Publishing

Geekfest 2008

I seem to be one of those not-so-early adopters who live vicariously through my friends who either don’t have kids so have toys or have kids but also have an addiction to the latest gadgets. At any rate I can’t wait for one of them to start using….

“The Livescribe paper-based computing platforma smartpen, paper, software applications, and development toolswill be available online beginning in Q1 2008. The smartpen will be less than $200. Additional dot paper will be available at prices comparable to standard paper products.”

China's Sustainability Crisis

Without paper, no books. Without books, no supply chain. And without a supply chain, there’s no source of the revenue China needs to clean up the printing industry and make its way to a sustainable model.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the proverbial canary in the mineshaft for Chinese book buyers who are facing list prices nearly double that of the sixth book in the series.

Spiderman Finds a New Web

As Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Publishing, (wryly?) understates, kids these days just aren’t finding “that spinner rack of comic books sitting in the local five-and-dime any more” (cut to kids all over the world reading and re-reading that last sentence in abject confusion. Blank stares are misted with tears of non-comprehension).

So Marvel is going to post old versions of classic comics online to be viewed but not downloaded. Subscribers will have access to a number of backlist issues simply by paying a monthly fee.