Questions we all want answered about the Kindle DX textbook pilots

While the colleges and universities participating in the Kindle DX textbook pilots have provided some information about the initiative, we are left wondering how all of the details will be worked out. The answers will be revealed in the coming months but in the meantime, here is a list of questions that we would like to know the answers to.

• Has the number of students involved in the pilot been determined? (Some reports say that each school will have about 50 participants while Laura Porco, director of Kindle Books, commented that the pilot would include “hundreds to thousands” of students and “hundreds to thousands of books.”)


• Were students aware of the courses participating in the pilot prior to registration? If so, was there an increase in the number of students that signed up for the course?


• For schools that plan to compare Kindle DX participants to a control group, how will the participants be chosen?


• What happens if one of those students drops the class?


• Will students be: charged for the device, given the device, or loaned the device? If the devices are on loan, will they be loaned from the university or Amazon?


• Will the devices come pre-loaded with content? If not, how will the content be downloaded? Will the rumored Kindle DX textbook store play a role?


• Who will pay for the content? If students are required to pay, will they be able to pay via financial aid?


• What will the content prices be like? (It has been reported that Amazon does not plan to discount the e-textbooks used in the pilot.)


• How much content will each of the publishers make available? Will only the content for the specific courses in the pilot be available?


• Can university content be downloaded to the devices?


• Has the college store been involved in the pilot discussions?

Thoughts? What questions are you thinking about?

The future of cell phones

Here is something fun! This week Fast Company featured an article entitled – “What will cell phones look like 10 years from now?” Check out the interesting designs.

Reading a book via four formats: paperback, Kindle, audiobook, and iPhone

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently featured an article about Ann Kirschner’s experience reading a book via four formats: paperback, Kindle, audiobook, and iPhone. Kirschner, university dean of William E. Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York and resident of NYC, decided to switch amongst the four reading options as she went about her daily routine. She notes, “It was often maddening to keep finding and losing my place as I switched from format to format. But as an experiment, it taught me a great deal about my reading habits, and about how a text reveals itself differently as the reading context changes. Along the way, I also began to make some predictions about winners and losers in the evolution of books.” She went on to say, “I’ve been dreading this, but let me get my prediction out now: The iPhone is a Kindle killer…I abandoned the Kindle edition of Little Dorrit almost as soon as I read one chapter on my iPhone. Kindle, shmindle. It does almost nothing that an iPhone can’t do better — and most important, the iPhone is always with me.” The article is very interesting and worth a read.

University of California at San Diego and Texas A&M create campus iPhone apps

The University of California at San Diego and Texas A&M have joined Duke and Stanford and introduced their own campus iPhone apps. The app for UC San Diego offers an interactive campus map; a directory of students, faculty, and staff with the option to e-mail, call, and text; campus sports news and schedules; videos from the university’s YouTube channel; and the ability to browse and search classes and view the locations on the map. The university is also creating an application for the Blackberry. The Texas A&M app offers similar capabilities and the university is already working on future applications that will be accessible via other mobile devices. One of the applications in development will let users locate former students still connected to the university’s “Aggie Network.”

Jeff Bezos reveals some Kindle enhancements and comments on Google Book Search

On Monday, at Wired Magazine’s Disruptive by Design Conference, Jeff Bezos revealed some interesting information about the Kindle, its e-book store, as well as Amazon's opinion of Google Book Search. According to a posting on the Bits Blog, Amazon is planning to expand its reach by making Kindle books available for more mobile and computing devices. Currently, the books are only available via the Kindle device or the Kindle iPhone app. Bezos also implied that support for other reading formats will be added to the Kindle but did not elaborate on what that might include. In addition, Bezos explained the rational for the price of Kindles. He said that Amazon considered offering a lower upfront cost for the device with a subscription type commitment but prefers that the two sides of the business operate independently so that neither one is subsidizing the other. Bezos commented, “My opinion, and so far the market has responded to our approach, is very simple. Instead of driving the cogitative complexity of a two-year commitment, tell people, ‘This is the actual cost of the device.’” Bezos noted that if customers prefer a lower priced device with higher operating fees he will consider the approach.

According to another posting on The Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog, Bezos said that of the 300,000 books that are available for the Kindle and in traditional format via Amazon.com, Kindle unit sales represent 35% of total Amazon book sales. Bezos commented, “Internally, we are startled and astonished by that statistic.” He went on to say, “I didn’t understand all of the failings of a physical book, because I’m inured to them. But you can’t turn the page with one hand. The book is always flopping itself shut at the wrong moment. They’re heavy. It’s had a great 500-year run. It’s an unbelievably successful technology. But it’s time to change.”

An article from CNET says that when asked about Google Book Search, Bezos commented, “We have strong opinions about that issue which I’m not going to share. But clearly, that settlement in our opinion needs to be revisited and it is being revisited.” He added, “There are many forces of work looking at that and saying it doesn’t seem right that you should do something, kind of get a prize for violating a large series of copyright.” Google responded to Bezos’ comments via a posting on their Public Policy Blog that suggests that the comments were likely motivated by its Google Edition initiative. The new initiative will let publishers sell in-print e-books direct to consumers and therefore put Amazon in direct competition with Google for control of the e-book market. Note - Some sources have referred to this initiative as “Google Edition” but it is referred to as “Google Books” in the posting.

Seth Godin's Textbook Rant

Well known and widely respected marketing guru Seth Godin published an entry on his blog this week entitled “Textbook Rant." He notes that he received more comments on this post than any other he has ever made. Since he got such a reaction, we can probably expect him to start publishing more on the topic, or being more vocal on it elsewhere. Here are a few of the “quotable quotes” from the piece:

• This industry deserves to die. It has extracted too much time and too much money and wasted too much potential. We can do better. A lot better.
• As far as I can tell, assigning a textbook to your college class is academic malpractice.
• Any professor of intro marketing who is assigning a basic old-school textbook is guilty of theft or laziness.
• The solution seems simple to me. Professors should be spending their time devising pages or chapterettes or even entire chapters on topics that matter to them, then publishing them for free online. (it's part of their job, remember?) When you have a class to teach, assemble 100 of the best pieces, put them in a pdf or on a kindle or a website (or even in a looseleaf notebook) and there, you're done. You just saved your intro marketing class about $15,000. Every semester.

Among the responses, I thought this comment related to stores was interesting: The textbook industry does need to die. Especially the privatization of textbook and textbook resale stores...

Rants like these are not uncommon. It would be pretty difficult for anyone involved with the textbook industry to deny that as an industry we have problems. Like health care, autos, or banking. As a colleague of mine observed in response to Seth's "simple solution":

While in theory this all sounds great, but do all professors (or adjunct professors) really have the expertise, time, desire, etc... to "devise" pages or chaperettes and for that matter, who ensures the validity and accuracy of the content? While technology will certainly allow for "anything goes" it would seem like there still needs to be some "control and validation" of content to be taught and that a college or university would not want to create an environment of the "wild wild west".

My opinion is similar to this articulation. I believe Seth's comment is a fairly over-simplified interpretation of what faculty are “paid to do” as part of their jobs. Many faculty do not have the expertise to write a textbook in the style he is asking for – or even if they do, there is little or no reward for most faculty to spend their time in the way he asks. The example of the faculty member who made over $20M – I am pretty sure that is the very rare exception. If they want tenure or promotion, or recognition within their field, that time is better spent on research related publication, or grant work, or even working directly with students in the class.

