McMaster University purchases Espresso Book Machine

According to an article on TheSpec.com, McMaster University’s Title bookstore is now one of the nine owners of an Espresso Book Machine. The bookstore received their machine last week and since then employees have been learning how to operate it, as they prepare for a large showing of customers at their January launch. When the machine is in full operation, consumers will be able to choose from over one million public domain-books whose copyrights have expired. Additionally, the university plans to buy the rights to publish chapters of textbooks which would allow students to save money and create an opportunity for professors to combine material from multiple sources. Local authors in the community could also benefit from the university’s Espresso Book Machine because it will allow them to publish their books one copy at a time via an initial fee followed by a per page copy fee. McMaster University is the second college store to acquire an Espresso Book Machine, with the other being at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Google Book Search Settlement

An article from Book Business Magazine offers some insight into how the U.S. publishing industry could be favorably affected by the Google Book Search agreement. Rights holders will see the benefit from the establishment of a Books Rights Registry that would provide them with revenue from sales, advertising, subscriptions, and per-page printing via a 63:37 split with Google. While consumers could benefit from the ability to search the full text of copyrighted books and then choose from purchasing options such as digital, hard copy, and by page. Schools and libraries would also benefit from Google’s subscription service offerings. What is perhaps less clear is how this will affect booksellers that occupy the retail space – from the local college store to Amazon, this could be a potential challenge to handling retail transactions. Others also see this agreement as potentially disrupting competition. According to an article on Bookseller.com, the UK Booksellers Association warns that if the agreement is brought to the U.K. it could create “a de facto monopoly” by removing competition from the market and denying customers a choice. The association adds, "This recent agreement, if ever adopted in the UK and Ireland, would have a hugely damaging effect on the publishing and bookselling industry and, consequently, for authors and the public as well."

American University creates best practices guide for using copyrighted material in the classroom

An article from The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses a new guide called “Code of Best Practices in Fair USE for Media-Literacy Education.” The guide was created by American University’s Center for Social Media and provides educators using media literacy in the classroom an interpretation of the copyright doctrine of fair use. The document does not offer the limits of fair use rights but instead it describes how the creators of the document and their counsel believe rights should apply in certain recurring situations based on prior cases and legal interpretation. The authors of the guide hope that their work will help professors understand their rights better under current law. The document appears to encourage a more broad interpretation of fair use based on a set of five principles. There is an associated video that explains the purpose of the guide that is worth viewing to understand the perspective from which the guide was written. Many might not agree with the broad interpretation of the fair use doctrine, but that, in part is the point of this report and why it was created. Fair use is a concept that is arguably not well understood by faculty or students. In an increasingly digital context, where media literacy is a critical competency for future citizens, the bounds of fair use lack clarity and are open to a myriad range of interpretation. This report provides a stake and attempt to clarify fair use rights from one perspective. It will be interesting to see what happens next – particularly as course materials themselves become increasingly digital.

The Pirate Bay tracks over 20 million users

According to an article on Torrent Freak, The Pirate Bay, the world’s largest bittorrent tracker has reached a new milestone and now tracks more than 20 million users-- a gain of 14 million users in one year's time. Last November, it was reported that the site was tracking about 6 million users and a year before that 3 million.

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, credits the increase to the continual software and hardware improvements and notes that lack of budget is the only thing hindering the amount of users that can be tracked. “I wish we had lots and lots of money so we could just buy like 10 servers and another gigabit.”

The site aims to increase the amount of users to 24 million by Christmas eve while other torrent sites such as isoHunt and Miniova are also breaking visitor records each week.

Study reveals that educating students on P2P could reduce illegal file sharing

An interesting article posted on Inside Higher Ed discusses preliminary findings from an in-depth study of student’s downloading habits. The study is funded by the Digital Citizen Project and involves monitoring the Internet use of students living on campus at Illinois State University. The students were monitored for three separate months and to date only data from the first month has been analyzed. One finding from the study reveals that many students are simply not aware of the difference between illegal and legal peer-to-peer file sharing which leads researchers to believe that the true issue with file sharing is lack of education.

Warren Arbogast, founder and president of Boulder Management Group and member of Digital Citizen Project’s management team said, “The one thing we do know is that we cannot assume the students know more than they know.”

Arbogast went on to say that file sharing should not be thought of as a technological issue that can be solved by installing the right monitors because that mindset leads to a race between students and the industry to outdo one another with new and innovative ways to share music and video. Arbogast noted, “I think the bottom line for me is that this ... now is less an IT issue than it is an education issue. We’ve got a problem with theft, and I think the question is do we want to try and do something about it?”

Once all data from the study has been analyzed, the findings could provide insight into the types of interventions that could be used to reduce illegal file sharing.

University of Louisville partners with Sprint to offer pre-loaded Smartphones to medical students

According to a recent article, the University of Louisville has entered into an agreement with Sprint to provide medical students the option to purchase discounted pre-loaded Smartphones to enhance their education and improve patient care. The Smartphones will provide the students with many benefits including: fast access to medical information and drug reference guides, a virtual library of textbooks and medical references, as well as the advantage of carrying one all-encompassing device rather than multiple devices such as a phone, pager, etc. The article notes that the use of wireless technology in the medical field is growing rapidly and this program will help prepare the students for the future.

Edward Halperin, dean of the School of Medicine noted, "We believe it is worth investigating whether or not giving medical students these tools and technology will enhance their knowledge and sharpen their decision making. Ultimately, our graduates will require these skills as outstanding physicians. It is important to assess the role of technology in the acquisition of clinical skills."

Search traffic for Kindle soars after Oprah’s endorsement

According to an Advertising Age report, since Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of the Kindle on October 24 there has been a significant increase in Kindle interest. The article reports that after the show aired, search traffic for the word “Kindle” went up 479% that day and even more the following day. Additionally, traffic from Oprah.com to Amazon.com increased a remarkable 15, 458% from October 23 to October 24. Traffic to Amazon.com was also up 6% compared to the previous Friday and given that Amazon is one of the top 20 internet sites, a 6% increase can mean hundreds of thousands of visitors. Amazon has not released sales numbers for the Kindle however if the search volume and web traffic figures are any indicator, it looks as though Oprah’s endorsement could significantly boost Kindle sales this holiday season.

E-book experiment at CSU-Monterey Bay

A professor at CSU-Monterey Bay is conducting an e-book experiment with the help of Sony in an effort to encourage students to read more. According to an article from the Monterey Herald, Sony has donated 30 digital book readers to be used in a first-year seminar at the university. Half of the students in the class will use the digital book reader and the other half will read printed copies of a novel. The students will then be tested on their reading comprehension. Data from the testing will be analyzed to find out whether the digital book enhances reading skills. Professor Juan Gutierrez hopes that a digital reading device will be what it takes to stimulate students that are growing up in an increasingly digitized world to read more. Gutierrez commented, “We need the students to read more, and we need the students to read better.”

Lenovo introduces new mini-notebook for education market

On Tuesday, Lenovo introduced a new mini notebook designed as an introductory mobile computer for grades K-12 and as a secondary device for higher education. Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10e netbook weighs less than three pounds and will be the first netbook to feature an instant-on platform giving users immediate access to basic functions such as e-mail, web browsing, and word processing. The netbook also offers hardware, educational software, and warranty options allowing schools to customize the computers to meet their needs. Could this be the start of a race between Ultra Mobile PC’s and e-Readers?

E Ink’s New Display

On Thursday, Teleread posted an article with an impressive YouTube video demonstrating E Ink’s latest enhancements in the AM 300 developer’s kit. The new technology features fast animation that could be used to animate advertisements in e-newspapers or graphics in textbooks. In the future, if this technology becomes available in e-textbooks, students are sure to benefit from animated demonstrations that further explain the text.

Google reaches settlement with the Authors Guild and AAP over Google Book Search

Earlier this week, Google announced a settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) to expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search. More details of the settlement can be found in an article posted on Tuesday in Publishers Weekly. Another article also appears in this week’s Campus Marketplace.

