Is digital art publishing finally happening?

Where's the artistry in digital art publishing?, article.

I am happy to see somebody finally, in mainstream media, talk about digital art publishing.

I don't really agree with the article that digital art books need to do anything very fancy to become successful, like comparing different versions of a painting or whatnot. Look at regular ebooks: 50 Shades or Wool certainly didn't have to do anything technically unusual to become hugely successful! I think there are just a few things slowing down the take-off of the market of art books:

1. Like the article says, the snobbery about books on paper is much more so in the so-refined world of art lovers and art dealers. But this will change as times change. 
2. Money. Art books were never very lucrative. But then here is where digital can really help: there's no need to pay for thick paper, expensive six-color printing, and expensive shipping. Art books will gain even more here than regular books. 
3. A good tablet. I've written about this before: the iPad 3 or 4 with the high-resolution screen is almost good enough for art books (and comics, and text books). But not quite. I believe we need a 13-inch, light-weight iPad to really enjoy graphically heavy books. And I'm looking forward to getting it. 
4. A mental change about image size. They must look to comic books, where high resolution is becoming the norm now. You can zoom in and admire individual panels, and they look great. A comic book is often over 200MB, whereas the few art books which exist now are usually one tenth of that. 

By the way, you can certainly display a digital art book on you coffeetable! You just open the book on an iPad, and put the iPad on a stand! You can even collect your favorite art and show it as a slideshow, paperbooks can't do that. 

iPhones 5C and 5S (updated more than once)

At first look, the new iPhones did not impress. It seemed like the 5C only had a plastic case, colors, and a slightly cheaper price to show. And that the 5S only had fingerprint lock.

But I am now watching the keynote, and I have to admit that while most changes are evolutionary, there are many of them, and many sound really nice. A lot of good refinements. For instance the camera on the 5S seems better in low light and has other interesting features. And the quality is really nice, see images here. If one is super-critical, there's a slight graininess in the sky, but see especially the pool picture, that is perfect colors and skin tones, and of course all the pics are sharp.

The flash on the 5S changes its own color temperature (mixes two small LCDs, one daylight, one warm, to taste) to match the background, that’s damn impressive. Why has nobody done this before?

The processor on the 5S is also much faster, though since I'm no gamer, I don't really know how I need that?... :)

iPhone 5 left me pretty cold, but I may warm up to this one. (Though that may just be the gold color. :)
... Actually I'm kind of sick of the White on my last phone, so I may go for the grey version, that's nice also.

Of course if it had only been a 5-inch phone like I want, then five wild bulls could not keep me from it. (Hello Apple: a 5-inch screen is much better than a 4-incher for reading, web, and video. Wake up!)

Yes, I like gold. And while full gold color would be crass on a phone, I think the "champagne" gold they chose for the iPhone is just a nice, warm metal color. 

In contrast, like has happened before with iPods, sadly I don't like any of the colors of the 5C! This is sad, because otherwise I quite like it. And I knew Apple could make something good of plastic if they returned to it. And it's strong, coated plastic, almost impossible to scratch it. 

(Maaaaybe the green one. Not sure.)

When will they learn that good colors are deep and rich? They did it right in one generation of iPods, I think it was gen5, the one with video camera. Look how cheap the colors above look compared to those below. 

See also here. Those are a good selection of colors! Nice, rich colors. Compare the wonderful deep red with the odd, washed-out "red" on the iPhone. The iPhone is more "salmon" than red. I know some cartoon characters who would call "gaaaaay!". (But those are just cartoon characters, what do they know?)

(By the way, I like the EarSkinz. The earpod (or earbud) sits better.)

Amazon Announces New Kindle Paperwhite

Amazon Announces New Kindle Paperwhite, TidBITS article.
First, the obvious upgrades. The new Paperwhite retains the 6-inch screen of the previous model but features a new display technology with higher contrast. Additionally, the processor is 25 percent faster for peppier book opening and page turning, and the touch grid is 19 percent tighter, for better response to touches. Also, the built-in light has been improved to reduce eyestrain.

