing things directly and physically. Sometimes, you have to get your hands wet.
Working and Living Inside the Game — Source Filmmaker and E-books Make Us Part of the Action
Creative people are using our inputs — and letting us do the same — to drive more creativity.
Siri vs. Jelly Bean — The Voice Recognition Era Gets Competitive
Siri now has competition, and we all benefit.
Fast and Faster — F1 Cars Getting Faster, Blow Fast Regular Cars Away
Amateurs hope they can emulate the professionals they admire. In a set of videos of F1 racing courses, it’s clear that amateurs can’t compete with professional drivers.
A Glass Act — Harry Potter Theme Played on Wine Glasses
A short video demonstrating how a friction idiophone works magic!
New Video Techniques for Monitoring Health
A fascinating set of new video techniques being developed at MIT hint at how cameras might someday intervene in crib death, help diagnose heart disease, and more.
The Levitating Slinky — A Simple System, a Mind-blowing Result
Hi-speed cameras capture something you’ve probably done, but never really seen — the levitating Slinky.
Ready for Some Pizza — Visualizing Pizza Delivery in NYC and Beyond
Tracking pizza deliveries tells us a lot about one of our major cities, its inhabitants, socioeconomic aspects, and more.
Informed Consent and Big Data — With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Consent and confidentiality concerns around “Big Data” in medicine should give enthusiasts for a data-rich scientific world pause. Things are more complex, and the answers so far are inadequate.
What It Means to Be a Start-up: Is It a Model Publishers Should Embrace?
Is running a business without a start-up mentality dangerous in our fast-paced technological world? It’s all a matter of risk and reward.
Not Free, Not Easy, Not Trivial — The Warehousing and Delivery of Digital Goods
The idea that digital goods have no ongoing cost and can therefore be free has several problems, the basic one being reality itself.
Ask the Chefs: "What Is the Most Important Advance Publishers Have Made in the Past Decade?"
How have publishers changed over the past decade? What have been the most important advances? The Chefs tackle the question, with some surprising answers (they might have even surprised themselves).
The Outside Context Effect and Book Publishing Dominance
Is the Internet simply an irresistible “outside context” event for traditional book publishers? Two interesting articles make it clear that it may be, if wielded aggressively. The “outside context problem” was described in Iain M. Bank’s book “Excession,” in which […]
Lessons from the Music Industry: Should We Put Our Faith in Technology Companies?
Musicians have learned that the new corporate powers — technology companies — are possibly worse than the old corporate powers — record companies. How well would technology companies treat academics?