Tablets use study, article.
A quarter of women are happy to give up sex (25%) to keep their tablet.
Woa. The existence of this blog is an indication of how very important I think readers/tablets (same thing to my mind) are, but still...
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Ebooks: a new publishing solution to an old business problem?
Ebooks: a new publishing solution to an old business problem?, article.
The rise in popularity of e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad presents a new market for magazine and newspaper publishers to explore
This idea hadn't occurred to me, but I think it's a great one.
For many years, micropayment were seen by many, like Jakob Nielsen, Guy Kawasaki, Scott McCloud, and well, me, as being the great solution to content sales on the web. Make a system where people could pay 10 or 25 cents per picture or article, that should work.
A decade ago I was invited to join a micropayment system/company, BitPay I think it was called, which Guy Kawasaki had a stake it. And I have reasons to believe that I was one of the biggest sellers for them. But in the end, they closed. And my own experience showed that when people had the option to buy content in large packages, these sold much better than selling it piecemeal, even though there was not any bulk pricing involved!
I suspect it is the sheer mental weight of making 200 "small" decisions rather than make one bigger one. Because contrary to what one might think, a "small" decision is not all that much less stressing than a larger one. Many people will be familiar with this scenario: having a hard time deciding whether to spend ten cents on a shopping bag, while deciding to buy a stereo system on the spur of the moment. It's the same mechanics at work, so fewer decisions is much less stressing.
The rise in popularity of e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad presents a new market for magazine and newspaper publishers to explore
This idea hadn't occurred to me, but I think it's a great one.
For many years, micropayment were seen by many, like Jakob Nielsen, Guy Kawasaki, Scott McCloud, and well, me, as being the great solution to content sales on the web. Make a system where people could pay 10 or 25 cents per picture or article, that should work.
A decade ago I was invited to join a micropayment system/company, BitPay I think it was called, which Guy Kawasaki had a stake it. And I have reasons to believe that I was one of the biggest sellers for them. But in the end, they closed. And my own experience showed that when people had the option to buy content in large packages, these sold much better than selling it piecemeal, even though there was not any bulk pricing involved!
I suspect it is the sheer mental weight of making 200 "small" decisions rather than make one bigger one. Because contrary to what one might think, a "small" decision is not all that much less stressing than a larger one. Many people will be familiar with this scenario: having a hard time deciding whether to spend ten cents on a shopping bag, while deciding to buy a stereo system on the spur of the moment. It's the same mechanics at work, so fewer decisions is much less stressing.
"iPhone Plus"
A mock-up of the next iPhone. (Not likely they can make it that slim though.)
I am amazed at what people can make with their 3D packages. As an artist I'm rather envious. I could learn it, you say. Sorry, I don't have the patience (and maybe not the brains). I can barely do basic photoshopping.
(I love that he made a faux Apple page for it.)
I am amazed at what people can make with their 3D packages. As an artist I'm rather envious. I could learn it, you say. Sorry, I don't have the patience (and maybe not the brains). I can barely do basic photoshopping.
(I love that he made a faux Apple page for it.)
Form and content
Writer Maurice Sendak said about ebooks: “I hate them. It’s like making believe there’s another kind of sex. There isn’t another kind of sex. There isn’t another kind of book! A book is a book is a book.”
To be blunt, what bollocks. I am astonished by how otherwise intelligent and educated people can so completely mix up Form and Content. A book is coherent (hopefully) collection of text (or pictures). It is not a stitched stack of paper. It's not a roll of animal skin. It's not a slate of glass and aluminium, or a string of bits. A book is a specialized collection of thoughts presented in a package.
To say that a book is not a book if it's not printed on paper is like saying that a film is not a film unless it's projected off a roll of celluloid.
BTW, this was Sendak. I am not surprised he looked like that. Why are old writers always such bitter old cusses? Maybe being a professional writer is really not good for you?
To be blunt, what bollocks. I am astonished by how otherwise intelligent and educated people can so completely mix up Form and Content. A book is coherent (hopefully) collection of text (or pictures). It is not a stitched stack of paper. It's not a roll of animal skin. It's not a slate of glass and aluminium, or a string of bits. A book is a specialized collection of thoughts presented in a package.
To say that a book is not a book if it's not printed on paper is like saying that a film is not a film unless it's projected off a roll of celluloid.
BTW, this was Sendak. I am not surprised he looked like that. Why are old writers always such bitter old cusses? Maybe being a professional writer is really not good for you?
Thursday, May 10, 2012
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