I always viewed the textbook more as a reference supplement. I typically made it optional. I then usually picked a set of more up-to-date articles or a professional book (depending on the course) which were the required readings. Some students really like having the reference textbook – and it can often cover topics I do not have time to cover in class, or provide additional examples or an alternative perspective. If I did have time to work on improving a course, I much preferred to spend that time finding better ways to use in-class time to maximum benefit, such as creating new active-learning approaches and exercises that would reinforce core concepts.

Writing chapterettes or entire chapters well takes time and research and is a very different skill set that many of us do not have. And frankly, that is not part of the faculty member’s job per se (and certainly not before one is tenured). The accrediting process also typically looks at what books or readings faculty assign in different courses as one means of ensuring that the curriculum is delivering on what is expected. If 20 of us are teaching different sections of the same course, it also helps to ensure some standardization among courses. Or, if I am teaching a course that builds on a prior course, or have to approve a course a student took at another institution, knowing what textbook was used in the prior course gives me some understanding of the approach and content the faculty member in the course was likely to have followed.

I also share the concern about the control and validation process. Faculty already get in trouble for inserting their biases into classes. Without the editorial checks and balances, or review process, how are standards of quality monitored? “Free” does not necessarily mean “equal” or “better.” I think there are some good approaches emerging out there, but worry that we might “throw the baby out with the bathwater” in an over-fixation on price.

As a former student (with 11 years of college education), a former faculty member, a former administrator, and now as someone in the textbook industry more directly, I think we would all agree that the textbook industry has some significant problems when it comes to price, and perhaps some additional issues related to value. It is a tough challenge. Yes, many textbooks are out of date because fields are developing far more rapidly today and the old processes do not work so well. Yes, there are faculty who do not do their job, or their students, justice when it comes to selecting course materials. Yes, the industry needs to change – die? I don’t think so. But change? Yes. There are a number of creative ways in which educational publishing could reinvent itself to continue to produce relevant and current texts, and perhaps at lower cost – but such change will not come quickly or easily. It may be outside organizations and influencers who drive a new generation of course material content. That will likely start with open educational resources (OER), and eventually evolve into new revenue-based models as products mature and the value of having enterprises to assist with the process resurfaces – since there are limitations to true OER as well. Organizations like Flat World Knowledge, Connexions, MERLOT, and others are examples of how such organizations are needed if OER is to be successful. As such organizations emerge there is an eventual need to support the organization, which means revenue. That could come directly or indirectly, but eventually it must come or the organizations are unlikely to be sustainable for the long term.

Okay – I will stop my textbook rebuttal rant there.
-M

Update on the Kindle DX Pilots

The six colleges and universities involved in the Kindle DX pilots have yet to announce the full details of the pilot but some information has been provided. Here is a round-up of what we know so far:

• Arizona State University: Selected first year students in ASU’s Barrett Honors College two semester Human Events course will use Kindle DX devices, while a control group of students will use traditional paper textbooks. An article from ASU’s The State Press says that the course requires approximately 50 books and Ted Humphrey, professor of the course, proposed the use of the Kindle for reduced textbook costs and paper consumption. According to Humphrey, when it was announced that his course would use the Kindle, the course roster filled up very quickly. In regards to the pricing details, Kari Barlow, assistant vice president for the University Technology Office says that students will not be required to buy the Kindle but the details have not been worked out. As for the future, Barlow added, “The goal is to offer the Kindle to the whole ASU community.”
• Case Western Reserve University: Kindle DX devices will be distributed to about 50 students enrolled in first-year chemistry, computer science, and electrical engineering courses. The student reactions to using the Kindle DX for reading textbooks will be compared to a control group using traditional textbooks. The university will also launch a project to evaluate the impact of the device on the learning experience, determine if faculty delivered the information in new ways, and determine if students approach their reading and assignments differently.
• Pace University: According to an article from the New York Times, Pace will distribute new Kindles to about 50 students and compare them with 50 students studying from traditional textbooks, to determine if there is a difference between how the two groups learn. The provost of Pace, Geoffrey Brackett, expects that the university will split the cost of the Kindles with Amazon but it has not been determined if the students will keep the device or if they will be borrowed. In another article Brackett noted, “We are excited to be participating with Amazon and other universities in this endeavor. We will be fielding discrete groups of students in different disciplines to use the Kindle this fall, working with Amazon to test the market and viability of this enterprise. It fits perfectly with our commitment to technology and pedagogy, convenience and support for our students, and important issues of sustainability. Our world-class master’s program in Publishing, known for its success in digital media, will be a key part of our team."
• Princeton University: Students and faculty in three courses will receive the Kindle DX devices. The Princeton pilot, known as “Toward Print-Less and Paper-Less Courses: Pilot Amazon Kindle Program" will differ from the other pilots because it will be part of a sustainability initiative that focuses on reducing the amount of electronic reserve course materials that are printed by students. It is reported by Serge Goldstein, OIT director of academic services, that over 10 million pages were printed at the university last year. According to an article, the Princeton University library is working to scan material in Optical Character Recognition form so that students can search and annotate their readings on the Kindle DX. Princeton has also setup an E-reader Pilot Program website that provides more information about the initiative.
• Reed College: Students in three or four humanities and social science classes will be given the option to use Kindles or traditional textbooks. According to a discussion list posting, all students participating in the pilot will receive the Kindle free of charge but it has not been determined if the students will be able to keep the device at the end of the term. It has also not been determined if the students will be required to pay for the course materials and how the materials will be loaded to the device. Some of the possible options for acquiring the content include: the Kindles are shipped to the university preloaded with all course materials, students download all the course materials including Reed-owned course packs and third-party journal articles from Amazon.com, or Amazon controlled materials are downloaded from Amazon.com. In an article from Oregon Business News, Marty Ringle, Chief Technology Officer at Reed commented on the reason for doing the pilot, "We see a lot of upside to this. We're doing the pilot to see if the upside is true and whether there are downsides we aren't aware of."
• Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia: The business school plans to make the device available to a group of students in its MBA program and another group of students in its MBA for Executives program. According to Michael Koenig, Darden’s director of MBA operations, “A neutral, third-party will develop and administer survey and online research throughout the program to determine effectiveness. The Darden School will also conduct its own research. There will be much to learn in the next academic year.”

The universities still have many details to determine, with one of the major questions relating to how the content will be acquired. One answer to that question might be a Kindle DX textbook store. According to a posting on the KindleBoards blog, a KindleBoards member learned that Amazon could launch a Kindle DX textbook store by July. This information has not been confirmed by Amazon and there is no word yet on which textbooks will be available.

BYU library lends Kindles to university faculty

Recently, the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University initiated a Kindle loaning pilot program for university faculty. According to a posting on the Shaping Libraries blog, the program began because the library had to frequently cancel faculty requests for books that were new or popular and could not be borrowed from another library. The library personnel realized that they could fill an additional 10% of these requests by purchasing a Kindle. The library has since purchased three Kindles and has found that the faculty enjoy the device for leisure reading but not for scholarly work. Gerrit van Dyk, the library’s document delivery services manager commented, "Scholarly work is complicated by the lack of pagination and the difficulty in archiving annotations for personal use." He went on to say, “Those who have used the device say they would check out another title through the Kindle if available in the future.” If the pilot is successful, the university plans to buy more devices and expand the offering to students and staff.

