Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent — from by Donald Melanson
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From DSC:
This also nicely illustrates why I believe we need to use teams of specialists to create and deliver our learning materials (June 2009).
Royal Holloway to validate publisher Pearson’s degree — from the BBC
From DSC:
Many of the publishers already have teams of specialists in place; i.e. they’ve already set their tables (see the graphic I created below that represents where I believe ALL institutions of higher education need to get to — and as quickly as possible).
JK Rowling creates transmedia storytelling site Pottermore.com, dumps Amazon — from psfk.com by Piers Fawkes
Should you write an ebook? — from forbes.com by Nick Morgan
Excerpt:
Here are some of the current e-options that have sprung up around traditional publishing and self-publishing.
The rise of new e-book business models — from TrendBiz.net by futurist Thomas Frey
Experimenting our way to success – reinventing publishing models
Excerpt:
Futurist Thomas Frey: Amazon revolutionized book reading in 2007 when it introduced its Kindle book reader. Within the past three years, the explosive sale of book readers has caused a massive surge in the sale of e-books, already outpacing the sale of hardcover books, with a prediction by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that they will outsell paperbacks within the next year.
We are witnessing a major transformation of this industry. Within five years, the vast majority of all books sold will be e-books. Big box retailers like Barnes & Nobel and Borders will have shuttered most of their storefronts. The printing press industry, along with the craftsmen of ages past who have made a fine art of applying ink to paper, will be mothballing their machines. And the media, almost in unison, will begin writing the eulogy for this 500-year old industry.
But before we focus too much on what we’ve lost, we need to pay close attention to the other side of the equation. Digital book publishing will be an exciting new industry with truly amazing potential for growth.
Would you like a $49 electronic college textbook with lifetime updates? — from crunchgear.com by Scott Merrill
From DSC:
I was just talking about this idea earlier today at lunch. Why can’t a textbook be like/look like/act like/and be distributed more along the lines of an app from an online app store than a static, physical textbook? Why can’t someone purchase a lifetime stream of updates? Or at least an annual agreement for such a stream of updates for the next 12 months? Alternatively, perhaps after purchasing the original book, a person could opt in for an upgrade at some point (much life software)?
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[Concept] The new “textbook”: A multi-layered approach — from Daniel S. Christian
I’ve been thinking recently about new approaches to relaying — and engaging with — content in a “textbook”.
For a physical textbook
When opening up a physical textbook to a particular page, QR-like codes would be printed on the physical pages of the textbook. With the advent of augmented reality, such a mechanism would open up some new possibilities to interact with content for that page. For example, some overall characteristics about this new, layered approach:
For an electronic-based textbook
Advantages of this concept/model:
Addendum (5/26):
Borders lacks bidder for chain, sources say — Detroit Free Press
Borders Group, the bookstore operator looking to reorganize in bankruptcy, has so far failed to find a bidder for the entire chain, according to four people familiar with the matter.
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