smart piece by Mike Cane enthusing on the increasingly talked about apple tablet.

thanks to Mike Lee, here’s a YouTube version of the video described in the previous post.

this film loads very very slowly but i think it’s the most exciting vision of the book of the future since Apple’s Knowledge Navigator in 1987.
interestingly, the film also includes an elegant solution to the question of how (at least during this transitional period) bookstores might participate in the sales of ebooks. note this idea is more practical in Europe where Amazon and other online retailers are not allowed to compete on price.
and for history’s sake here’s a link to the Knowledge Navigator video and Wikipedia entry

Michael Jensen, the always-ahead-of-the-curve Director of the National Academies Press gave a stunningly original speech at the recent AAUP (American Association of University Presses) which, in his words, “allowed me to talk about the two issues that matter most to me: saving scholarly publishing, and saving civilization. In 16 minutes.”
Part 1

Part 2

Newseek has published an idiosyncratic list of fifty books under the title “What to Read Now. And Why” which is different than last week’s list of the “top 100 books.” both relate to our inaugural post in 2004 in which we asked people to name the three books that most influenced their world view.

jonathan harris, one of the most brilliant designer/thinkers around has just launched an awesome new project — Sputnik Observatory.

In an as yet unpublished manuscript, historian Marshall Poe writes: “A book is a machine for focusing attention; the Internet is machine for diffusing it.” I can see how he gets there, particularly if it’s a P-book rather than an E-book, but it raises a bunch of interesting questions. If true, what are the implications . . . . ?

Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor has created an open source documentary about copyright and remix culture. The entire film can be downloaded from here.

this is cross-posted from Bookfutures, the blog of Chris Meade, the director of IF:Book London
IF:BOOK ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST FICTIONAL STIMULUS
At last an end to those bored bookgroup blues!
You love books but are interested if sceptical about what ebooks, iPhones and laptops might do for literature? Re-ignite your passion for reading this summer – make sure you get if:book’s FICTIONAL STIMULUS, an amazing experience in digital reading which will be delivered to you by email, download, webpages and post in six segments and added extra bits.
EXPERIENCE THE STORIES OF TOMORROW TODAY!
Presented by novelist Kate Pullinger, including new writing by Cory Doctorow, Naomi Alderman, Kate Pullinger and poetry from Jacob Polley, Daljit Nagra, Eva Salzman plus new media renderings of classics by Rudyard Kipling, Williams Blake, Shakespeare and more, the FICTIONAL STIMULUS is an introduction to the future of reading in the 21st Century and beyond.
Produced by if:book, featuring newly commissioned work from our groundbreaking project MOTFOTHOTBOOK (Museum of the Future of the History of the Book) and designed by Toni Le Busque, the FICTIONAL STIMULUS is for bookgroups and individual readers who know what they love about books, and want to see what might be gained from new ways of reading.
The FICTIONAL STIMULUS includes a signed limited edition handmade ‘menu’, a complete downloadable ebook and links to a range of specially commissioned litchbits from writers asked to imagine the future of stories.
The FICTIONAL STIMULUS will give you plenty of fodder for a fantastic bookgroup or discussion with friends, and there’s the chance to WIN A PRIZE by sending in your own stories, poems and opinions on the future of reading.
to sign up either leave an email in the comments section here or on the Bookfutures page