For other libraries considering Kindle pilots, BYU recommends contacting Amazon directly for loaning permission. According to an article from the Library Journal, there have been mixed responses from Amazon when asked if libraries can loan the devices. In April, Amazon told the Library Journal that lending is impermissible but BYU did receive a verbal OK from an Amazon rep noting that the Amazon Kindle: License Agreement and Terms of Use was sufficient. However, Amazon would not provide a written response at BYU’s request.

California’s digital textbook initiative

Last month, Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, announced plans to begin replacing textbooks with free online digital e-books and earlier this week he spoke about the initiative at a press conference. The governor’s plans include a first phase that will give high school students access to science and math digital textbooks beginning this fall. Content developers across the country can submit materials for review up until June 15, 2009 and then a list of standards-aligned digital textbooks for subjects such as geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, calculus, physics, chemistry, biology/life science and earth science courses will be released in August.
The second phase of the initiative is still in development but aims to incorporate interactive content and make digital textbooks available for all grades. A statewide website with all of the available books will also be created.

The webpage notes that the initiative has the potential to save California schools millions of dollars which would free up funds for other spending priorities. In addition, it will give students the opportunity to learn about technological advances as they happen because digital textbooks can be updated more often. Other articles and postings point out that while this initiative could help reduce costs, there are still costs associated with the on-going production of e-books. Additionally, California has a very thorough selection process for educational materials and it is questionable if the materials will be approved by August.

A video of the conference is available on the governor’s webpage.

Interview with E Ink’s VP of Marketing

A posting on E-Ink-Info’s website, features an interview with E Ink’s VP of Marketing, Siram Peruvembra. The interview discusses E Ink’s current offerings, the recent acquisition by PVI, and the future of E Ink. Of particular interest is Mr. Peruvembra’s response to the question: What should we expect from readers in 2-3 years? What will the displays look like? Mr. Peruvembra commented, “In 2-3 years, there will be more content available in eReaders, they will be available in more countries around the world, in more designs and price ranges, they will be more robust and give you better user experience overall. E Ink and its partners and customers will drive this trend. Our displays will be more rugged to suit devices made for school children, our displays will be available in various sizes to suit different applications that can generate additional revenues from advertisements, our displays will depict monochrome and color images and our displays will bend so that the customer’s device won’t break.”

Campus Store Central blog

We have added a new blog to our blogroll called Campus Store Central. The blog is managed by Campus Stores Canada and provides news, views, trends, and practices that are of interest to college stores. The blog also features some digital postings.

Trouble for Google Book Search?

In April, the Google Book Search settlement was postponed until September to give authors more time to participate in the settlement or opt out. At the time, John Simpson, a consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, commented, “The four-month extension is a big victory for those who oppose the Google Books settlement. It's a clear recognition by the judge that there are problems with the proposed deal. The extension also gives the Justice Department more time to consider the antitrust issues that we and others have raised and discussed with them."

According to an article from The New York Times, the Justice Department is in fact investigating the antitrust issues and has now issued civil investigative demands to Google, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, and individual publishers. Michael J. Boni, a partner at Boni & Zack, who represented the Authors Guild in negotiations with Google commented, “They are asking for a lot of information. It signals that they are serious about the antitrust implications of the settlement.” The article notes that the formal requests for information do not necessarily indicate that the government will oppose the settlement but it could delay the approval because the judge is no likely to approve while an investigation is pending. While several prominent library associations have already commented on the settlement, for the retail community there is still uncertainty regarding how to respond.

ScrollMotion introduces upgraded Iceberg e-reader iPhone app

On Monday, at one Apple’s biggest events of the year, the WorldWide Developers Conference, Apple demonstrated just how popular e-reading has become by featuring a new e-reader app during the keynote. The new app is an upgraded version of ScrollMotion’s original Iceberg e-reader. Previously about 500 Iceberg titles could be downloaded as standalone apps but now the new centralized app will offer in-app purchasing and much more content. With in-app purchasing, users can make their content purchases within the app and are not directed to external content providers to complete the transaction. According to a posting on the Kindle 2 Review blog, the Iceberg app will soon feature:

• Over a million books from popular publishers but more importantly textbooks from: Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt, and McGraw Hill
• 50 major magazines including those from: Harvard Business Review, Conde Nast, Hearst Publications, and Time Inc.
• 170 daily newspapers
• Film, television, and educational content

The new app will also have a copy/paste function and in-app e-mail to allow users to e-mail notes or passages of text. These features give the Iceberg app several advantages over competitor apps such as the Kindle iPhone app. Currently, the Kindle app does not offer these functions or the convenience of in-app purchasing. It is unlikely that in-app purchasing will be added because then Apple would receive a portion of Amazon’s book purchasing revenue.

Another posting from the Fiction Matters blog points out the great position that Apple is now in. Apple will become a partner for one of the largest e-book stores, receive 30% of the revenue from Iceberg Reader purchases, and be able to collect great purchasing data. The posting notes “It’s the kind of data that anyone making a large business decision would love to have, and Apple is getting paid to collect it. This data puts Apple in a terrifically advantageous bargaining position. If they do decide to become a first party eBook distributor, they know what works and what doesn’t in an ecosystem they already have invested in. If they don’t, they will continue to make money from eBooks.”

JISC to make 3,000 e-books freely available to college students in the UK

Since 2007, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) national e-books observatory project has been working to explore the impacts, observe the behaviors, and develop new models to stimulate the e-book market. Throughout the project, more than 40,000 students from across the UK have been observed to determine how they access, use, and download e-books.

Recently the JISC released the initial results from their first user survey. The results suggest that giving students access to e-books does not affect print sales and e-books actually supplement traditional textbooks. In addition, e-books improve the way students learn by broadening their analytical and evaluation skills. The JISC has also released an analysis of two open ended questions from the survey. The analysis shows that accessibility is the main attraction for e-books and students enjoy the ability to access the books at any time, wherever they are.

In addition to the surveys, the JISC has also announced that they will partner with the Learning Skills Council (LSC) to fund an e-books for further education project. For the next five years, the project will make 3,000 e-books freely available to every college in the UK. The titles will cover a variety of subjects including: Heath and Social Care, Engineering, Fashion Design, and Automobile Electronics. The students will be able to access the e-books at any time through an ebrary e-books platform. Colleges will also be able to purchase additional e-books at discounted rates to build their digital libraries to meet the specific needs of students on their campus.

April 2009 e-book sales statistics

E-book sales statistics for April 2009 have been released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) via IDPF. Trade e-book sales were $12.1 million for April 2009, a 228.3% increase over April 2008. IDPF reports calendar year to date revenue is up 154.8% for the year. Note that these figures represent the 13 trade book publishers who have been willing to supply their data to IDPF.

Lessoned learned from Northwest Missouri State University’s e-textbook pilot

An article from The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses some lessons learned from Northwest Missouri State University’s e-textbook pilot program which tested e-textbooks downloaded to Sony e-readers and laptops. The lessons learned and a summary of each include:

• Judge e-books by their covers – The various device options and software used to display e-books should be considered because the ability to highlight and easily flip pages affects user satisfaction.
• Learning curves ahead – Students need time to adjust their reading and note taking to digital reading.
• Professors are eager students – Professors were eager to participate in the pilots. The university hoped to have five or six professors but instead had 54 volunteers.
• Long live batteries – Battery life was an issue for some students who forgot to charge their laptops or had several classes in a row and the battery did not last.
• Subjects are not equally e-friendly – Some subjects display better in digital format than others. Science and medical books are full of illustrations and do not display well on black and white e-reader devices.
• Environmental impact matters – Students reported that they would choose e-books over printed books because of environmental concerns. Administrators were surprised at the degree to which these concerns affected students’ opinions.