The Official Google Blog notes that the agreement is truly groundbreaking for three reasons. “First it will give readers digital access to millions of in-copyright books; second, it will create a new market for authors and publishers to sell their works; and third, it will further the efforts of our library partners to preserve and maintain their collections while making books more accessible to students, readers and academic researchers.”

The settlement must be approved by the court but includes a $125 million payment by Google as well as the establishment of a new licensing system allowing copyright owners to register their works and receive a share of subscriptions, book sales, and ad revenues.

However, if the settlement goes through as stated, some parties may not participate. On Thursday, Harvard University Library announced that they find the terms of the settlement unsatisfactory and will not allow their in-copyright works to be scanned. Harvard’s concern includes questions regarding access to the scanned books, prices charged for access, and the quality of the scanned books. University spokesman John D. Longbrake noted that Harvard participation will be dependent on the result of the settlement and they may decide to join “if the settlement between Google and publishers contains more reasonable terms for the University.”

Christian Science Monitor to end print edition

According to an article in The New York Times, after a century in publication, The Christian Science Monitor will be the first national newspaper to discontinue its weekday print edition and move to online only in April 2009. John Yemma, The Monitor’s editor explains, “We have the luxury – the opportunity – of making a leap that most newspapers will have to make in the next five years.”

This development provides another signal that digital forms of reading are gaining ground and other newspapers are sure to track The Monitor’s success as they determine the future of their publications. Last year, in an interview with Arthur Sulzberger, owner, chairman, and publisher of The New York Times, he suggested that they too could move to online only in five years. Sulzberger said, "I really don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don't care either.” Sulzberger later clarified his statement by saying, “So let me clear the air on this issue. It is my heartfelt view that newspapers will be around—in print—for a long time. But I also believe that we must be prepared for that judgment to be wrong. My five-year timeframe is about being ready to support our news, advertising and other critical operations on digital revenue alone ...whenever that time comes."

The change to online only versions of newspapers could disappoint faithful subscribers but as John Yemma explains the transition is inevitable, “Longtime readers love coffee and a newspaper. So do I, there’s nothing like it. But everyone, sooner or later, is going to have to make the transition, and that’s recognized.” The same can probably be said of textbooks and course materials. If the shift to digital is inevitable and if it begins to have an impact within the next 3-5 years, will your store be ready for the transition?

The DMCA turns 10

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the passing of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In commemoration of the event, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released a new report titled, “Unintended Consequences: Ten Years Under the DMCA”. DMCA has not always been well received by higher education, and as the EFF notes in their report, there have been a number of specific instances where the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was not used against copyright pirates but instead against legitimate activities conducted by consumers, scientists, and businesses. Over the years, EFF has fought against many DCMA suits in the name of free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights. However, a posting on the Wired Blog provides a different perspective on the DCMA saying that it is often misunderstood and although it has caused problems and abuses, the internet would not be where it is today if it were not for the law. The posting notes,

“Blogs, search engines, e-commerce sites, video, and social-networking portals are thriving today thanks in large part to the notice-and-takedown regime ushered in by the much-maligned copyright overhaul.”

The posting goes on to say that even Google which also owns You Tube credits the DMCA for its success.

In the future, Congress could reopen the DMCA which will create an opportunity for reform but also an opportunity for the MPAA and RIAA to influence the law. We have already seen instances where the RIAA has influenced recent legislation, such as the reauthorization of the higher education act, which will now require institutions to perform some of the policing function for content providers that they have previously avoided. A reopening of the DMCA could have significant implications for DRM, and digital course materials. This presents both opportunities and challenges for the college store community, as well as much of the rest of higher education related to digital content and intellectual property.

Information on the basics of the DMCA, as well as links to the DMCA itself, are available through the UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy, as well as other sources.

Could Oprah help boost Kindle sales?

On Friday, Oprah Winfrey announced on her talk show that her “Favorite New Gadget” is the Amazon Kindle. Oprah declared, “It is absolutely my new favorite thing in the world”. Oprah went on to describe the Kindle as “life-changing for me” and “the wave of the future”. Oprah gave each member of her audience their own Kindle and provided viewers with a promotional discount code to save money on their purchase. Oprah’s endorsement could be just what Amazon needs to boost sales in the upcoming holiday season. To date, Amazon has not released any information regarding Kindle sales and according to the market research firm, Codex Group, it could be because there is a difference between the hype the Kindle has created and the amount of actual purchases. Oprah has proved many times in the past that she can significantly influence consumer product sales through her annual “Favorite Things” show which has brought overnight success to many small companies and through her famous book club which has put many authors on The New York Times best-seller list.

On Friday’s show, Oprah also spoke about her desire to use the Kindle for textbooks at the school she opened in South Africa as well as her prediction for the future.
“I was telling my head of school in South Africa about it because my little girls are 12 and 13 years old and they have 60 pounds of books on their back. I’m trying to figure out a way to get all of their textbooks downloaded to the Kindle so they do not have to carry their textbooks around.” Oprah went on to say, “I do believe this is the future for academia, period.”

We look forward to finding out more about Oprah’s influence on the Kindle sales.

Mag Rack Entertainment buys on-demand television network

Mag Rack Entertainment is an interesting new company to take note of. The company was formed this year by two entertainment and technology entrepreneurs and in October they announced the purchase of Lifeskool on-demand television from Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings. According to Lifeskool’s website,

“Lifeskool is the only FREE On Demand television network dedicated to helping you make the most of your life with exclusive content that inspires and informs.”

The on-demand service is offered on the web and also on TV through certain cable providers. Currently the shows are updated each week with 13 categories to choose from including: Cooking, Health & Fitness, Music, and Video Gaming. However, we may see enhancements to these offerings soon as the network develops under its new owners.

New e-book application for the iPhone

According to Apple designer, Sebastiaan de With’s blog, Apple will soon release Classics, a new e-book application for the iPhone featuring some great enhancements to the other applications currently available. Classics' interface is designed to allow users to read comfortably in any light including the bright afternoon sun. The application also includes custom book covers and 3D page-turning animation. Classics will include 12 books when it is released and additional books will be offered via free updates.

Speed-reader lives in Sony storefront to promote new e-reader

At the beginning of October, Sony launched a nation-wide campaign known as Reader Revolution to promote the release of the new PRS-700BC e-reader next month. Since then, Dave Farrow, a speed-reader and memory expert has been living in a NYC storefront reading books on the e-reader. For each page Farrow reads, Sony will donate an e-book library of 100 classics to a school. The first 100 schools to download their e-books will also receive five e-book readers. Sony has even set up a live webcam in the window with both interior and street views that is pretty entertaining.

Houston bookstore begins nationwide book drive following Hurricane Ike

Recently the Blue Willow Bookshop in West Houston began a nationwide book drive to replace the school library books that were lost as a result of Hurricane Ike. The drive focuses on three local schools which each lost more than 75% of their book collections. The bookstore hopes that with the help of booksellers, publishers and many others, they will be able to collect more than 1,000 books by December 1. For more information on the effort and to find out how you can contribute, please visit Blue Willow Bookshop.

E-textbooks could help reduce back pain for college students

A recent study conducted by Boston University reveals that 85% of college students experience back pain from the weight of books in their backpacks. Dr. Karen Jacobs, one of the researchers of the study, recommends that a backpack weigh no more than 10-15% of a student’s body weight and that students carry only what they need. However, a few textbooks can easily add up to more than the recommended percentage never mind the additional weight of a laptop and notebooks. It is also not easy for students to only carry a minimal amount when they have tight schedules or live on large campuses and can not return to their rooms easily. One solution to this problem might be digitalization. In the future, students may find that e-textbooks help them reduce the amount of weight they are required to carry around in their backpack.