There are also some new software things, some are good. I haven't heard if they will arrive on the first KPW.

I've already ordered this (same price as before), but only because I'm a fanatic. Otherwise I'd wait for the reviews. Because, listen, things like "higher contrast" we have heard before, and I have never been able to tell the difference!
But if the light really is more even and the contrast and sharpness noticable better, it will certainly be worth for people who use the KPW a lot.

I like the feature where you can browse the book in a window so you don't loose your place. It's been one of the weaknesses of Kindle and other ereaders that loosing one's place is way too easy.

What books are

Duo-screen reader concept

Article.
Even with eInk, many book lovers still find that e-books are incapable of replicating the experience of reading a book made of paper. 
Industrial designer Fabrice Dubuy has created a concept for an alternative version of e-book readers and tablets like the Kindle and the iPad—featuring two eInk screens instead of one, the “TwistBook” mimics the structure of paper books by “splitting” open in the middle. 

I'll eat my iRiver Reader if this one is produced and becomes a hit.

Imagine if paperbooks had not existed, only screen readers. And then somebody comes up and says: "Hey, great idea! How about *two* screens next to each other, and they fold!"
"Why? You can only read one screen at a time."

And it'll be harder to hold with one hand. And probably twice as heavy.

The only upside I can see is to display illustrations or notes on one page. But that could be done on a single big page too, and that would be a much more flexible device. (They could call it an... iSlate!)

(By the way, there has been a product like this before. It failed, it was too expensive and heavy. But one of the screens was color, so it had some kinda merit.)

Also it won't even faintly feel like a paperbook. It will only have one small design aspect in common with it, "opening like a book" (an aspect which was forced upon the book because of the one-time print aspect of paper).

Everybody now: "It's the content, Silly!"

... I may be wrong. Maybe this will be a hit. And maybe they will "do a Gillette" and in two years introduce one with three screens. And a couple of years beyond that...

How-to: Have your iOS device read text for you

How-to: Have your iOS device read text for you, article.

Highly useful article. Still not as good as if apps could tap into text-to-speech like in Android, for example, in Voiceover mode (which you have to use for ebooks), you can't change the voice, and the default voice rubs me the wrong way, I don't think it's pleasant.

In the other mode you can select between different voices, some which are much better. But you can only get text read if you select it first, and selecting text on a tablet is a bee-atch.
Still, better than nothing.

Siri takes over the world

[Thanks to Henry]

The problems of moral men

[Thanks to Dave T]

We laugh, but it's a big problem, just think of how many ereaders have 50 Shades on them! So much work.

"Her"

New film. A story about a lonely writer and a sexy smartphone. Oh no.

How Jonathan Ive got inspired to create the iOS 7 color sheme

How Jonathan Ive... from Max Wohlleber on Vimeo.

For those less than obsessed, this is the upcoming look referred to. Ligher, brighter, fresher colors and a simpler look: 

2013 Nexus 7 Review

This sounds wonderful. But I don't know that I once again will be lured into buying one more Android device, only to be disappointed at that system's bugginess and clumsiness.
(And one has to wonder if it is not very deliberate that they, like last year, announce this thing near the end of a long year without any new, exciting iPads or Kindle Fires...)

But one thing for sure: price difference between a 16GB model and a 32GB one: only 40 dollars! Apple, are you listening? Your 100 dollars is just opportunism, I'm sorry.

Amazon, don't be disingenuous

I like Amazon a lot, in most ways. But I don't like their Win-All-Or-Die attitude to business, and I don't like how they are sometimes too comfortable with leaning against the borders of disingenuousness (dishonesty).

One example was last big event, where they carefully avoided telling us that the new, lower prices of Kindles were only for the ad-supported varieties. Another one I just saw today, see this message from Amazon:

... Particularly the language "Please ensure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi to receive your content" is almost dishonest. "Ensure" tells us that we must do this, otherwise we won't get the content. But my Kindle is a wifi and 3G Kindle. I paid extra for this, and Amazon knows full well exactly which one I have.