The university reports that they are continuing to conduct several experiments with different types of e-books and all four major textbook publishers are interested in participating in the university’s experiments. The university’s president, Dean Hubbard noted that campus adoption is “going to come fast” once user-friendly books and readers are introduced.

Report from Forrester predicts explosion of e-reader textbook market within five years

An article from Seeking Alpha discusses a new report by Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester Research entitled, “How Big is the eReader Opportunity?” The report has some very interesting findings and predictions about e-readers, the textbook market, and the addition of social networking capabilities to e-readers. In regards to the e-reader textbook market, Rotman Epps predicts that it will have modest sales this year but within five years we will see an explosion. Rotman Epps comments, “The textbook tipping point won’t come from Harvard, MIT, or even Stanford: We think it will come from developing nations like China and India, whose universities will use technology to leapfrog ahead of Western counterparts. China especially is already a fast-growing market for eReaders like Jinke Electronics’ HanLin eBook, which sells for US$299 and includes 600 free books. We expect the textbook eReader market to start this year with modest sales of content through the Kindle DX, with greater adoption starting in 2011 and reaching more sizable numbers by 2013.” The article also features an interesting graphic to show how crowded the e-reader market has already become. We can expect that this graphic will become even more complex within the coming months as more and more new players enter the market.

Another posting on Wired, features more information from the report in regards to the addition of social networking capabilities to e-readers. Rotman Epps predicts that within the next few months, e-reading will become more of a collaborative experience when social networking is added to e-readers. Rotman Epps commented, “Buying and reading books is an inherently social process and the lack of robust sharing capabilities on the (Amazon) Kindle is an obvious weakness that competitors will address.” E-readers will need to give users the ability to view others recommendations and ratings through social networking communities such as Facebook and Goodreads. The posting notes that an e-reader startup company in Germany is focusing on this idea and plans to introduce a device this fall at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

A third article from ReadWriteWeb features another interesting chart from the report that shows the drivers of growth for e-reader devices and content. The figure shows a significantly lower price point for e-readers in 2010 and an even further reduction in cost by 2012. It is also predicted that color devices will be available by the end of 2010 with full frame video available in 2011-2012.

The charts and information presented in the report confirm that the e-reader space is becoming more complex everyday with new entrants and incumbents all vying for a piece of the market. As new technologies are introduced and e-reader adoption shifts beyond the early adopters, we must prepare for the effect that e-readers will have on our industry.

Study finds that Twitter is not as popular among 18 to 24 year olds

Twitter may have over 30 million users but a recent study conducted by Participatory Marketing Network and the Lubin School of Business’ Interactive and Direct Marketing Lab at Pace University found that only 22% of 18 to 24 year olds use Twitter. However, when this same age group was asked about social networking usage, 99% reported that they have at least one active profile on another social networking site.

At the recent Twtrcon conference, Michael Della Penna, co-founder and chairman of Participatory Marketing Network commented, “If [18-24 year olds] are texting, using social networks, what is the social value of Twitter?” He went on to say, “This is a classic ‘glass half full’ scenario for Twitter because it’s clear that Gen Y has an appetite for social networking, but still hasn’t fully embraced micro-blogging. There is a tremendous opportunity now for marketers to develop strategies to get this important group active on Twitter too.”

Some other interesting findings from the study show that 89% of 18 to 24 years olds have downloaded an application for their social networking profile page and 38% own an iPhone or iPod Touch.

E-paper/LCD screen for netbooks

An article from PCWorld features a new hybrid e-paper/LCD screen for netbooks that could make the devices viable competitors in the e-reader space. The 10.1 inch screen was developed by start-up company, Pixel Qi, and is designed to work in black and white e-paper mode, and two LCD color modes for indoor and outdoor use. The e-paper mode is designed for reading e-books and documents while the color modes can be used for the internet, videos, etc. The e-paper mode also helps extend battery life because the backlighting is turned off. The screens could be available in netbooks by the end of this year, giving the devices more capabilities than current e-readers but a similar price tag. A video demonstration of the Pixel Qi screen can be found on the E-Ink-Info website.

Prime View International acquires E Ink

On Monday, Prime View International (PVI), the world’s highest volume supplier of ePaper display modules announced that it will acquire E Ink, the leader in e-paper display materials. According to the press release, the companies were already partners in supporting e-book manufactures worldwide but by forming a single company that is dedicated to e-paper, they will be able to improve e-paper displays, expand capacity, and speed up new product development. The press release also provided a few very interesting statistics about the potential growth for e-reader devices.

Vinita Jakhanwal, an analyst from iSuppli commented, “The market for electronic book devices such as the SONY Reader and Amazon Kindle is forecasted to grow from 1.1 million units in 2008 to 20 million units in 2012, a cumulative annual growth rate of 105% over the four-year period.”

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Director of Display Technologies for DisplaySearch noted, “The ePaper display module market will grow to over $3 billion by 2013. This market will see further growth with the emergence of color displays and flexible displays, serving eBook/eTextbook, eNewspaper/eMagazine and eDocument markets.”

These statistics support other recent predictions that e-readers will have a considerable impact on our market in the near future.

Google to begin selling e-books through Google Edition

An article from The New York Times says that Google has plans to launch an initiative called Google Edition which will let publishers sell in-print e-books direct to consumers. The new initiative is separate from Google Book Search but will utilize a feature from Google’s Partner Program that allows users to preview up to 20 percent of a book and select links to online retailers where the books are available for purchase. With Google Edition, the users will be able to purchase those e-books directly through Google. This new program will give Google an e-book store similar to Amazon’s and therefore put the two companies in direct competition for control of the e-book market. (For those booksellers reading, this means in direct competition with us as much as each other.) Google plans to implement a similar pricing strategy as Amazon where publishers set wholesale prices but Google and Amazon control the consumer prices. It will be interesting to see the price that Google charges for the e-books because publishers have expressed much concern over the sustainability of Amazon’s low pricing. Recent reports say that Amazon is selling the e-books at a loss in an effort to sell more Kindles but that customers have already become accustomed to the low price tag. The article notes that some details of Google Edition are still being worked out but publishers that were briefed on the plans are optimistic about the program. Google Edition is expected to go live later this year.

Note: The New York Times posted a correction to the original piece and this posting has been updated to reflect the correction.

Baker & Taylor partners with R.R. Donnelley for print on demand services

Following the news of a partnership between Baker & Taylor and Overdrive, B&T has entered into another agreement with R.R. Donnelley for print on demand services. According to the press release, R.R. Donnelley will establish and manage a Digital Print on Demand Center at one of B&T’s distribution facilities. The center will open in September and additional R.R. Donnelley print facilities will be utilized to provide print and bind capabilities worldwide. This partnership is the fourth for B&T in recent months and is the final piece to building a digital infrastructure that will offer customers both print and digital content options.

SharedBook launches Google Book Settlement Discussion forum

This week, custom book publisher, SharedBook Inc., launched a new Google Book Settlement Discussion forum to give policymakers, businesspeople, scholars, journalists, and others, an opportunity to come together to review and discuss the settlement. The site includes all of the relevant documents pertaining to the case and comments by users will be linked to the documents through online footnoting. Users can also purchase a printed copy of the settlement with the discussion comments. As mentioned, the site just launched so it may take a little time for the discussion to get going but within a few weeks it will likely be a great resource.

