- The Future of Book Publishing Business Models (Stephen Walli) — some good thoughts about the book publishing industry and ebooks. When does Amazon create the iPhone/Android app and the programme that will allow bookstores to receive a cut of every Kindle edition they sell? I scan the book’s in-store barcode with my smartphone, and I get the Kindle edition delivered, and the store gets its cut. Why is this different in concept than Borders on-line store being run on Amazon, or any of the independent book sellers that front through Amazon? It’s not the normal book mark-up, but people already browse bookstores and buy on Amazon. This is better than no revenue. (When was the last time you went to a travel agent?)
- Google Apps Enterprise Marketplace — this is sweet. It looks like the play is to become the home page for authenticated apps rather than to make commissions from selling the apps themselves. This may be the Google business model vs the Apple business model in a nutshell. (via Marc Hedlund)
- iPad Application Design — some fantastic notes about the kinds of UI design that iPad encourages. I’ve avoided covering The Second Coming of The JesusPhone but this is interesting because of the middle ground it stakes out between phone and laptop. The primary warning about designing for the iPad is: more screen space doesn’t mean more UI. You’ll be tempted to violate that principle, and you need to resist the temptation. It’s OK to have UI available to cover your app’s functionality, but a bigger screen doesn’t mean it should all be visible at once. Hide configuration UI until needed. Look like a viewer, and behave like an editor … There’s been a history of modes getting some bad press on the desktop. The issue is that they trade stability (things always being in exactly the same place in the UI, and not changing) for simplicity (not having too many controls to look through at once). On the iPad, it’s clear where the winning side of the balance is: simplicity. Modes are completely appropriate on this device. (via Marc Hedlund)
- The Howtoons Visual Creation Guide — we teach grammar and spelling in schools but not visual communication. This short booklet is a good start to remedying that. (via BoingBoing)
"iPad" entries
The iPad as a "bedtime computer"
The creator of the "A Story Before Bed" iPad app discusses tablets and the reading experience.
The online story-recording service A Story Before Bed has already reduced the distance between digital content and the book experience. Now, the company's new iPad app could close that gap completely. Co-founder Hillel Cooperman talks about his company's app and the broader implications of tablet computers in this short Q&A.
What brand of freedom would you like?
Apple's restrictions and Google's openness have more in common than you might think.
Apple is closed and Google is open, right? Not exactly. Marc Hedlund says Google is at least as restrictive about the data on its servers as Apple is about the apps in its App Store.
iPad and ebooks: Lots of unanswered questions
An iPad simulator isn't the same as the real device, and that's going to slow things down
Liza Daly says a host of unanswered questions about the iPad's ebook functionality coupled with the disconnect between simulators and hardware, will delay publishing innovation. But one upside: the iPad's hardware will ultimately benefit both native apps and web-based apps.
Play on the iPad: the Magic Circle and a marketplace
Justin Hall on the iPad's gaming possibilities and Apple's restrictions
The prospect of touching, moving, and grabbing your way through a game could open up all sorts of innovation on the iPad, but will developers feel limited by Apple's strict policies? Justin Hall examines the push and pull between the iPad's functionality and its closely-monitored app universe.
Is the "e" in ebooks the new blink tag?
How one vowel creates a limiting design paradigm
The first group/publisher/company/person who moves away from the ebook and to content — content that can be delivered to a variety of media, digital and non-digital, with display and style applied separate from and after content creation — wins.
The iPad needs its HyperCard
Easy to use content creation tools are key to the iPad's long-term success.
Dale Dougherty says that for the iPad to be something different, it must not be just a delivery platform but a creative one. It needs to offer professionals and amateurs an opportunity to create a unique experience with interactive media.
News from Appland
A look at the early momentum of iPad applications
Carsonified — a site that proclaims on its home page, “We’re hugely passionate about the web” — declared the death of the web this week in, “Bye Bye Web, Hello Apps.” The post makes the case for mobile apps, especially iPhone apps, and their advantages over web apps. I certainly won’t be calling web apps dead for a while, but I’m impressed by how much activity has been unleashed by the app world. Here are some stories from Appland this week.
Trapping content on the iPad won't work, even if it's pretty
Wired's latest iPad demo looks great, but the app doesn't want you to leave
Wired is leading the magazine-to-iPad charge with a great looking app, but it's also reverting to some back lock-in habits. Instead of trapping content and readers within a space — a true exercise in futility — Wired and other publishers should go the other way with their iPad offerings: create more web hooks, not less.
Four short links: 10 March 2010
Publishing Business, Google Apps Marketplace, iPad Design, and Visual Communication
Making the most of the iPad life preserver
I was very happy to hear less fear at last week's TOC conference than I've heard at previous shows. Publishers, while still concerned about their futures, seem to be adjusting to the prospects of a much less book-centric world. A couple of years ago I'd hear standard complaints like "people don't read any more," "customers would rather surf than read,"…