Do Search Engines Owe Publishers? A German Proposal Raises the Question
Should search engines license content for crawling? A potential German law thinks so.
Fleshing Out the World Dreamed Of — What If the Idealistic Recommendations Passed?
A new report for the Center of Economic Development suffers from a strong bias in its authorship. But beyond that, its implicit complaints, if addressed completely, would lead to a trainwreck in the world of scholarly communication. Is nobody thinking these things through?
Digital Disorder — Losing the Signal of Priority and Selection
We used to have editorial selection and ordering as a natural result of editorial control. With algorithms and news feeds dominating, where are the signals of priority and linked information? Did we really need the packaging?
Not Excited? "You Need to Exit the Business" — A Great Interview with the Editor of Outside
The transformation of all publishers is underway, and this interview from a popular magazine’s editor sounds all too familiar as we adapt to evolving markets, possibilities, and expectations.
More on Why Amazon Is Winning the Book Wars
Amazon’s power in book publishing continues to grow, gaining momentum naturally as its success makes failure more likely for incumbents. There’s a lot to respect in what they’re doing.
The Approaching Golden Age of Long-form E-content — Coming Soon to a Reader Near You
Judging from the frenetic pace of developments around e-reading and e-writing, the golden age of the e-book may be just around the corner. After that, what e-books evolve into remains to be seen.
Criss-cross Applesauce — Multiplication in Japan
A fascinating video showing another way to multiply moderately big numbers, courtesy of Japan.
Glass in the Information Age — Corning's Vision of a World It Helps Create
A vision created by corporate scientists — of a future filled with their products — proves arresting and inspiring.
Grumpy Old Men — Franzen, Sendak, Permanence, Capitalists, and E-books
Authors sound off about e-books, revealing both a misunderstanding of publishing but also of how their interests and capitalist interests align.
A First Take on Apple's New Education Tools
Some early thoughts on Apple’s recent announcement for tools for developing educational content. It’s not about the product; it’s a game of platform wars.
The Hidden Expense of Energy — Print Is Costly, Online Isn't Free
How many joules does it take to get a journal out? A small, quick study suggests that print consumes much more energy than online, but shows that online is far from free, with energy its main variable cost.
Pirate Attitudes: SOPA, PIPA, and the Struggle to Control Digital Properties
On the Wednesday of SOPA protests worldwide, it’s time to consider why these bills run counter to the security and reliability of the Internet itself.
Devices and Shopping — New Trends, New Potential, and New Perils for Retailers
As customers become facile with a new level of information infrastructure, what will that mean for us over the next few years?
Wordnik, the Online Dictionary — Revisiting the Prescritive vs. Descriptive Debate in the Crowdsource Age
Can an online dictionary combining wiki and search do better? In some ways, yes. In others, there’s still the intractable problems of English to solve.
The Secret to Your Perfect Look — By Adobé
The secret to a beautiful you? Just apply this, and all your concerns about your appearance can disappear.