Baker & Taylor partners with Overdrive

This week Baker & Taylor announced that they will partner with Overdrive to provide their customers with downloadable digital content options such as e-books, audio books, music, and videos. According to the press release, Baker & Taylor will offer its library customers a Digital Media Library with content that can be downloaded to various devices and will provide its retailers with the ability to purchase digital media for customers to download. Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive commented, “The market timing for this alliance is perfect. The demand for digital media is exploding, and Baker & Taylor is in a prime position to give customers a bundled solution - digital content in multiple formats along with physical media.” Baker & Taylor has also recently formed partnerships with ebrary and LibreDigital to expand its presence in the digital content space.

Second Life graduation to be held at Bryant & Stratton College

According to a posting on the Bryant & Stratton website, the college will be the first to host a graduation ceremony in the Second Life virtual world. The posting notes that approximately 40 graduates in the online degree program will receive their degree right where they earned it – online. A video on the website explains that the graduating students are located all over the country so the virtual graduation will let them take part in a real ceremony. Audio of the commencement will be streamed live to students and will feature a commencement speaker, speeches from students receiving top honors, and each student’s name announced as they accept their virtual diploma. Scott Traylor, director of admissions commented, “This is an exciting event for Bryant & Stratton and its graduates. By starting their new life via Second Life, these graduates are continuing their journey down the path of learning, while experiencing new and interactive technologies that help prepare them for a world driven by innovation." Bryant & Stratton also offers its students a variety of virtual activities via its Second Life campus. Prospective students can even attend a virtual open house to meet with staff from admissions and talk with current students.

New mobile phone e-reader introduced in Japan

According to a recent posting on Electronista, KDDI, a Japanese cell phone provider has introduced a new Toshiba mobile phone that is also an e-reader. The new device is called Biblio and it has 7 GB of storage available to store about 5,000 e-books from KDDI’s EZ Book Service. The device also features a 3.5 inch LCD screen, electronic dictionary, a 5.1 megapixel camera, and wi-fi connection. There is not word yet on pricing but the Bibilo is expected to begin shipping in Japan on June 24th.

Ingram announces creation of Ingram Content Group

Earlier this week, Ingram announced the creation of a new company called Ingram Content Group Inc. According to the news release, Ingram Digital, which includes Ingram Book Group and Lightning Source, will be realigned into the new company in an effort to fully integrate Ingram’s content companies. Together, the companies will provide a suite of print and digital services including: distribution, print on demand, and digital support. Ingram chairman, John Ingram commented, “Over the past decade, we recognized we were moving to a ‘P+D’ world – print plus digital – and that our customers wanted P+D solutions without having to contact multiple people in our organization. So, we’re organizing to make that happen – to provide these solutions better, faster and more effectively than anybody.”

University of Michigan expands Google Book Search agreement

Last week, the University of Michigan announced an expansion to their current Google Book Search scanning agreement. An article from Inside Higher Ed provides the following summary of the new agreement:

• Universities that have made parts of their collections available for digitization will receive deep discounts on access to the collection, or -- in Michigan's case and perhaps those of others -- will pay nothing for access to the collection, which currently has about 10 million volumes and could easily double in size. Every participating library will have full free access to digitized copies of all of the books it contributed.
• For people at other institutions, a free "preview" of a book -- with about 20 percent of content -- will be available online.
• Individuals will be able to purchase full access (but not download a copy) at prices that Google said would be inexpensive compared to regular purchase prices.
• Colleges and university libraries could buy site licenses, with pricing based on Carnegie classification. While no scale was released, Google officials said that the goal of pricing would be both to provide appropriate recognition to copyright holders but also to ensure wide access to the collections.
• Any of the universities that have provided volumes for the project will have the right to seek arbitration if they feel that the pricing does not reflect both of those principles.

While the new agreement addresses the pricing issue, some of the pricing details have not been released so it is not certain that the agreement is enough to keep Google from overcharging. Corey Williams, associate director for the American Library Association’s Washington office commented that the agreement is a “step in the right direction with regard to pricing” but notes that “we think any library should have the ability to review pricing.” It is expected that the other universities participating in the digitization effort could sign similar agreements.

“Talking Gadget Theater” videos

If you are looking for something fun, the DVICE website has a couple of humorous Talking Gadget Theater videos starring the Kindle 2 and iPod Shuffle. Enjoy!

March 2009 e-book sales statistics

E-book sales statistics for March 2009 have been released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) via IDPF. Trade e-book sales were $10 million for March 2009, a 110.4% increase over March 2008. IDPF reports calendar year to date revenue is up 131% for the year. Note that these figures represent the 13 trade book publishers who have been willing to supply their data to IDPF.

Phillips develops new e-paper technology that is closer to printed paper

An article from Technology Review says that Phillips Research has developed a new method for creating color e-paper displays that will be three times brighter than the current color displays. The method is known as in-plane electrophoretics, and it uses colored particles rather than color filters which are used in E Ink. The display is brighter with colored particles because color filters require four subpixels for each full-color pixel which reduces the resolution and the brightness of the display. The technology is still very new and Sri Peruvemba, vice president of marketing at E-Ink, predicts that it will take at least three years for it to hit the market. When the technology is available, it will offer some distinct advantages over color filters because it relies on cheaper and simpler electronics and it is more suitable for creating flexible displays.

Bowker report says on-demand publishing more than doubled in 2008

This week, Bowker, a leading source for bibliographic information, released statistics on the U.S. book publishing industry for 2008. The report shows that in 2008, the number of books printed using print-on-demand and short-run more than doubled over 2007 with an increase of 132 percent. Last year marked the second year of triple-digit growth for the print-on-demand segment, which increased 462 percent since 2006. In addition, the number of on-demand and short-run books surpassed the number of traditional books in the market. Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publisher services for Bowker commented, “Our statistics for 2008 benchmark a historic development in the U.S. book publishing industry as we crossed a point last year in which On Demand and short-run books exceeded the number of traditional books entering the marketplace. It remains to be seen how this trend will unfold in the coming years before we know if we just experienced a watershed year in the book publishing industry, fueled by the changing dynamics of the marketplace and the proliferation of sophisticated publishing technologies, or an anomaly that caused the major industry trade publishers to retrench.” In the past few months there has also been an increase in the number of college stores, scholarly presses, and libraries offering print-on-demand options. We can expect that more experimentation will continue this year, as the industry seeks to find a more profitable business model.

iPhone app programming course from Stanford U reaches 1 million downloads in 7 weeks

Seven weeks ago, Stanford University began offering a free iTunes video of its popular iPhone Application Programming course and since then, the video has already been downloaded over 1 million times. According to an article on the university’s website, the video reached the milestone quicker than any course in iTunes University history. The course is taught by Apple engineers, and now students and entrepreneurs outside of the university can use the instruction to develop their own apps. Troy Brant, Stanford teaching assistant for the course, commented that the App Store offers a unique business opportunity “for the little guy” because it provides instant access to millions of people and their opinions. Students enrolled in the class at Stanford are working to develop games, productivity apps, billing software, and Stanford specific apps, all with the hope that they might develop an app that hits it big.

California first state to offer open-source digital textbooks for high school students

Earlier this month, California became the first state in the U.S. to launch an initiative that will offer high school students free, open-source digital textbooks. According to the press release, content developers across the country will be asked to submit digital content for review and then a list of standards-aligned, open-source digital textbooks for high school math and science will be developed. The resources will be available for use in California high schools beginning this fall. If this initiative is successful, we could begin to see other states follow California’s lead in the K-12 space or even higher education.

