Siri and the Resurrection of the Semantic Web
Siri may be many things — cool feature, Google killer, source of amusement — but it is perhaps the ultimate expression of the semantic Web. And it’s still in beta.
Can Amazon and Apple Peacefully Coexist? Probably, But As for Google…
The Google Era isn’t over by a long shot, but initiatives from Apple and Amazon reveal that the search giant is open to disintermediation by some clever and large-scale commercial tactics.
Joe's Metadatarium: Creating New Forms of Discovery in the Bricks-and-Mortar World
The decline of bookstores has made discovery increasingly difficult. One solution is to create a new kind of bookstore, which is effectively a showroom and community center for the celebration of the book.
Quantum Levitation — Turning Your World Upside-Down
When science breaks your brain, it’s time to acknowledge its power once again.
Content as Commodity — Price Elasticity and New Business Models
The commodity nature of the OA service seems to predict certain structural aspects, including lower prices and bigger journals.
SSP Annual Meeting — A Call for Participation
Now is your chance to shape the SSP program as a speaker or session organizer. The Call for Participation is open now through November 11, and we want to hear from you with a proposal for a session you would like to see, organize, or lead.
Mary Meeker's Internet Trends 2011 — Global, Mobile, and Immersive
Once again, Mary Meeker has presented her Internet trends, and once again, they are fascinating. Subtitled, “We Aren’t in Kansas Anymore . . .,” the data Meeker presents paints a picture of an online world — literally. More users come […]
The Shrinking Orphan Works Problem
The orphan works problem is finite. Current practices will chip away at the number of orphans. It is unlikely that more orphans will be created in the future because it is so easy for publishers now to hold onto rights and keep books available in some form.
From 1987 to 2011 — Apple's Prototype Prediction Is Eerily Prescient
It seems Apple underpredicted the future they’d make. Facetime, Siri, iCloud, iPhone, and other innovations have made this prediction of the future seem almost old-fashioned.
Short-term Thinking, Twitter, Economics, and the Change Process
Technology adoption in the academic space may occur more slowly, especially when the technology requires a bit of what feels like hackery to become adept at it. But it does occur. And by watching the long-term trends, recognizing the compatibility of the motivators and reward, and watching the fundamentals, we can think about their implications now instead of later.
The Emergence of the Disposable E-Book Reader — An Inflection Point in Ambient Computing?
By offering a bare-bones Kindle at a very low price point, Amazon has created a virtually disposable e-reader that does exactly what it should, and little more. Will this little probe down-market unleash a tidal surge toward e-books?
My Utopian Vision for Communication of Scientific Methods
The publishing industry seems to be focused on improving a system that already works well, the system of topical information flows. Perhaps it should be looking at the system of method information flows.
The Library With No Books In It
A surprising collection found at the Schroedinger Archive includes a number of works of short fiction that take scholarly communications as their subject. In it, we find a tale with many surprising reversals — “The Library With No Books In It.”
Book Publishers and Patron-Driven Acquisition: Announcing a Research Project
Announcing a Mellon Foundation-funded study of patron-driven acquisition (PDA) and its implications for academic book publishers.
Ask the Chefs: "What Do You Think Is the Most Important Trend in Publishing Today?"
Welcome to a new feature of the Scholarly Kitchen we’re calling “Ask the Chefs.” The premise is that each month, the Chefs (contributors) to the Scholarly Kitchen will answer a provocative question in a pithy paragraph or two. Each Chef answers the question without benefit of seeing the others’ responses. This month’s question: “What Do You Think Is the Most Important Trend in Publishing Today?”