The first iPad only novel is coming -- with literal bells and whistles

From DSC:
The idea of rich, interactive, multimedia-based textbooks comes to mind when I see this type of posting….talk about the power of digital storytelling!    🙂

Also…for a bit of humor here:

Organize e-books in iTunes

Organize e-books in iTunes — from Macworld.com by Kirk McElhearn

With the arrival of iOS 4, the iPad, and iTunes 9.2, iTunes can now manage e-books for syncing to Apple’s iBooks app. iTunes accepts two types of book files: those in ePub format, and PDF files. Organizing e-books in iTunes can be a bit baffling, however. Here’s a look at how you can keep your e-book library spic and span.

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Blackboard and Follett Higher Education Group partner to integrate digital texts with online course experience
Blackboard Learn also to feature CafeScribe for social networking

ORLANDO, Fla., July 14, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —

Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) and Follett Higher Education Group today announced a partnership to give students the ability to purchase and use digital textbooks directly in Blackboard Learn(TM) with a free integration, available today, that brings interactive texts into the course experience.

The integration streamlines the way that instructors assign texts and the ease with which students can access and use them. It also provides access to Follett’s CafeScribe(R), an e-textbook and social networking platform that gives students and instructors the ability to read, highlight, annotate, share notes, and form campus and worldwide study groups among a range of CafeScribe features that make digital texts more interactive.

Zinio, NACS Media Solutions Partner to Create First Collegiate Digital Newsstand — from prnewswire.com
Newsstand will offer 3,000-plus digital magazines and books of interest to college students through web portal. Options available for college stores across U.S. who wish to share in revenue.

NEW YORK and OBERLIN, Ohio, July 12 /PRNewswire/ — Zinio, the world’s leader in digital publishing, technology, distribution, and services, and NACS Media Solutions (NMS), a subsidiary of the National Association of College Stores (NACS), today announced a partnership to develop the first all-digital online newsstand directed specifically at the college market. Featuring 3,000-plus magazines and books suitable for reading through Zinio’s UNITY™ platform, which enables on-line or offline access on any PC, iPhone, iPad, and upcoming supported devices, the newsstand will break new ground by taking the world of reading to the platforms most popular with the Digital Generation.

The new collegiate digital newsstand, which will carry “Powered by Zinio” branding, will include a revenue-sharing arrangement for NACS members who wish to promote the site to their local college students. At a future point, Zinio and NMS anticipate developing private-label versions for NACS members who decide to deploy and promote their own digital newsstands.

Some advice for authors on self-publishing and ebooks — from teleread.com

and

New vanity publishing? — from publishingguru.blogspot.com

It’s a pretty good system for everyone involved in the making of a best-seller. Efficiency, ease of promotion, a pre-determined outcome, and everyone gets paid, even though about half of those hardcovers will eventually be composted, too. If you can publish a best-seller, you’d be crazy to publish anything else.

If you are at the bottom end of the mid-list scale, you’d be crazy to give your book license away at current industry standards. Let’s examine the three publisher advantages in light of the modern digital/print-on-demand landscape.

Inscribe Digital launches ebook wholesale delivery platform for publishers — from teleread.com

From the press release:

Isolation Network, Inc., parent company to INgrooves (a leading provider of digital distribution, marketing and promotion services to the global music & video community via its ONE Digital platform), officially announced the name of their new digital publishing division, INscribe Digital. INscribe Digital has inked deals with all major domestic eBook retailers and is now set up to deliver digital eBook content worldwide for a number of independent publishing companies and authors via its ONE Digital platform. The announcement was made today by Founder & CEO, Robb McDaniels.

INscribe Digital provides global digital distribution, content conversion and optimization services to large and small publishers. INscribe Digital’s retail network is quickly expanding; they are an approved delivery partner of Apple and have deals with Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. Content deals have also been consummated with several independent publishers and authors such as Gaby Press, Postgraduate Medicine, 80/20 Publishing and RLR Associates. Currently, the INscribe Digital catalog covers multiple genres including education, children’s, thriller, fiction, nonfiction, memoir and young adult.