Flexplay brings convenience to consumers with “No-Return DVD Rentals”

If you have recently shopped at a Staples store or a Hudson Newsstand at the airport you may have seen Flexplay’s “No-Return DVD Rentals”. Recently, Flexplay Entertainment began offering time-limited DVDs in airports, convenience stores and travel plazas. Flexplay’s strategy focuses on convenience and targets consumers who rarely rent or purchase DVD’s by reaching those consumers in places they already shop. In a posting on Flexplay’s website, Joe Fuller, Executive Vice President of Marketing explains,

“Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of renting a DVD and returning it unwatched, or paying fees for late or lost discs, or not having any new movies to watch because the old ones were not sent back. Our mission is to provide a more convenient and efficient DVD rental experience that gives the customer complete flexibility.”

Flexplay’s DVDs offer the equivalent of a two-day movie rental without the need to return the DVD after viewing because it simply stops working. The customer is in control of the rental because the DVD is activated by the customer when the sealed package is opened not when the DVD is received. The DVD stops working two days after it is opened due to an adhesive in the DVD that oxidizes when exposed to air making the disc unreadable by a DVD player. For added convenience, the DVD’s can be recycled when they become unplayable and unopened DVD’s are designed to work for one year.

Harvard Medical School uses the Kindle for medical education

A posting on the Geek Doctor blog reports that Harvard Medical School is the first medical school to implement Kindle support for 20,000 educational resources. By using the school’s Mycourses website, users can send any Word or PDF document to their Kindle for 10 cents per document or for free if they choose to download the documents to their PC and then transfer to the Kindle via USB cable. Some students will even receive a free Kindle during the pilot. The posting goes on to say that this green alternative could cut down on the thousands of dollars spent on paper for printing course documents at the University. We look forward to hearing the reviews from this initiative.

Results of CDW-G’s study - "The 21st-Century Campus: Are We There Yet?"

Last week, CDW-Government, Inc. announced the results of its recent study titled, "The 21st-Century Campus: Are We There Yet?". The study examined both the current and future role of technology in higher education and produced many interesting findings. One interesting portion of the news release reveals that regardless of major, students feel that campus technology is a key factor when selecting schools and believe it is critical for their chosen professions. Additionally, according to independent research conducted in a 2006 study, "Are they Really Ready to Work?”, employers agree that technology skills are increasingly more important and colleges should strive to develop those skills in their students. However, the study found that only 33% of faculty say that technology is fully integrated on their campuses, and that most students lack exposure to common workplace collaborative technologies such as video and web conferencing.

How do your schools compare? Are students exposed to workplace collaborative technologies on campus before entering the workforce? What might the college store’s role be in helping students and campuses with this technology/training challenge? Is there a potential product or service opportunity?

Follow up on e-books and law schools

In regards to an earlier posting, last week The Pendulum featured a follow-up article on the meeting of law schools, book publishers, Amazon and Sony that was held in Seattle on September 27. The meeting allowed for discussion on the future of learning and the use of electronic books for law schools. The article notes that Amazon did not attend as planned but Sony and Adobe did have several representatives present. The article goes on to say that before decisions can be made, educators will need to learn more about the effectiveness and the capabilities of e-reader technology to determine if it serves a desirable and educational purpose. Elon Law professor, Steve Friedland commented, “Are we going to achieve anything or are we just going to add bells and whistles?” The article did not mention if another meeting has been scheduled.

Gonzaga Bookstore uses Amazon to purchase textbooks

An article posted on the Gonzaga bulletin last week provides another example of how a bookstore is working to make textbooks more affordable for students. Last year, the bookstore implemented a new pricing model to reflect true market price and give students better book prices upfront as well as greater returns when the books are sold back. Recently, the bookstore has also begun buying books from Amazon to offer even lower prices to the students. Purchasing the books from Amazon allows the store to charge students less for the books because the actual textbook cost is less and the store can still make the same profit as before. Purchasing the books through Amazon can be challenging because as Gonzaga Bookstore Director, Scott Franz mentions,

"The book market is very competitive so we try to get online and acquire the lower priced books as early as possible. We want Gonzaga students to enjoy the lowest price advantage and do our best to beat students from other schools to the market."

Do any of your stores purchase textbooks from Amazon?

NACS Media Solutions seeks proposals for Print-on-Demand solution

Today NACS Media Solutions (NMS) sent out a RFP to vendors seeking proposals for both local/regional and in-store Print-on-Demand (POD) solutions. Print-on-Demand services are a critical component of the NMS digital distribution strategy, and are essential to meeting consumer choice for the print format. As a service aggregator, NMS desires to have one or more business partners that can help us achieve a strategic objective of offering Print-on-Demand functionality through our commerce hub, subsequently delivering print format content to consumers in 24 to 48 hours. The desired solution must be scalable, cost effective and easy for stores to implement. Any selected solution must also significantly enhance the customer service experience. If you are interested in finding out more about the RFP or have any questions, please e-mail Mark at mnelson@nacs.org

TextbookTorrents.com shut down

Last week there was progress in the quest to end textbook piracy when the Textbook Torrents website was officially shut down in fear of a lawsuit. As noted in a previous posting, the website encouraged students to scan their textbooks into an electronic format so that other students could illegally download copies of the text. The welcome message on the website read,

“There are few scanned textbooks in circulation and that’s what we’re here to change. Chances are you have some textbooks sitting around, so pick up a scanner and start scanning it.”

According to a posting on TorrentFreak, a blog dedicated to news about BitTorrent, the admin of Textbook Torrents hopes that another replacement site will soon be available. When asked if he thought publishers had learned anything he stated,

“Intellectual property corporations are notorious for missing the point. Like I’ve said before, we were out to make a statement, to give out as much free stuff as possible, and I think we’ve made that statement - perhaps not as loudly as we could have given another few months and a little more perseverance - but certainly people have heard, and are talking. Piracy will never be sustainable for the textbook industry, but perhaps this is the first step towards a more sustainable model in the future.”

Surely the website has brought more attention to the issue of textbook piracy and many questions still remain on how to make content more affordable to students to prevent piracy in the future. Are you aware of any piracy prevention initiatives on your campus?

Could video game learning be the way of the future?

There was another interesting article published last week discussing the use of video games in the classroom and the associated learning benefits. While many teachers and experts remain skeptical if gaming should be considered a successful learning method, teachers in New York City have experienced proven results with a fast-paced video game that quizzes students on algebra topics. The teachers say that students enjoy the game so much they even come in early, stay after school and play at home. One topic that is not directly discussed in this article is the concept of winning and its affect on student interest. Not only do students enjoy playing the game for its entertainment benefits but they have the opportunity to be the best in the class if they can answer more questions correctly than their peers. This gives students the drive to learn and study more on their own. And really, what student doesn’t want to be the smartest in the class? Could video game learning be the way of the future?

Textbook experiment at Columbia Business School

A recent article provides an example of how faculty members are experimenting with new ways to help make textbooks more affordable for college students. This semester, a professor of marketing at Columbia Business School is offering free online access to his latest independently published textbook. However, the book is only free until the end of the semester when students will be asked to pay the amount they feel the book is worth. It will be interesting to see how students respond to this tactic and if they are willing to pay after the semester, when they have already begun thinking about their upcoming expenses for the holidays and approaching semester. Perhaps knowing that fifty percent of the payments will be donated to college scholarship funds will entice the students to pay more.

Do you know of any experiments around textbooks and pricing occurring on your campus? Can you suggest any experiments that could be conducted with faculty members?

IDPF August 2008 e-book sales stats

Ebook sales stats for August 2008 have been released by AAP via IDPF. The most recent data continues the upwards trend in trade e-book sales. Sales for August were US$4.3 million, up 82.9% over August 2007. IDPF reports YTD e-book revenues among participating publishers is up by 52%.

IDPF is presenting at the Frankfurt Bookfair in Germany this week on digital publishing and the e-pub standard. They will be joined by representatives from OverDrive, Random House Digital, and Sony Electronics. It should be a very interesting session. It sounds like an interesting session. If anyone has notes or insights to the Frankfurt Bookfair, and particularly the role or presence of digital there this year, please share!