Amazon in the news

Since the Kindle DX was introduced, Amazon has been all over the news. Here is a round-up of some of the stories:

What effect will the Kindle DX have on the education market?
There have been many articles speculating on the effect that the Kindle DX could have on the education market. An article on The Bookseller, features commentary by Evan Schnittman, vice-president of global business development at Oxford University Press, who believes that the Kindle DX preview was “a smart tactical maneuver” to help Amazon stake out its territory in the academic market before the “textbook e-reader wars” begin. A posting on the Brave New World blog comments on the article, pointing out that the device and e-books are only part of the solution. “Students require connectivity, reference, to be able to capture notes, bookmark, diaries, collate files, create documents, will probably not be restricted to text, or even greyscale. Therefore ask yourself as a student with limited disposable income, would you rather invest in a Kindle DX at $489 (£325) or more suitable devices that are not tied to content and a single business model and that can’t connect to all resources and can do more than download and store mere documents.”

Kindle DX’s chances of succeeding
A posting on the Kindle 2 Review blog features a listing of the positive and negative indicators contributing to the Kindle DX’s chances for success. The posting notes, “Amazon has indicated, and the success of the Kindle 2 makes it likelier, that they intend to have Kindles around for 10 or more years. The Kindle DX becomes the first iteration of their attempt to capture the college textbook market and expand the Kindle family. I feel the DX family of Kindles will be a huge success – perhaps with the current version at a slightly lower price point, perhaps with dx 2.”

Kindle DX pilots
In regards to the Kindle DX pilots, the universities are still working out the details but Case Western Reserve University and Princeton University have provided some information. At Case Western Reserve, Kindle DX devices will be distributed to about 50 students enrolled in first-year chemistry, computer science, and electrical engineering courses. The student reactions to using the Kindle DX for reading textbooks will be compared to a control group using traditional textbooks. The university will also launch a project to evaluate the impact of the device on the learning experience, determine if faculty delivered the information in new ways, and determine if students approach their reading and assignments differently. At Princeton, students and faculty in three courses will receive the Kindle DX devices. The Princeton pilot will differ from the other pilots because it will be part of a sustainability initiative that focuses on reducing the amount of electronic reserve course materials that are printed by students.

Amazon offers subscription model for blogs
This week Amazon made another surprising announcement and said that it will let bloggers offer their posts via subscriptions in the Kindle store. According to an article from E-Commerce Times, Amazon will set the price for the blogs and keep 70% of the revenue with the remaining 30% going back to the blog publisher. The article notes that the model is questionable given that users can simply access the blogs for free in the Kindle’s browser but if Amazon is able to persuade consumers to pay for online content and “budge the ‘free content’ paradigm even slightly, it could be a game changer.”

University of Pittsburgh Press to make 500 out-of-print titles available

According to a recent press release, the University of Pittsburgh Press along with the University of Pittsburgh Library System and the Chicago Digital Distribution Center (CDDC) will make 500 of their out-of-print titles available through the University of Pittsburgh Library System’s D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program. The out-of print titles were added to the program after sufficient interest from scholars and students. The program will allow users to access the library system to read and search the full text of the titles online. Printed copies can also be purchased and within the year, the CDDC will offer paperback editions of the titles.

New, cheaper e-reader to compete with Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader

A few recent reports indicate that another new e-reader, known as the Cool-er, will hit the market within the next few weeks. The e-reader was developed by UK start-up Interead, and is the first new e-reader to offer an e-book online store like Amazon and Sony. According to the Financial Times blog, the reader is being pitched as “cheaper, lighter, and more open than Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Reader, and with a larger selection of titles.” The Cool-er has a 6-inch E-Ink screen, 1 GB of storage, SD Card slot, and removable/rechargeable battery. It also comes in eight colors, is available in eight languages, and can handle EPUB formatted books, Adobe PDF files, text files, and JPEG files. The Cool-er does lack some features available on the Kindle including: internet connection, built in dictionary, and a keyboard. However, the Coolerbooks online store will offer over 260,000 titles compared to Amazon's 250,000 titles and Sony’s 160,000 titles. Neil Jones, creator of the e-reader commented, “My own view is that in the next 12 months we will be the number-three player in the e-reader marketplace." He went on to say, “I would sincerely hope to be giving either of the other two a good run for their money.”

University of Tokyo researchers develop flexible OLED prototype

A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a stretchable, rubber-like OLED display that will not break or tear. According to posting on Slash Gear, the prototype is composed of fluoro-rubber compound sprayed with carbon nanotubes which can be folded about 1,000 times without any damage. The team is now working to increase the prototype’s 256 pixel resolution and to add color. In the future, we could see this technology used to create body-shaped medical systems that would help medical students learn.

Digital initiatives on campus

This week there were a few articles about new digital initiatives occurring at universities. An article from Campus Technology says that Anaheim University plans to go paperless by 2010 in an effort to “go green”. The University is currently working with publishers to convert its textbooks to e-books for use on the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle. University spokesman David Bracey commented, "It is not our goal to be the first paperless university. It is our goal to be one of many paperless universities and we hope by setting an example, many universities around the world will join us in becoming sustainable and socially responsible institutions that put people and planet before profit."

Another article indicates that the University of Missouri’s journalism school now requires incoming freshman to purchase an iPhone or iPod Touch to replay lectures. According to Brian Brooks, Associate Dean, “Lectures are the worst possible learning format. There’s been some research done that shows if a student can hear that lecture a second time, they retain three times as much of that lecture.” Other MP3 players could also be used but the Apple devices were chosen because of the number of students that already own the devices and the ability to download the lectures for free via the iTunes Store.

Apple files patent for an iTunes kiosk

It seems that Apple also has plans to enter the entertainment kiosk space. A recent posting on AppleInsider says that Apple has filed a patent for a kiosk that will enable iPod and iPhone users to download content to their devices while traveling or in locations where there is no Wi-Fi connectivity. The patent indicates that unlike other entertainment kiosks, the iTunes kiosk will not require users to pair their media devices to the kiosk which can cause excessive wear on the media device connector. Instead the kiosk will be able to detect the presence of the media device and will establish a wireless data channel with the device. Apple plans to place these kiosks in “virtually any location such as an airport, hotel, stadium, train station, shopping mall, stores, planes, ships, public transportation vehicles, and the like." Consumers will be able to download the latest hit songs and movie releases as well as, any audio and video available in the iTunes store.

Amazon and the Kindle Vision

At the press conference last week, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon noted that the vision for Amazon was to allow customers to get any book ever printed in under 60 seconds. To support that vision, this week Amazon released a new version of its Kindle app for the iPhone in its continued effort to capture more of the e-book market. According to a posting on the Bits blog, the new app is optimized for the iPhone and more user-friendly. The first generation app required users to open Safari Web separately to buy the book while the new app lets users click once within the app to initiate the purchase. The posting also features interesting commentary from Bezos, which gives some further insight into the direction that Amazon is heading and suggests that Amazon is more concerned with selling the content than they are with selling the devices.
“We are committed to making Kindle books available on a vast array of devices. Whether you own a Kindle or not, we want you to buy Kindle books from us. With the Kindle device, we succeed in business only on the merits of how good the device is. If we can build the best reading device, then that is how we will succeed.

“But if you like to read books on the iPhone we want to support that too. We want to see Kindle books read anywhere. We have high standards, making sure Whispersync works. It is the seamlessness of what we are trying to achieve that we don’t want to jeopardize. Those are the things we want to do, and we will roll out Kindle applications as broadly as we can.”

