The Future of the Book

images.jpegAs many of you undoubtedly know, Amazon released its new Kindle ebook reader this holiday season. It holds over 200 titles and can access Amazon’s online bookstore wirelessly, which boasts over 90,000 titles for instant downloading. The Kindle isn’t the first ebook reader and it won’t be the last, but it is evolutionary in many ways.

I love books in their printed form, and have always been somewhat of a bibliophile. Ever since I learned to read I have surrounded myself with books and can happily lose hours on end in any bookstore or library. Many who share my fondness for the traditional book can’t see a future where digital books are the primary format. I’ve heard all the objections: “I like to hold a book,” “I like bringing it with me,” “I don’t want to read a book on a computer screen,” “I like flipping the pages; I the feel of paper,” “I write in my books,” “I like the smell of books”.

While I can’t say I disagree with any of these statements, I also cherished my album collection: flipping through a stack of albums, spreading them out on the floor, looking at the various art on the jackets, pondering which one to put in the stereo next… these were all part of the experience. Yet, I changed with times (albeit slowly), and through the various technologies as well. Last year I finally threw out all my CD cases (clutter!) and decided that I would no longer buy CD’s. Digital music was the way to go: it’s easy (no trips to the store), more portable, it doesn’t break or scratch or get lost or worn, and it doesn’t clutter up my entertainment center. I am since very pleased with both my decision and my increasing digital music collection.

It is inevitable that the older formats we know and love will eventually take a backseat, and books, like our songs and albums, will be easily accessed, shared, and carried in our pockets. Along with these changes, multimedia such as images and video are more and more becoming part of our texts, and as our ability to create, distribute and share texts keeps expanding, authorship is transforming along with it. What will become of the printed book as digital innovation moves forward? The Institute for The Future of The Book, a think tank devoted to investigating the book’s future in a networked digital world, explores Continue reading “The Future of the Book”

Two Big Media Holdouts Open Up

As a big fan of Web 2.0 and free and open access, I was excited today to see that two old-media holdouts, Sony BMG and the Wall Street Journal, took progressive steps toward rethinking their business models and opening up access to their content.

The WSJ announced today that it will open up free access to all of its editorials, op-eds, video interviews and commentary which were previously only viewable to paid subscription customers. No doubt this decision came, in part, from increased pressure and competition from the blogosphere. Although the Journal is not completely free yet, I am looking forward to accessing these free features and think the company will eventually discover what the NY Times did: although free, open access is clearly good for consumers, it is also good for business.

On the music front, Sony BMG, (Sony’s music division), announced today that it would finally rollout their music catalog without DRM, Digital Rights Management. Continue reading “Two Big Media Holdouts Open Up”

The Next Digital Decade

Bill Gates gave his last keynote speech as CEO of Microsoft this weekend at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.He had some interesting things to say about the future of technology and the last “digital decade” as well as the next one.

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The last decade was about the growth and proliferation of the PC (think about the huge success of Windows 95), and the advent of the internet: “We’ve made a lot of progress. The first digital decade has been a great success. Thousands of companies have worked together… this is just the beginning. There’s nothing holding us back from going much faster and further in the second digital decade.”

The next digital decade will be defined by the fact that: “People want to share content, ideas, community and entertainment”. The future of entertainment will be software driven and he emphasized the importance of mobile computing, and connecting, getting, creating, and sharing content on the go. Continue reading “The Next Digital Decade”