Apple iPhone takes lead over Amazon Kindle

According to an article published in Forbes, the Apple iPhone is now more popular for reading books than Amazon’s Kindle. Apple may have even unintentionally taken the lead in the digital book market due to Stanza, the favorable book reading application offered for free along with its titles via Apple’s iPhone store. Not bad, considering that earlier this year, Steve Job’s declared,

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,”

Although as Chief Executive Hadrien Gardeur of Feedbooks, Stanza’s largest distributor of content, points out, the iPhone and Kindle may not be direct competitors,

“Kindle appeals to heavy readers who spend far more time reading than anyone who uses an iPhone. But I don’t think the mass market is ready to spend that kind of money. So they really don’t compete with one another at this point.”

Stanza is currently working on deals with several major publishers which may make the two direct competitors when it acquires the advantages of the Kindle including newer titles, and the ability to browse, purchase and download directly to the iPhone. Stanza will face new competition in the upcoming months if the E-Ink screen technology used by the Kindle progresses. However, it will be interesting to see if the heavy readers are willing to give up the screen technology in favor of an all in one device when Stanza announces their negotiated deals in the New Year.

Will pairing video games with books intrigue young readers?

There was an interesting piece in the New York Times earlier this week regarding the pairing of video games with books to intrigue young readers. The article mentions the various studies that have been conducted and the many opinions associated with each to prove and disprove the theory. One portion of the article that I found interesting discusses how teachers are embracing the fast paced, image laden world of games and exploring ways to incorporate video games into the classroom in hope that the children will be drawn to reading. In New York, there is even support for creating a public school based on video game concepts. It will be interesting to see if methods such as these really motivate children to pick up books or if they will skip the reading in favor of the game. Perhaps teachers will find that a proven learning game such as role playing which allows students to play an active role is more effective and does not require the digital dependence. If video gaming in the classroom is the way of the future and students become accustomed to this learning method, it is sure to have an affect on their ability to learn in conventional ways as they progress through higher education. This in turn will have implications on the learning materials offered at all levels.

Small stores and NMS pilots...

The question has been asked, "Why are there no small stores in the first set of pilots for NACS Media Solutions?" Considering all of the factors at play, the answer could be presented as quite complex, but here is the simple reasoning behind the decision:

1- We had to keep the initial pilot under 10 stores, and initially we planned on only five. To be able to evaluate some of the system capabilities, we needed to be able to maximize the total number of transactions that might occur during the initial pilot period. Good IT project management suggests that we control pilot diversity at first to allow for better consistency in the process of evaluating the technology capabilities.

2- For the initial pilots, we are working only with commercial movies and TV content, and we had the understanding that the studios wanted evidence that some well-known larger campuses would have interest in the initiative. This contributed to our ability to get more favorable pricing, which we will be able to pass on to stores of any size. Similar requirements associated with the content licenses restricted our ability to include any Canadian stores in the initial pilots as well. We hope to move beyond those restrictions soon.

3- Because the initial content consists of only commercial movies and TV, based on our financial analysis, stores would need to conduct a certain average number of transactions per day to make the initiative profitable. That threshold was greater than what most smaller stores are likely to experience in a day for movie content. However, as we add other forms of content, the value proposition will increase and the barriers to profitability will drop. At least one small store we reviewed the pilot criteria with agreed that it was better for a store of their size to wait to the next phase to participate.

4- In the first phase of pilots we are assessing the pure technology, and gathering initial information to assist stores in determining how to sell or market the content offerings. We need to ensure enough initial transactions to be able to evaluate the viability and appropriateness of the selected partners and the solution relative to the needs of the college store.

Our goal is to design a solution that is scalable for stores of all sizes to the best of our ability. Indeed, the primary mission of NACS Media Solutions is to enhance the capability and credibility of the college store industry as a whole in the delivery of digital content. To be successful in that mission, we recognize that any solution that does not work for small stores in addition to large stores, will not be effective. We plan and hope to have 15+ small stores participating by July 2009. Small stores will help us assess some of the scalability and feasibility dimensions so that we can continue to refine and scale the service for all NACS members. There are many decisions yet to be made and small stores should not fear that the pilot stores are going to make all of the decisions for the industry about what the final solution looks like. We recognize that the solution will need some modifications to work for all stores and that broad-based and diverse participation in the solution design will yeild a more robust end product that will provide greater satisfaction for a wider range of stores and their customers.

Next round of e-readers begin to launch

Following news last week of the new larger-size e-reader from iRex, Sony announced this week that it will launch the next generation of its Reader in November. The new reader (the 700BC) will add an interactive touch screen display and built-in light. It will allow annotations with a virtual keyboard and highlighting of content with a stylus pen. There will also be additional text search features. Other standard technology enhancements (faster processor, more memory) are also included. With this revision, the Sony Reader takes a step closer to the Kindle’s functionality. It also adds some functionality oriented toward working with documents – a capability likely to be common in the next generation of e-readers entering the market. Maintaining the smaller size is a bit surprising, but the additional functionality will be welcome all the same.

E-textbook Trial at University of Texas at Austin

A few articles published recently discuss the e-textbook trial to be conducted at the University of Texas at Austin this spring. The Austin American-Statesman reported last week that during the trial initiative the university will cover the cost of electronic materials for 1000 students enrolled in courses such as accounting, marketing, chemistry and biochemistry. University officials hope that this experiment will relieve some of the financial burden associated with the cost of textbooks. Keven Hegarty, UT’s vice president and chief financial officer noted, “Because of the cost of books, 20 percent of students can’t or won’t buy the text.” Hegarty went on to say, “If we can improve this model and get enough professors and publishers interested, we can drive textbook costs down to half…what the average student spends on printed textbooks.” It is probably important to note that the e-books will only initially be free, and that this is an institutional licensing model, meaning that the institution is paying for the content via license. Eventually they will pass some or all of that cost back to students. As noted in the article:

Tentatively dubbed the e-book initiative, UT will pay for electronic copies of textbooks for students in certain classes, starting in the spring. The initiative treats the e-books, which students can download onto their computers, like software, for which UT pays a licensing fee. Initially, students in those classes will use the e-books for free. If the program, which campus and industry officials say has been tried at other schools, is successful, students would pay $25 to $40 a book in licensing fees.

Additionally, during the e-textbook trial, the campus store will print bound copies of the text on demand for those students who choose to opt out of the free e-textbook offer in favor of a printed copy. The cost for each printed copy is estimated to be between $20-40 as noted in an article posted by Inside Higher Ed.

Another article published by Ars Technica, also points out the substantial savings that students at the university could see with the use of e-textbooks. According to UT’s financial aid website, the students spend about $409 a semester for books therefore students could potentially save over 75% by going digital. This article also credits NACS digital distribution initiative however it incorrectly states that textbooks will only be delivered via kiosk and fails to mention the web-based component. A correction notice has been submitted to the article discussion site.

New digital content analyst at NACS

Today Liz Looney starts at NACS as digital content analyst. Liz is a graduate of RPI and has been a consultant for the past four years at Deloitte. She brings a number of useful skills and experiences to the position. She will be located here in Albany, NY with me and assisting me with education and environmental scanning work. One of her responsibilities will be to assist me with the daily postings to this blog -- so expect the regularity of postings to improve as she gets up to speed. We are looking to create a formal office here in Albany over the coming months -- to help both with NACS Media Solutions work and facilitate work between Liz and me.

Everyone, please join me in welcoming Liz to the NACS staff.

Communicating digital in the store...

Over the past few years, I and others have repeatedly advocated that stores must improve at "telling their story" and marketing what they do to their campus and community. NACS formed a Community Relations Committee that has been developing a living toolkit to help stores with this critically important process.

