Jenn Webb
Jenn Webb is a veteran of the newspaper industry turned freelance scribe, editor and researcher. She is a nerd with a passion for publishing, technology and cultural disruption.
The complexity of designing for everywhere
Author Rachel Hinman on the future of mobile design and UX.
In her new book The Mobile Frontier, author Rachel Hinman (@Hinman) says the mobile design space is a wide-open frontier, much like space exploration or the Wild West, where people have room to “explore and invent new and more human ways for people to interact with information.”
In the following interview, Hinman talks about the changing landscape of…
Publishing News: Amazon continues its trek toward total retail domination
Luring students, looking at publishing's ecosystem, and using big data for big publishing.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the publishing space this week.
Amazon targets students with print textbook rentals
In headline news this week, Amazon expanded its digital textbook rental program to include analog books. Students can now rent physical paper textbooks, complete with prior…
Commerce Weekly: Starbucks gives Square’s mobile payment a big push
Square and Starbucks unite, same-day delivery from eBay and checking in on the mobile wallet wars.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the commerce space this week.
Square gets Starbucks, cash and Howard Schultz
Square announced a new partnership with Starbucks this week. Peter Ha at TechCrunch reports:
“Beginning this fall, Square will begin processing all U.S. credit and debit…
Publishing News: Consequences and questions from the Twitter kerfuffle
Twitter suspends an account, Time Inc.'s new chief has a consumer plan, and ereader technology needs a "kick in the pants"
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the publishing space this week.
20-20 hindsight
On Sunday, Twitter suspended British journalist Guy Adams’ account after he tweeted NBC executive Gary Zenkel’s email address. Much kerfuffle ensued, Adams wrote a letter to Twitter, Twitter’s…
Commerce Weekly: Apple buys into NFC security
Apple to buy AuthenTec, PayPal teams up with a newspaper, and Google puts its Wallet in the cloud.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the commerce space this week.
Apple looking to secure NFC?
Further fueling the rumors the next gen iPhone will include NFC (there hardly seems to be much doubt at this point), Apple announced this week that it will…
Publishing News: Self-publishing to be the option of first resort?
Mark Coker talks publishing disruption, the DOJ gets snippy, Robin Sloan programs a book review, and NFC gets a dispenser.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention this week in the publishing space.
Self-publishing disruption
Suw Charman-Anderson at Forbes began running an interview series with Smashwords’ founder Mark Coker this week. The first in the series addressed the disruption of self-publishing in the traditional publishing world. Coker says the traditional publishing model is going to be turned…
Commerce Weekly: Square disrupts, PayPal shrugs
Square's frictionless payment doesn't worry PayPal, NFC gets hacked, and mobile payments head to the Olympics.
A look at Square’s new payment app and why PayPal isn’t concerned, an NFC security hack is demoed at Black Hat, and Visa takes mobile payments to the 2012 Summer Olympics. (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O’Reilly and PayPal.)
Publishing News: B&N embraces the web
Nook gets webby, Baldur Bjarnason gets angry, and publishing gets surveyed.
Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the publishing space this week.
B&N launches Nook for Web
Just last week, Valobox co-founder Anna Lewis (@anna_cn) wrote a post about the strengths of the web and lamented that ebook publishers have “remained oblivious” to the advantages…
Commerce Weekly: Amazon chases immediate gratification
Amazon's business strategy is showing, JC Penney CEO drops strategy bomb, and PayPal's strategy turns mobile.
Changes of heart in its war against state taxes illuminates Amazon’s next strategy, JC Penney will have mobile checkouts by the end of 2013, and PayPal acquires Card.io (Commerce Weekly is produced as part of a partnership between O’Reilly and PayPal.)
Publishing News: Subscription experiments and the dangers of paving cow paths
Subscription sales models tested, a "holy trinity" of web opportunities missed, and publishing's future assessed.
Here are a few stories from the publishing space that caught my attention this week.
Publishers test subscription model waters
TED Books launched a new app this week, TED Books for iOS, that not only allows them to sell directly to consumers, but also to…