E-Publishers to Watch 2010

The future of publishing(?) — from InsideHigherEd.com by G. Rendell

One of the little things I like about the National Research Council’s recent report on the future of agriculture is the way it’s published and priced. You not only get what you pay for, you pay for what you get.

Want a bound copy plus a PDF? That’s $76.50.

Just the bound copy is $58.50 if you order it on the web.

Just the PDF? $50.00.

A PDF of a single chapter? Download it for $4.10.

CafeScribe.com

MyScribe

What is an eBook?
An eBook is a print book that has been converted to an electronic format and made available for reading on your computer.

What is the difference between an eBook and a CaféScribe Digital Textbook?
The CaféScribe digital textbook is an eBook with multiple features, supporting multiple functionality that other eBooks do not have. For example, annotating and note sharing are two of the features found in CaféScribe digital textbooks but are not part of other eBooks.

— from http://support.cafescribe.com/Content/etextbook/etextbook_faq.htm

See also:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/05/17/cafescribe-expands-social-networking-features.aspx

Follett has released an enhanced search and social networking update to its CaféScribe digital textbook platform.

CaféScribe is a Web-based system for finding and purchasing textbooks in digital format. After creating an account, the user can browse titles by various criteria, purchase selections through the online store or participating campus bookstore, and organize texts with provided thumbnail and listing tools. The latest version includes expanded search options for people or groups, plus support for sharing of notes, ideas, and documents between students, instructors, and the CaféScribe community.

http://picasaweb.google.com/marie.lebert/Booknology#

Sideways.com -- taking digital storytelling and publishing to the next level

About Sideways

Sideways, the publisher of experimental app magazines Sideways and TapTilt, transforms print into immersive experiences on digital tablets and mobile devices. Leveraging unique multi-media capabilities, Sideways goes beyond ebook functionality, changing storytelling and the way we consume books and magazines. Developing original content with forward-thinking publishers and authors, the company’s publishing platform augments text with rich media, adds multiple levels of reference, and enhances reading with mobile features and social media. Sideways takes advantage of interactivity to enrich both the solitary and social experience of reading – from fiction and non-fiction to “how to” and guides. Additionally, Sideways is the creator of Author App, a mobile application for authors designed to build their brands, engage their fans and expand their presence. Based in Cleveland, Sideways was founded in 2010 by Charles Stack and Eliza Wing. Stack started the first online bookstore in 1992 – Books.com – which was acquired by Barnes and Noble. Wing was formerly the CEO of Cleveland.com and editor at Rolling Stone, Books.com, and New York Woman.  For more information, visit www.sideways.com.

Also see:

TapTilt.com

From DSC:
Do you hear the roar of the engines? (i.e. the pace of technological innovation is exploding and the racetrack is full of lightning-fast cars.)

If educational publishers would publish content to be iPad ready, can you imagine the power of this type of an interface/”chalkboard of the future” in a professor’s hands? He/she could:

  • Intuitively and efficiently locate an item
  • Drag it over to the main viewing are
  • Enlarge a table of data and then annotate it
  • Quickly shrink a graphic and move it to the side of the screen after discussing it
  • Annotate a photo or a website
  • Send the captured image of what he/she had been displaying and working on to devices that can “hear” that signal
  • Etc. etc. etc.

..

so-touch.com


From DSC:
Also relevant here are the following images I created a while back:

One part of the board could provide downloadable, discipline-specific templates

Potential resources for the new "chalkboard" - compliments of the publishers

Multimedia, Technology Shine in Educational Product Awards — Educational Publishing [the official blog of the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP)]

Today’s kids are growing up in a world where technology is ubiquitous and connectivity is almost constant. Companies responsible for creating the tools with which these “digital natives” learn face the tall order of making kids’ lives inside the classroom more like their lives outside the classroom. By incorporating technology and multimedia into their products, this year’s finalists in the AEP Awards program do just that, exemplifying the quality and innovation that can be achieved when thinking in terms of the 21st Century classroom.

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