A couple days I received an e-mail from Lina Lipscombe, director of the bookstore, computer store, and digital store at Concordia University in Montreal. I have long respected what a number of the Canadians are doing, and Lina is no exception. I asked if I could share her message, as I think it is a great example of what stores can do if they embrace this concept of communicating and educating the campus community:

Mark,

Last summer you shared with me the draft document re digital content. Included was the importance of communicating and educating the campus community. We signed with Jumpbooks this summer and started including e-books to our course list as an option for students. I took your advice and sought ways to communicate this to our community. Well one little article led to many other opportunities. Here are a few,

I contacted the editor of the Concordia faculty and staff paper and the following article appeared in the first week of classes

http://cjournal.concordia.ca/archives/20080911/door_opens_for_digital_textbooks.php

this article was then picked up by a student newspaper and they wrote the following

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/articles/153

The Quill and Quire national publisher magazine also contacted me and asked questions about digital (have not seen article yet) and finally the local television news company came in a did a video (I am not exactly star quality, but I think the message got through)

http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/news/cfcf#news_25867

Thought you might be interested how some schools are trying to bring attention to this new content delivery.

It started with a simple outreach to the campus faculty/staff newsletter, and resulted in national and local media coverage. The media is interested in what stores are doing digitally. It can be a great selling point on the value of the college store. Do others out there have stories about how they have communicated with their campus community around their use of digital? This is information and knowledge we should be sharing!

More lessons for stores from Caravan...

I attended an interesting meeting yesterday-- an update on the Caravan Project. There were several interesting takeaways, but one that struck me in particular was a comment by Steve Potash from OverDrive. Paraphrasing, he noted that digital content delivery is not a "build it and they will come endeavor," rather, it is an investment in the future. During other parts of the meeting we discussed how publishers have really begun to move forward, but that retailers have, by and large, not embraced digital content delivery. This, to some extent, has forced publishers to find solutions that bypass the store, and has given other potential players in the market, such as Amazon, a greater foothold on sales, which, in turn has allowed for greater strangleholds to be placed on publishers. Another good quote coming out of the meeting yesterday is that "if we don't solve our problems, someone else's solution will be forced on us." The "us" in this case was a different group than the retailers, but it applies equally to us as anyone else.

So, what are the key takeaways from stores from this meeting:

- You can't expect digital to take off overnight. If you are not already driving traffic to your site and do not have experience handling online transactions, adding digital will not change much.
- If stores continue to play a waiting game to enter the digital market, they may not be part of it. Stores must invest in their futures now, even if initially it is not profitable, so that they have a place and role as the technology and product takes off.

Finally, I heard discussion about the roles of large stores versus small stores, and what some of the different experts had to recommend. I know this has been a concern among the membership since the initial NMS pilots were announced, which includes no small stores among the initial seven. I am working on a posting for this coming week (likely Tuesday), to address this question more directly and that should raise some discussion points.

iRex e-reader 1000 -- large size e-reader

Early last week iRex sent out a press release announcing a new e-reader device (shown below).


The reader is over 10 inches high and very thin. It has a notepad with stylus capability and is aimed at business documents and business users. Usability among e-readers continues to improve. E-readers become more like tablet PCs every day. A better e-reader for textbooks gets closer every day.

DVDs in the age of digital

An article from earlier in the month discusses the growing distribution of DVD dispensers in a variety of outlets. Kiosk dispensers are appearing in a range of retail outlets, from McDonald's to grocery stores. The focus, of course, is on convenience for the customer. Personally, the advantage to such devices come when we can deliver content beyond movies, and when the kiosk becomes internet-integrated, and supports formats beyond just DVDs. Such concepts might seem outdated, but retailers must consider how they add value and convience for customers, giving customers another reason to visit the physical establishment -- or the store's online equivalent.

What is your clicks-and-mortar strategy for delivering content and convenience?

E-textbooks, piracy, open access, and college stores

There was a long, but interesting piece in the Seattlepi last week about digital textbooks. The primary focus was on the dual challenges of access and affordability. It mentions some of the challenges with digital offerings, particularly those related to the user interface elements. Bryan Pearce, chief executive at the University of Washington Bookstore was interviewed:

In most instances, online publishing remains a side project for presses as well as bookstores -- a tentative product offered to a somewhat apprehensive digital generation."Students, I don't think they're quite ready to get into the digital course world until the user experience improves," said Pearce.

The piece covers a lot of topics touched on before, but is worth reading. I liked the varied perspectives on the topic -- university press, publisher, bookstore, faculty member, and student.

e-readers battle for channels...

There was a short but interesting piece on the O'Reilly TOC blog about 10 days ago on the growing "face-off between Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader" for distribution channels. SONY has been working on expanding availability through multiple channels, while Amazon has stuck mostly to its own channel for distribution.

The question we have, is which one will be willing to sell their device through the college store channel first? We have been speaking with one of the companies, but would be very interested in talking with the other (or other e-reader companies) about doing some pilots in the college store space.

E-books and law schools

There have been a few articles on e-textbooks recently. The Seattlepi reported this week that law schools, book publishers and e-book device makers Amazon and Sony were expected to meet in Seattle yesterday. The focus? e-books for law schools.

The article notes that "A typical law student lugs around 28 pounds of books worth about $1,000 per semester. In creating cutting-edge future lawyers, some legal professors say, paper is a problem." It goes on, "What this workshop will do is bring the reformers of legal academics together -- the most distinguished scholars who have built their reputations on pedagogical reforms." Having discussions about the pedagogical aspects of e-textbooks is a critical step for the eventual adoption of the technology in higher education.

As noted in a follow-up piece that appeared in The Pendulum,

The Kindle costs $359 on Amazon.com, which is relative to what a college student may spend on books for one semester. The wireless service is free and allows access to the store, e-mail and Wikipedia.org. The absence of paper will contribute largely to cutting costs. Although the device is pricey, it could save students money in the long run. A better timeline for the possible adoption of this technology by universities may be more apparent after the results of Saturday’s meeting between publishers, device makers and school representatives are announced.

We will be watching for follow-up news and will post links in here when we learn more about anything that came out of the meeting.

First Media Solutions pilots and PR

Well, the first press release regarding NACS Media Solutions came out this week, which has left me pretty busy responding to phone calls and e-mails on top of other tasks. This is just the first set of pilots -- and the first set of content and delivery mechanisms. This is a follow-up to the article that appeared in Campus Marketplace last week.

Over the past few days, the press release has been picked up by several sources. The article in The Chronicle of Higher Education has driven a lot of attention. The article notes, however, that there will be 30 stores in the pilots by January. This is actually incorrect. In the January timeframe we will begin recruiting the next set of stores to participate, and about the same time will be adding the next set of content. The goal is ultimately to provide content in any format students want, and reduce the costs for delivering that content for students, stores, and content providers.

Beyond the Chronicle piece and other articles, several blogs have also picked up on the story. Some have been favorable, others have been less so. I should note that the pilots include a web-based component in addition to the kiosks. This will allow students to pre-order or pre-reserve content, allowing them to avoid any lines that may form at the kiosks. in 2009, streaming download of content should also be possible. We are still looking for partners for content, as well as some infrastructural components.

Another announcement will follow on Monday, Oct 6.

The End of Books...

A totally engrossing article appeared last week in New York Magazine. The article was entitled simply, "The End," and discussed changes underway in the book publishing business. The opening of the article was fascinating, though. It began with a recent visit to a new startup within HarperCollins. Here is a short excerpt:

But first, a horror story. Debbie Stier, Miller’s No. 2 at HarperStudio (as this little imprint is called), has been collecting videos for their blog. “You want to see what happens to books after they go to book heaven?” she asks. On the screen of her MacBook, a giant steel shredder disgorges a ragged mess of paper and cardboard onto a conveyor belt. This is the fate of up to 25 percent of the product churned out by New York’s publishing machine. Everyone’s eyes widen, as though watching some viral YouTube gross-out. “It’s like Wall-E,” says marketing director Sarah Burningham. “It’s depressing,” Miller adds. They had sent in a flip camera with a warehouse worker. “You can see our books go through there,” says Stier. "The Crichton, the Ann Patchett.”

I would love to see that video. I tried to find a link to their blog, but was not successful in the few minutes I had this morning. The greatest or perhaps saddest quote comes from Stier's 12-year old son, when asked for birght ideas to save publishing he comments: “So maybe you have to turn all the books into movies so nobody has to waste their time.”

