When the iPad was launched, there was a widespread view (and I shared it) that soon, and not more than a year or two later, there would be some highly competitive and lower-priced tablet alternatives for customers to choose from. The iPad had opened a new hardware category, but competitors would quickly crowd into this new opening… there would be lots of choice and most of it would not be for Apple hardware.
Whilst dissecting a review of one of … Keep Reading
Intentionality is a philosophical term of art, and it refers to or ‘points to’ the directedness or aboutness of much of our mental and linguistic activity. Of much of our action. But ‘intentionality’ has also been used by web commentators, John Battelle, for one, when he considers the extent to which Google is striving to build a method of search which captures the user’s intent and which is at the same time harvesting and modeling intentions and desires:
… Keep ReadingThe Database
There were a couple of tell-tale signs last week that Google may be having some pain and problems with its vastly ambitious Google Books project. First, was the news that Google was pulling the plug on its corresponding, open-ended, plan to scan and database masses of historic newspaper archives. Second a report that Google was diverting all its programmers from its eBookstore and perhaps not vigorously pursuing plans selling eBooks.
The problem that Google has, is that there was huge … Keep Reading
Next Issue Media has launched a ‘Preview Service’ with seven magazines sold on subscription or as single issues. Next Issue Media has been called the Hulu for magazines and is the creation of Condé Nast, Meredith, Hearst, News Corporation and Time Inc. Only seven magazines currently feature in this Preview Service, but they are top drawer items: The New Yorker, Popular Mechanics, Fortune, Esquire and Time etc. The consortium is advancing on a narrow front both in … Keep Reading
Suddenly the dam seems to have broken and the major consumer magazine publishers are lining up for iPad editions sold on subscription through iTunes.
In the last ten days, Time Inc, Hearst and Conde Nast have all announced moves towards selling their leading consumer magazines as subscriptions on the iPad. They are also offering free iPad access to their existing print subscribers, a simple and very necessary step as we have been emphasizing for months.
In disclosing these new … Keep Reading
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