They are apparently trying to get people weaned off using the 3G (cell phone network) in order to cut down their own bills. That in itself is OK, but virtually lying to people to get them to do this? That is not okay. They may waste collectedly a lot of time for people who may have better things to do, and they may make many people anxious about getting their content, if they are not experts on the technology.

If people paid for their 3G model, Amazon must deliver what they promised, delivery wherever there is coverage, and not try to weasel out of it. This promise has been at the heart of the Kindle experience which was promised so beautifully and so loudly in their commercials.

The message could be turned completely honest and straightforward if the sentence was changed to: "You may receive your content faster if your device has wi-fi turned on."

iOS 7, coming this fall

This looks nice. And as always, Apple talks a good game. Very good indeed, they have the gift of the golden gab.

I'm a little in doubt, though, apart from a fresher look color- and design-wise (and apart from the control center which I like), how big a difference will this really make in daily use? It seems to me that while the translucency and backgrounds moving behind icons when you turn the phone look great, it's mostly iCandy, as it were.

Will things actually be improved and fixed? Will there be text-to-speech for applications, like on Android? Will the nightmare of trying to select text be handled?

Also, when does it come to the iPad? You'll notice they only talk about the phone. Will it be like iOS4, where the system only came to the iPad months later?

New Nexus Seven

We've all passed a lot of water since the debut of Google's Nexus Seven, but when it came out (it feels much longer than just a year) it was almost revolutionary: a seven-inch Android tablet in good quality, with full features, and at a startlingly low price. And now it has been upgraded.

Me, I now prefer an iPad Mini, or a Kindle Paperwhite, or a Kindle Fire HD, for various reasons, including finding Android to be clumsy and buggy, but if one really wants a 7-inch Android tablet, I think the new Nexus is surely a good bet. It seems to have been upgraded and improved all over the range, included acquiring a back camera and the highest screen resolution in the class (full HD. My eyes can't follow once PPI gets above 200*, but if you want 323PPI, here it is).
I doubt one will find better for the money. (Though admittedly competition in this area is sharp a glass shards, so they are pretty much all good and cheap, overlooking the OS.)





*I'm using both my iPad 3 and my iPad 2, and I have to say that I don't notice the huge difference in screen resolution. Oh, I can see it if required to, but in practical use... And that's despite that anybody these days daring to release a tablet with only a 132PPI resolution would be laughed out of the market.

OneDollarScan

1DollarScan may be a solution where you have (or buy) a book or more that you don't need to keep (seems it's destroyed in the process), but would like to have as ebook.
The service comes in several levels, here is pricing info. The most basic scan for books is a dollar per 100 pages, which seems pretty cheap. OCR (real text), angle correction, and other quality options are extra.

I know that many people, myself included, find it genuinely difficult to read paperbooks after getting used to ebooks (some even get headaches). So if there are books you just must read, but nobody has digitized them yet, this might be a solution.
Getting your whole library, if you're a bookworm, scanned in good quality might cost a pretty penny though.

I asked them:

I suppose the customer always is the one to ship the book (if you don’t have it)?

The customer is ALWAYS the one to send in the book. Even if the book is a book that we have scanned before, we will still scan it. Every single book is scanned. When customers order from online bookstores, the physical book bypasses the user and goes directly to us. Sometimes this is good for users in other countries if they can find a seller in the U.S. then they save a lot on shipping and we deliver the file digitally into their account. So we have many users from other countries using this service. 

We typically deliver a PDF. We can do other formats, but it's usually a special operation to do that.

Are the scans real, searchable text?

If the customer adds OCR by request, then the scan is searchable. The quality of the OCR depends on a few things, like the quality of the book, language, fancy font, etc. (if they ask us to do angle correction on the file after or scan 
at 600 DPI it's a lot better).  But the average book is fairly accurate.