The article is quite long, but has some fascinating history, alongside some contemporary challenges and discussions. Midpoint in the article is an interesting discussion of how "traditional marketing is useless" that has some good lessons, or at least items to ponder. There is also some interesting analysis and insight into how Amazon works with the publishers, and what that might mean for both publishers and bookstores. Some quotes near the end could easily be modified to fit the bookstore industry. It allowed the article to end with a start as engrossing as the beginning:

But going back in time isn’t an option. A hundred Bennett Cerfs wouldn’t save the current publishing model—not without a hundred Bob Millers puzzling out the way forward, unhampered by fear or complacency. The kind of targeted, curated lists editors would love to publish will work even better in an electronic, niche-driven world, if only the innovators can get them there. Those owners who are genuinely interested in the industry’s long-term survival would do well to hire scrappy entrepreneurs at every level, people who think like underdogs.

It’ll be rough going in the meantime; some publishers will transform, some will muddle through, some will die. And there will, no doubt, be a lot of editors for whom even this diminished era will look like the last great golden age, when some writers were paid in the millions, some of their books produced in the millions, and more than half of those books actually sold. Book publishing is still a big-league business, and that’s a hard thing to let go of. “There’s something terrible,” says an editor at a prestigious imprint, “about admitting that you’re not a mass medium.”

Wow. It is like looking in a mirror and not liking what one sees, but being too engrossed to turn away. I thought the article provided a good read and some things to think about -- which is what all good reading should do.

Kindles in the classroom...

Teleread featured an an interesting post this week. They interviewed a high school teacher using the Kindle device to teach world history. I really liked how the teacher was integrating the technology, not just as a gadget, but within a larger historical context. He comments:

The reason I like to use the Kindles is because it is a constant reminder of one of the main themes of the class and that is that the compilation of human knowledge has been a key feature in world history. Every time knowledge was translated into a single language and stored in one space the culture that had access to it took a great leap forward. This occurred at the library at Alexandria for the Hellenes, at the House of Wisdom in Iraq for the Arabs, and in Latin speaking Western Europe for the Christian monks.

The language that the world’s information was translated into then was Greek, Arabic, and Latin. Now, remarkably, through Amazon and Google, the world’s knowledge is being translated into binary code (1, by the way was invented by the Sumerians, and 0 by the Indians in Gupta dynasty, so that’s historically related) and is cheap and accessible. I believe that by using the Kindle we’re not just playing with a toy but are reinforcing the idea that we are a part of an historical story that is still unfolding.

The full interview makes for a good read, with several other interesting quotes. I did note that they are not really reading textbooks on the Kindle devices, but using its web search feature instead. Still, it is an interesting use of a technology and another sign that such devices are moving toward a maturity level that will make them useful tools in the educational environment.

NACS announces digital content pilots

In a story from last Friday's Campus Marketplace, NACS announced the first pilots for NACS Media Solutions, the new digital LLC initiative launched back at the end of June. The first pilots will be focused primarily on entertainment content, specifically commercial TV and movies (new release to long tail). We are working on expanding the content and capabilities for the Spring and are interested in talking with potential partners, especially for content. An RFP for regional and local print-on-demand capabilities is expected to be released in mid-October.

The first round of pilots are expected to be launched between mid-October and mid-November, and will focus on seven locations. The initial pilot stores include:

• Aztec Shops Ltd., San Diego State University Bookstore, CA
• CU Book Stores,, The University of Colorado-Boulder, CO
• New York University Book Stores, NY
• T.I.S. College Bookstore , University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, IL
• Student Stores, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
• Bowling Green State University Bookstore, OH
• UCLA Store, CA.

I would like to reiterate my thanks and appreciation to these stores for participating in the first round of pilots. I would also like to extend thanks to the other stores who volunteered. I hope that we can add many or all of you into pilots and participation soon. In Spring 2009 NACS Media Solutions plans to grow the number of pilot and partnering stores to 20-30 sites to expand the diversity of institutions and store types participating. Full offerings to the NACS membership is anticipated beginning in summer and fall of 2009.

A prior posting on this blog provides information from the original announcement of the new LLC.

Libraries and POD

According to an article on the U-Michigan website the university library at the University of Michigan will become the first university library to install an Espresso Book Machine by On Demand Books. The story was also reported in the Chronicle's Wired Campus blog. According to the U-Michigan article:

The book machine prints out-of-copyright books from the University's digitized collections. At a cost of about $10 per book, the service is available to researchers, students and the public. The printing process begins with a reader selecting a digitized book from U-M's pre-1923 collection or from another online source, such as the Open Content Alliance. Most books printed prior to the early 1920s can be reprinted without seeking the permission from whomever holds the copyright. Then the file is downloaded to the Espresso Book Machine, where it is formatted, printed and perfect bound with a four-color cover. A finished printed book takes 5-7 minutes, depending on the number of pages.

This is an interesting development, and continues to blur the lines between the business of the bookstore and that of the institutional library. It suggests opportunities for college stores and libraries to partner together, and perhaps offer new services that either one alone might not be able to afford.

Another story about the Espresso printers comes this week from Australia. This time by a bookseller. There is an interesting quote from this piece, that couples with the above story:

Print-on-demand means that you can extend the range of products in your stores by theoretically millions of books," Dymocks CEO Don Grover said.
"At this point in time the digitisation phase and the digital rights management and copyright issues that face the industry worldwide are preventing that from happening. So that's why there is a very narrow range of product that is available for print-on-demand technology."

Getting access to content that can be printed on demand has two challenges. Both challenges affect the availability of content for print-on-demand. The first challenge is the copyright and reproduction rights issues, which both of the above stories address. The second is a formatting or content format standard that allows the content to print correctly within the POD environment. These are both challenges that are likely to drop away in coming years. In addition, campus stores that have invested in POD have found that there are many other opportunities to generate revenue or save costs by producing campus-generated content. For stores where a faculty member selects an open-source textbook, local POD could ensure some revenue -- allowing stores to continue to be supportive of faculty efforts to reduce textbook costs for students.

e-books in France

An article this week in France 24 reports that Sony's e-reader is soon to be released in France, adding another country with access to e-reader devices. The article discusses some of the perceived benefits and weaknesses of e-books for the French market, and how some booksellers are preparing. The comment provided near the end about how there will need to be a "serious reflection on the issue of royalties" for authors and publishers was interesting.

CourseSmart-USO agreement

For those looking for more information on the recent CourseSmart-USO agreement, to understand the terms and conditions, a copy of the agreement is now publicly available in pdf format. The agreement spells out a number of points, but leaves some open questions for college stores operating in the State of Ohio.

Textbook downloads...

A bonus posting today, since I was unable to get to posting content earlier in the week...

Another article appeared this week, touting open access textbooks and other options for getting textbooks in digital format. This weeks' piece appeared in Sunday's New York times. It covers much of the same ground as other pieces: Flat World Knowledge, Connexions, and CourseSmart all received coverage. The one piece I did find interesting was based on a quote from Frank Lyman at CourseSmart who noted:

[Lyman] said that tens of thousands of textbooks have been read online and that 1,240 separate institutions have a student who has made at least one e-textbook purchase.

Over 1200 institutions with at least one student purchasing a digital textbook. That's an interesting number. One can probably assume those are via CourseSmart, so the number may actually be larger than that when you consider all the ways students can get digital textbooks today. That makes for fairly good odds that digital is penetrating to a larger number of campus communities, whether or not the stores provide the content. Sales are still weak, but each year they appear to be getting better. It will be interesting to see the numbers for this content category if IDPF or another source is able to start reporting them at some point.

It was also interesting to note the absence of any mention of the Student PIRG study on textbooks and their conclusion that many of the digital options available may not save students money when the total cost of ownership is calculated.

Question on college stores in other countries...

With readers of this blog now coming from over 85 different countries, and having heard from stores in about 5 or 6 countries, I would like to pose a question. What are college stores like in other countries? Are you grappling with digital textbooks yet? What other issues do you have? What things are happening in college stores in your country that you believe is innovative or unique?