Students at Ball State University make their own digital supplements for textbooks

An article on the Ball State University website discusses a program at the university known as Institute for Digital Entertainment and Education (IDEE) that lets students film, edit, and produce educational videos and digital supplements for textbooks. The program is proving to be a success for both the students and university because the students are benefiting from the ability to learn technology skills and gain real world experience, while the university is generating profits that will continue to help fund the experience. The students involved in the project have produced a wide range of material and some have even been able to benefit from unique opportunities to film behind closed doors.

Case Western Reserve University first to host private version of Second Life

Last week, Case Western Reserve University announced that they will be the first to host a private version of Second Life, an online virtual world that is imagined and created by its users. An article from The Chronicle of Higher Education says that the university will work with Linden Lab, the company that runs Second Life, to develop the private version that will be installed on the universities’ servers and behind their security systems which will eliminate the security, privacy, and intellectual property concerns often associated with virtual worlds. Larry Johnson, chief executive of New Media Consortium commented, “I think that it’s going to solve a lot of issues that many institutions have with using virtual worlds in general. It’s the first step in allowing universities to begin to build their own grids.” The private version of Second Life will be accessible to the university’s students, faculty, and staff members and will provide its users with many different opportunities including: an environment for medical students to perform research of personal medical histories and a place for mentors and public school students to interact.

News Corp to offer an e-reader and begin charging to access the news

A few recent reports indicate that News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and many newspapers across the world, is looking to offer its own e-reader and begin charging to access the news, in an effort to fix the “flawed” business model which lets consumers access content for free online. According to Electronista, last month, Chairman and CEO of News Corp, Rupert Murdoch commented, “We’re investing in a new device that has a bigger screen, four-color, and you can get everything there.” Another report says that Murdoch has set up a global team that is “looking at hardware” that will deliver the content in a “user-friendly way.” The team is said to be in discussions with publishers and content providers outside of News Corp. In addition, the team is looking to develop a model to charge for access to their newspapers. An article from Guardian says that Murdoch believes that the online subscription model will work given its success with the Wall Street Journal and in a recent interview he commented that News Corp could begin charging for access to newspapers within the next 12 months noting that “the current days of the internet will soon be over."

The Coming Coaster Ride for College Stores…

You know that feeling where the roller coaster comes to the top of the first big incline and is about to drop, but you can’t quite see over the edge yet? The fear? The anticipation? That feeling in your stomach? Well, I am having one of those feelings today about what the next year will look like on the digital side for college stores. An early indication of change is the collection of fall textbook adoptions, which is a process that is going on now for many campuses. From individual e-mails, and internal discussion lists I am seeing a strong uptake in interest in the adoption of digital textbooks by faculty. While many college stores still do not support the delivery of digital textbooks, the time has come for stores to either commit to a future that includes a growing percentage of digital sales, many of which will occur via stores’ websites, or accept that their current and future customers will migrate elsewhere as they become obsolete. The messages and signals in the marketplace have become so loud and clear that the only people who cannot tell that a change is coming are those who are choosing not to listen. We and others anticipate that 2009-2010 will be the start of the real shift to digital course materials. Expect some more big announcements between now and the start of the fall semester. Amazon's new Kindle is just the start. All stores must increase their experimentation, innovation, and knowledge sharing if they are to remain a viable and vibrant part of the academic landscape. I hope the safety bar on our roller coaster is working! This ride is looking like it will be a real thriller!

Movie rental kiosks on the rise

An article from The Dallas Morning News reports that Blockbuster plans to roll out 10,000 Blockbuster Express video machines nationwide by the end of the year. This move will put Blockbuster in direct competition with industry leader, Redbox, which currently operates more than 14,000 DVD rental kiosks at major chain stores. Blockbuster chief executive, Jim Keyes hopes that the business evolves into digital download kiosks rather than dispensing physical copies stored in the machine. Additionally, although Netflix posted positive profits for its first quarter, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is concerned about the competition from kiosks. Hastings said that many customers cite the kiosks $1 a day new releases as their reason for canceling their subscriptions. However, new releases only account for one third of Netflix’s total rentals so kiosks can only compete to that extent for the time being.

First E-reader for Textbooks has Arrived

The rumors were true. This morning, at a press event in NYC, Amazon introduced its large screen e-reader device, the Kindle DX, and announced partnerships with higher education textbook publishers, newspapers, and universities. According to the news release and video, the new device is 2.5 times larger than the Kindle 2 with a 9.7 inch E Ink display. In addition to wireless, highlighting capabilities, and all of the features of the Kindle 2, it has a built in PDF reader, auto-rotate capability, and 3.3 GB of storage that can hold up to 3,500 books. In regards to the available content, The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Boston Globe will offer reduced rates for long term subscriptions. But more importantly, three textbook publishers, Pearson, Cengage, and Wiley will make their higher education textbooks available. In the press conference it was noted that the device would have 60% of the titles making up the higher education textbook market. The textbooks will be available in the Kindle Store this summer and in the fall, five universities will participate in a textbook pilot. The press release explains:

“Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will launch trial programs to make Kindle DX devices available to students this fall. The schools will distribute hundreds of Kindle DX devices to students spread across a broad range of academic disciplines. In addition to reading on a considerably larger screen, students will be able to take advantage of popular Kindle features such as the ability to take notes and highlight, search across their library, look up words in a built-in dictionary, and carry all of their books in a lightweight device.”

A posting on Wired features a comment from Jeff Bezos who said, “A particular class of book that shines with this display is textbooks. We’re going to get students with smaller backpacks, less load.” What is not so light, though is the price – announced at $489. It is not clear what price textbooks for the device will sell at compared to traditional textbooks, or whether those textbooks will expire after a certain period of time like many other current digital textbook options. While students may be interested in the Kindle DX, we will have to wait and see if they are really willing to purchase a black and white single-purpose device for their textbooks when they already own a computer. But whether they purchase this exact device or wait for something with more capabilities, we can expect that eventually the large screen devices will offer enough to make the price tag worth it.

Podcasts vs. Classroom Lectures

This month’s edition of eSchool News has an interesting article about a study entitled “iTunes University and the Classroom: Can Podcasts Replace Professors?” The study was conducted at the State University of New York Fredonia and compared the performance of college students who attended a lecture in person to those who viewed the lecture via a podcast from iTunes. The students participating in the study were competing for an iTunes gift card so the actual scores were not as high as they might have been if they were graded however, the study found that students who watched the podcast scored an average of 71% while those who attended the classroom lecture scored an average of 62%. The largest factor affecting these scores was note taking and students that took notes while watching the podcasts scored an average of 15 points higher than the students in the classroom lecture. Researchers for the study explained that note taking is a key factor in both learning environments and students that do not pay attention during podcasts will be just as unprepared as if they did not focus in the classroom. However, podcasts do give students an advantage because they can pause and rewind the lecture to capture more notes than they could in a classroom. The study also found that combining the two learning methods may be the most beneficial option with more than 90 percent of students saying that they would prefer “traditional lectures with computer-based learning as a supplement for revising” their notes.

