Book Review — "Academic and Professional Publishing"
A new book for scholarly publishers updates a classic, and shows just how diverse, interesting, and promising scholarly publishing has become.
Rediscovering Stephen King — Two Thousand Pages of Exhilaration
Rediscovering the master of suspense and a superb writer again brings immersive joy to this reader.
The 2012 Tools of Change Keynote — LeVar Burton Uses the Two Most Important Words
LeVar Burton’s keynote from Tools of Change is amusing, interesting, and inspiring.
Speed and Retention — Are e-Readers Slower and More Forgetful?
E-readers seem to slow information accession and fog retention. Should we worry as the era of “big paper” begins its final stages?
Dyslexie — A New Typeface Cleverly Designed to Help Dyslexics Read
The alphabet, as redesigned to help dyslexics achieve lower reading error-rates than their non-dyslexic counterparts.
Measuring Reading Speed on E-Readers Teaches Us That Speed Isn’t Usability
A Nielsen usability study confuses speed with usability, raising many questions in so doing.
Applications: The Future of Science Communication?
“Building apps is not all unicorns and rainbows.” Publishers should take a practical, iterative, and collaborative approach to delivering content.
Short Stories and Comics: Niche Markets with Core Lessons for STM Publishers
The failure of the traditional music industry has become the standard cautionary tale for content industries adapting to a digital era. But for scholarly publishers, many factors make the music industry a poor comparison. We have more in common with smaller niche markets. Watching their electronic experimentation and new business models may be more informative as we seek new strategies for presenting and selling content.
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?
The e-Book Revolution — If At First You Don’t Succeed . . .
E-books are changing the world of publishing, but rather than creating something new, too much emphasis is being put on re-hashing failures of the past. The changing market doesn’t have to be a zero sum game, and the rise of new forms may not spell the death of the book as we know it.
Dealing with a Possible Email Glitch, While Spotlighting a Great Post
An email glitch on Wednesday might have hidden a great post. If you missed “Open Access and Vanity Publishing,” here’s your prompt to give it a careful read. It’s well worth it.
New Technologies and the Need for Standards
It seems like a new e-reading device is announced every day. But each device has its own file format and its own unique interface. How can publishers be expected to develop products for such a fragmented market?
Summer Reading and Drinking
Pimm’s, the summer drink for the cultured literati.
O’Reilly to Amazon: Open the Kindle!
Part 1 of a 3-part series — Amazon’s proprietary e-book platform needs to open up in order to truly thrive.
Will Form Follow Function?
Will e-book readers lead to a new form of expression? Should they even bother trying to mimic the paper and ink format they’re replacing?