These questions came to my mind, not just as I was looking at the blog traffic reports this week, but as I prepare to make a couple trips to Russia and some other countries. We will be spending some time in Yeketerinburg, home to over a dozen academic institutions. So I began to wonder if those inistitutions had college stores or not. Anyone know the answer or like to share their experiences of college stores and/or textbooks in other countries?

Blogroll added

I have mentioned several blogs in the past on this site, so a couple days ago I began to add a list of them in a blogroll to the left. If you have a blog or know of another blog that is relevant to this blog then post a response or drop me an e-mail and I will add more to the list. One of the items I added today is the blog for Speak Up, which is part of the Project Tomorrow initiative. For some interesting data on k-12 and technology from both student and teacher points of view, check out their presentation materials and other data.

Also, today I added the link for the Being Five blog, one of my favorite online comics. The format for the site changed recently, and yesterday's comic is one that appeared before, but it is a good one. Here it is:

July e-book stats from IDPF

eBook sales stats for July 2008 have been released from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) who collects these statistics in conjunction with the IDPF. Trade eBook sales were $4,500,000 for July 2008, a 71% increase over July 2007. Calendar Year to Date Revenue is up 47.5%.The statistics, historical data and information about the numbers can be viewed at: http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm

and then e-magazines

The second great story in The New York Times tech section this week was a short piece on Esquire Magazine's 75th anniversary issue. A related story appeared on MSNBC's website. For the special anniversary edition of the magazine, Esquire placed a 10 inch eink display on the cover of roughly an eigth of the magazines circulated. Inside the cover is a second 10 inch display with shifting colors for an advertisement of the new Ford vehicle.

What does that have to do with this blog, you ask? Well, the magazine and newspaper industries are experiencing a transformation from digital to print. Ad revenues are down, as are newstand sales. Overal economic downturn is also having an effect. Esquire is attempting to show that there can be excitement in the magazine business again. Some of their future plans for updating content live -- creating a "living magazine" are very much the stuff of the movie Minority Report, which came out a few years ago. It won't be long and we will probably be having the characters on our cereal boxes talking to us too.

Anyway, I have been out hunting for a copy of this edition to bring with me on my college store talks this fall. No luck yet. The hybridization of ink and eink, paper and e-paper is a fascinating concept to consider. Imagine how the cost on the display technology must have come down in order for Esquire to produce this issue in this way.

To learn more about the special issue, including some videos of the cover, and information on how Esquire went about conceiving and then implementing the idea, check out the following links from the magazine:

• Video: Esquire's E-Ink Cover
• How the E-Ink Cover was made
• If you don't see the e-ink cover, read the story of how they pulled it off

They also have a couple interesting pieces on recycling the cover (if you are into recycling history), and a challenge to hackers to hack the cover.

Video on the Plastic Logic reader

Thanks to Melanie Sparks who sent along a link to a video of the new Plastic Logic reader, which will be announced more formally in January '09.

The video can be found at: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid980795693/bctid1778578839

From e-books to e-newspapers

There were two great stories in The New York Times tech section this week worth extra notice. Today I will comment on one of the articles. Tomorrow I will comment on the other.

The first piece of interest was an article on a new e-newspaper reader. Devices for the same purpose have been test marketed in a few markets in Europe for several months now. The new reading device by Plastic Logic uses the same e-ink technology as the Sony reader and the Kindle, but sports a screen the size of a 8x11 piece of paper, allowing the device to mimic the look, if not quite the feel, of the traditional newspaper. The device allows for continual content updates via wireless connection and can store a a fair amount of content -- whether books, newspapers, or documents.

The device, while being demonstrated now, will not be available until sometime in 2009. Prices are expected to be announced in January. While not mentioned in the article, properly positioned, the device could become something usable for etextbooks. If anything it is a signal of some of the technology yet to come and the growing viability of e-formats for traditionally printed content. The article does note that the EInk creators say color is still a couple years off, with a production version of newspaper-quality color expected by 2010.

One of the aspects of this article I liked was the discussion of some of the implications and potential of this technology. The ability to do tracking and data analytics is a powerful argument for the digital distribution of newspapers. The related privacy concerns are worth mentioning, although data analytics are so sophisticated these days, anyone believing they still have privacy related to anything online is probably being naive. The article also discusses some of the initiatives with e-newspaper readers in Europe, and some of The New York Times' own experiences with digital and subscriptions.

Anyway, a fascinating article. I would give up my Sony reader for a device like that, particularly if it has wireless capability and can hold other documents and books. The device is also thinner than the Kindle and weighs just two ounces more, thanks in large part to the usage of different materials (lightweight plastic v glass) for some of the screen components.

Teens in Tech

There is a new website initiative to watch -- http://www.teensintech.com/. The site is the concept of a 15 year old, and is already starting to get a fair amount of press and attention. Here is the site description:

Teens in Tech (www.teensintech.com), the new community for teenagers who produce new media content, including podcasts, blogs, videocasts and more, has launched into private alpha. “Today’s teens are the most media-savvy and self-expressive in history. Yet until now, no company has focused on their needs. Teens in Tech gives teens tools that are designed by teens for teens."

The next generation of content creators -- soon to arrive on our campuses, are now beginning to create their own tools for content, media, social expression and communication. This will probably be a site to watch to get a catch on the "new media solutions" teens create to communicate with each other.

RealNetworks to Introduce a DVD Copier

Following up on the piracy story from a couple days ago, on Monday The New York Times reported that RealNetworks is introducing a DVD copier application-- "a $30 software program for Windows computers that allows users to easily make a digital copy of an entire DVD — down to the extras and artwork from the box." The article goes on to discuss how the movie studios have fought such applications in the past, and how those protections and arguments appear to be weakening in the face of new tools that offer some piracy protection.

I think the key quote from the piece is the closing line: “Once you give consumers a legitimate path, you can do all kinds of other interesting things with them.” That is a lesson to remember for content producers and content sellers -- like college stores. College stores have an opportunity to work with content producers to find mechanisms that provide legitimate paths to digital content, and that must be done in an affordable way. We must define, design, and develop new business models and make the investments to establish industry capabilty and credibility in this domain. Otherwise, others will do it for us, leaving stores increasingly marginalized in the move to new mediums for content delivery. The new NACS subsidiary will be helping stores accomplish this goal. The first pilots will be starting in the next 6-8 weeks and more public announcements are soon to follow.

Is textbook piracy bigger than we thought?

A very interesting story was shared with me this week by a colleague. The article appeared in Thursday morning's Chronicle of Higher Education, with the headline: Students flock to web sites offering pirated textbooks. The article is based on a study by the Student PIRG, which was given to students at two institutions (City Colleges of Chicago and Portland State University), for a total of roughly 500 students. Roughly a quarter of the students reported looking for an illegal copy of a textbook from pirate web sites, although only 8 percent reported success in finding a copy.

The article goes on to include comments from Ed McCoyd, director of digital policy for the AAP. Mr. McCoyd gave an interesting interview on the NPR station from American University a few weeks back. An audio copy of the call is available online in a couple different formats and lasts about 23 minutes. Also on the call were a law professor who is an expert on intellectual property and copyright, and a representative from the Scandinavian-based Pirate Bay organization.

The comment in the Chronicle article that I found interesting was the following remark by Mr. McCoyd, "I think there's just unfortunately a culture of piracy out there." A culture of piracy. Quite likely. That culture of piracy began in the 1990s with the advent of P2P applications like Napster, where consumers were telling the IP owners they wanted a different product and in a different way. We are now seeing the same phenomenon moving into the textbook arena. Prices have hit a barrier where consumers are beginning to decide that the perceived risks and costs of breaking the law are lower than the perceived benefit or value from paying full-price for content. Stores and publishers are working on a wide range of initiatives to help combat piracy and reduce the cost of textbooks for students. However, the big spike in physical textbook costs this semester will likely fuel piracy even more.