Amazon Kindle and Textbooks

The industry is buzzing about the possible debut of a large screen Kindle this week. Sources such as Computerworld and All Things Digital are reporting that Amazon has scheduled a press event for Wednesday at Pace University in New York City to announce the launch of the new device. At this point, the exact intentions for the large screen Kindle are somewhat unclear. The New York Times says that the device will be “tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks” while The Wall Street Journal says it was “designed to appeal to periodical and academic textbook publishers.” The WSJ article goes on to say that Amazon has worked out agreements with several textbook publishers as well as six universities that will participate in a Kindle pilot beginning this fall. The universities include: Case Western Reserve University, Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State. In an article out on Engadget, we see that the new Kindle device, to be named the Kindle DX, will have a 9.7” display. The site has several pictures of the device expected to be announced tomorrow.

Many sources are also speculating about how this device could affect the publishing industry and if it could really help save struggling newspapers and magazines. An article from Computerworld points out that while publishers could benefit from the ability to charge for subscriptions, it is unclear how a subscription model will succeed when content is available for free via the internet. The Silicon Alley Insider adds, “no matter how big the Kindle screen is, electronic subscriptions are not going to save the likes of the New York Times.” Additionally, due to the black and white screen, the device can really only display newspapers and some periodicals because replicating any glossy magazine would require a color screen. In terms of educational material, coursepacks and some textbooks may display reasonably well but the majority of textbooks require color for illustrations and diagrams. It is questionable if students will really be willing to purchase a black and white device such as this. A posting on Thad Mcilroy’s blog comments, “who really believes that students are going to carry into their classes a notebook computer (or smaller) that allows them to surf the web, Twitter, provide online messaging, save their personal files and photos and a hundred other features — a device which they already own — and then purchase an additional black & white only device, albeit with a web browser, and be thankful they can leave books at home and read them instead on a device clearly inferior to their notebook or netbook (which can easily display the same material)?” It will be interesting to see what the large screen Kindle is intended for and the agreements that have been worked out. A posting on ZDNet uses NACS data to talk about how this is more about textbooks than newspapers or magazines. However, regardless of the exact intentions, it looks as though Amazon will be among the first to release a large screen device targeted to academic purposes, anyone willing to take bets on the impact to college stores over the next two academic years?

Bookshare partners with publishers and universities to make more books available to students with disabilities

Last week, Bookshare, a nonprofit company that makes books available to people with visual disabilities announced that they will be partnering with leading U.S. trade publishers, K-12 publishers, and 11 universities to make more books available to students. Contributions from publishers will include digital trade and textbooks, while the universities will provide access to the books that they scanned and formatted for students. Universities are able to scan the books because of an exemption to the U.S. copyright law which makes it legal for books to be scanned for those that have print disabilities. In the past, many scanning efforts have been duplicated across universities but with the new partnership all of the scanned and digital books will be available for access via the Bookshare online library. Bookshare will also handle the conversion of the digital files into accessible formats such as DAISY 3.0 (Digital Accessible Information System) and BRF (Braille Ready File). Bookshare’s library collection currently includes over 46,000 titles and is expected to increase to over 100,000 books by 2012.

In regards to working with the publishers to obtain the digital version of the books, Jim Fruchterman, CEO of Benetech, the nonprofit organization that operates Bookshare commented, “Digital media is the future for learners and individuals with print disabilities. Fewer than five percent of books are available in accessible formats today. Working directly with book publishers, we have an extraordinary opportunity to knock down the barriers and raise the floor of access to ensure all individuals have access to print publications at the same time.”

How do you spend your commute?

For two years, Peter Brett, a novelist from Brooklyn spent his daily commute to NYC writing a novel. However, he wasn’t writing the book on paper or even typing it on his computer; he wrote the book on his smartphone. An article from Daily News says that Brett wrote over 100,000 words for his 400 page novel while on the subway. His novel was released last year in Poland and England where it hit best seller lists and just last month it was released in U.S. Brett has stopped commuting to pursue writing full time but comments that his word per minute count was higher when he was typing on his smartphone.

E-readers in the news

There were some new developments in the e-reader space this week. Here are few of the stories:

New e-paper competitor – Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have created a new display that looks more like actual paper. The display is much brighter than the current E INK technology because it reflects 55% of ambient light as compared to 35-40%. The researchers say that the technology could eventually reflect more than 60%, making the display almost as bright as white paper. The researchers have developed partnerships with other companies and will soon begin commercializing the technology.

Braille e-book reader – Although it is likely still a concept at this point, four designers have created a Braille e-book reader that would use electromagnetic signals to change the surface pattern of the device to simulate Braille text. The technology to create the device is already available so we could see this device in the near future.

BeBook e-reader – A smaller, cheaper version of the original BeBook e-reader will soon launch in Europe. The reader has an E Ink display and runs on the Linux operating system but it does not offer wireless capability. There is no word yet if the reader will launch in the U.S.

Sony to do away with proprietary format in UK - At the London Book Fair, Richard Palk, Sony’s new business content and services manager announced that they will move away from their propriety format in favor of ePub in the UK. Palk commented, “ePub has become the de facto UK consumers' format of choice." He also added that Reader and ebook sales have exceeded expectations, "We see demand for ebooks and digital readers growing in the UK. It's clear that a reading revolution is beginning." There is no word yet, if a similar decision will occur for the US market.

Disrupting Class

Several months ago we had a blog posting that mentioned the book “Disrupting Class” by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson. There was another story on the piece in eSchool News this week. The thrust of the story in eSchool News is a perfect descriptor for the forces facing college stores today with digital textbooks. It contains exactly the messages I have been trying to send to stores over the past few years, and especially the past several months. The current issue is only available to subscribers online at the moment, but the article is worth getting the free access. (BTW – eSchoolNews is often a good source of information on educational technology. Here are some extended excerpts from the article to encourage you to read more, and to read the book:

Disruptive innovation is the business idea that every so often a new innovation comes along that completely changes the marketplace, knocking the old market leaders from their perch and giving rise to new ones. […] Because they take advantage of these radical innovations, new entrants to the marketplace are essentially competing against “non-consumption” while the innovation continues to improve. Once the new innovation has matured, these companies are in a great position to compete with the established market leaders, and therefore they nearly always win.

They then use the story of Digital Equipment Corp and perceptions of how they thrived and then suddenly failed due to management practices that were once seen as sound, but later seen as poor. The article comments:

“How can smart people suddenly get so stupid?” Christensen asked. His answer: It wasn’t management’s fault; it was disruptive innovation. […] The early PCS weren’t very good, which is typical of the first wave of products to take advantage of any innovation. And as all good companies do, Digital listened to its customers, who were saying this very thing. As a result, Digital decided it wasn’t worth changing its business model. In effect, the company’s managers had to choose between making good products with a high profit margin, using a well-established business model; or scrapping that model – an extremely risky move – and making flawed products with a much smaller profit margin. Of course, sound business management practices said they should choose the first option … and the rest, as they say, is history.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? E-textbooks? E-readers? The future of the college store??? Hello, McFly? Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?

Finally, he talks about the innovation S-curve – one of my favorite concepts in innovation:

Whenever a disruptive innovation occurs, the pattern in which the new model replaces the old one follows an S-curve that can be calculated mathematically. At first, as suppliers of a new innovation work out its flaws, adoption is fairly flat. But then, as the innovation improves to the point where it’s widely accessible and delivers a satisfactory experience, adoption spikes rapidly. This mathematical model has proven to be remarkably consistent throughout history.

And to paraphrase or reword in our context: if that historical patterns holds true, then the latest disruptive innovation affecting college stores – digital course materials – is set to take off dramatically.

The article is a good read, and the book an even better one. Disrupting class also has a blog with some provocative ideas. It should be a must-read for stores.