That raises a question of whether the textbook industry as a whole (from one end of the chain to the other) is engaged in a feedback loop of actions that is fueling the very piracy we would hope to avoid. Many years ago I had a great opportunity to work on a problem a state agency was having with legal compliance. We worked with them to develop a system that made compliance easier and less costly, at which point compliance went way up, to everyone's benefit. As part of the process we learned that many people do not want to break the law, but in some cases an organization or industry create an environment where breaking the law is perceived as being necessary, or is perceived as having fewer potential negative consequences than doing what is right according to the law.

Addressing this problem may require some radical steps for all of the stakeholders, but it is a critical problem to address or it will only continue to get worse. Finding creative ways to reduce the cost of course materials, without sacrificing educational quality, is critical. Allowing for the continued financial health of both content providers and college stores is also important. In the latter case, stores provide more back to their students, institutions, and communities, than many realize. They perform localization functions and services that are difficult to replicate online, as those services and functions vary greatly based on the needs of a local campus community. That said, stores and their related institutions have a critical stake in helping to solve the piracy challenge that goes beyond the local bottom line.

Okay -- I am trying to stir the pot and get some conversation going... the problem will not go away if we avoid discussion. What would it take to make textbook piracy a less attractive option, while still ensuring the profitability and survival of publishers, stores, and insitutions, and maintaining (or improving) the educational quality of the end product? That is perhaps really three different questions, but let's give it a go... thoughts?

In the end, we have very little data on how extensive student piracy of content really is. We know little about the representativeness of the data collected. The topic is getting a lot of media attention lately -- the newest twist on an old annual story about the high cost of textbooks. That is not an argument to avoid the discussion, but rather let us consider this within the context of a much bigger picture. Is piracy greater than or less than e-book sales for publishers? How many students have really considered piracy? What other legal sources have students looked at to find substitutes? How often are faculty encouraging students to pirate the content versus acquire it legally? We need more data to inform the discussion. Anyone have some additional quality points of data they can share? Perhaps there is data or data collection techniques from the music and video industries we could examine -- with some longitudinal trend information? Again... any information or thoughts to share/add?

June 2008 ebook sales statistics

IDPF has provided eBook sales statistics for June 2008. These statistics have recently been released from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) who collects these statistics in conjunction with the IDPF.

Trade eBook sales were $4,900,000 for June 2008, an 87.4% increase over June 2007. Calendar Year to Date Revenue is up 43%.Q2 of 2008 is the first quarter to top $11,000,000 in wholesale revenues among the 12 - 15 reporting Trade Publishers.

The statistics, historical data and information about the numbers can be viewed at:
http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm

A response to a response-- CSO and CourseSmart

I came across a posting on a posting on LJNDawson's blog that referenced my blog posting from last week on the CSO and CourseSmart arrangement. After quoting a passage from the earlier blog posting, she writes:

Apparently CourseSmart is making it possible, however, for college bookstores to participate in offering digital textbooks - something many brick and mortar stores have been quite concerned about. If books are available for download, where does that leave the bookstore? For so long, bookstores looked at record stores with a "there but for the grace of God" eye - but now that it's time for books to be distributed over the wires, how can a bookstore play?

Right now, college bookstores are buying packaged bits of paper with key codes on them. A student buys this package, goes to the URL that's printed on the paper, and types in a code that gives the student access to the digital textbook. But this will eventually go away as well - students will be buying their digital textbooks online and receiving an email that contains the same information as the packaged bit of paper.

Digital textbooks, therefore, are only viable to the college bookstore as an "also" purchase - while I'm here in the store buying my humanities textbooks, let me pick up this ebook for my science requirement - but not as the main focus of a bookstore trip.

Yes, CourseSmart is making it possible for college stores to participate in offering digital textbooks, as my blog posting explains. That is not really the concern of the piece, nor is the passage quoted. For that matter, the concern is not even really about CourseSmart. The concern lies more in a state office negotiating the terms of sale on behalf of all institutions in the state, public or private.

Stores are able to sell digital in formats other than "packaged bits of paper with key codes on them." Digital can be sold directly through store websites. In addition, NACS recently launched a new initiative that over the coming year will allow participating stores to offer digital via a variety of channels (web, kiosk, among others) based on a student's preference or choice. Students will be able to get content in the store in whatever format they require or prefer (e.g., print, or electronic to a particular device).

Digital textbooks are not necessarily only viable to the college bookstore as an "also" purchase. There are many localization services that make the college store the best place to buy course materials, whether digital or print. For example, students wanting to pay cash, use financial aid, or other forms of campus currency (e.g., student accounts, campus cards, etc.) would still want to use the bookstore because of their ability to handle these different forms of payment that many others cannot. By some estimates, this is over half of all students. Stores authenticate that the proper content is being purchased. If a student drops a course within a particular timeframe, or needs to return the content, stores can authenticate for vendors that the refund request is legitimate. Again, by some estimates, over a fifth of students seek to return some content each semester. By buying content through the stores, the store is offering some guarantee to students and providing value and services others cannot.

For these and other reasons, the store does have a place being involved with digital textbooks and those options are viable as more than just an "also" purchase. As stores become more sophisticated in the methods of delivering content, the options for students (both for convenience and cost savings) will lead them to the college store first for content, choice, and service options that they may not be able to find elsewhere.

A new Kindle? Not this year...

According to a news story on the Dow Jones news wire last week, Amazon will not be releasing a new Kindle this year. An Amazon spokesperson noted that a new version of the Kindle would not be out until next year at the earliest.

The article is interesting for its references to e-textbooks. Among other points they note that the publishers are not in discussion with Amazon over e-textbook initiatives, and that the devices are not yet ready for what would be required of textbook content. This conclusion is consistent with conversations and information we have gathered as well.

CSI: Future of reading?

There is an interesting blurb in last Friday's Shelf Awareness. It notes:

CSI: Publishing Industry. Anthony Zuiker, creator of the numerous CSI television series, "has made a seven-figure deal with Dutton to create a series of three suspense-thriller 'digital novels,'" according to Variety, which reported that the new enture "is a publishing hybrid that broadens traditional book reading into a multiplatform experience that includes filmed components and an interactive social networking site.""I want to give traditional crime novel readers a more immersive experience," Zuiker said, noting that the online features give "publishing a chance to catch up with the YouTube generation that has lost passion for reading.""I personally don't have the attention economy to read a 250-page crime novel from start to finish," he continued. "I realized that the way I'd like to consume a novel is to be rewarded every couple of chapters by seeing something visual that enhances the narrative."

A step closer to born digital. It sounds like a cool idea though -- perhaps something lke the way pictures work in printed books. Such interactive content or "digital book models" could be particularly useful in travel books. I have already seen some similar type of content appear in some of the health sciences. Perhaps the CSI textbook series in forensics is next???

The Weird Blame site and contest

On to the news post for today -- which makes a nice follow-up to last Friday's posting. Check out the Weird Blame website sponsored by the CCRA up in Canada. The site has a well done video -- kind of weird, as you might expect. They had some variations, so I hope those get released at some point as well. The Weird Blame site was conceived of by the CCRA members and is a great idea. Here is some of the text explaining the site, and a related contest they are running...

... The textbook industry operates according to some very weird market forces. In what has been coined a "Broken Market," the student does not choose their product, and the instructor or department that does choose the textbook does not actually purchase it. As a result, price is removed from the purchasing decision, allowing publishers to set higher prices. In addition, there exists very little competition in the textbook market, with only a handful of major publishers to choose from.

It would also be 'weird' if university bookstores selected which textbooks to be used for every course. If that were the case, you can rest assured every book would be in stock well before the start of class! Unfortunately, textbooks can't be shipped until orders are received from the instructors, who first have to wait for department administration to decide their courses of instruction. As a result of this process, orders are often placed too late for the books to arrive before classes begin.

Although the prices of textbooks are climbing faster than would be expected, and communication problems can result in textbooks being ordered too late for the beginning of classes, it should be noted that both bookstores and faculty are committed to do all they can to get orders in on time, resist new editions of textbooks, prevent unwanted add-ons, and encourage peer-to-peer exchange (sale) of used books.

Kudos to the CCRA members!