Books and Technology

Unbinding the Book: A New Era of Book Creation

Kate Morrell Unbinding the Book is a collaboration between the independent publishing platform Blurb and the visual arts studio Jotta. The challenge: push the boundaries of how books can be experienced, by evoking the storytelling properties of print and the way in which images evoke a narrative, whilst bringing to life the materiality, form and physicality that make books so alluring and different from their digital counterparts. [vimeo width="640" height="300"]http://vimeo.com/106487007[/vimeo] Nine artists and designers were commissioned to get to work creating a "book". Here is a sampling of some of the great stuff that has materialized so far: -Exploring the temporality and tactility...

Continue Reading →

Book Patrol is now offering social media services for the book set

  Are you a bookseller who has been helplessly watching your online sales decline while still hoping for that early promise of selling books online to return? Are you a book or arts related organization looking to do more for your members at a reasonable cost? Are you a publisher looking to do more for your authors or a distributor looking to do more for your clients? Are you a library or museum with amazing collections that get very little exposure or interaction?   If you answered yes to any of the questions above and are having trouble finding the time or...

Continue Reading →

Project Hieroglyph: Helping turn Science Fiction toward Utopia

Project Hieroglyph is "a global collective of writers and researchers" whose aim is to turn the dystopian tide of recent science fiction toward creative inspiration. Born in 2011 from a Neal Stephenson article entitled  “Innovation Starvation,” in which he called for "a return to inspiration in contemporary science fiction" the project now includes some of best writers, thinkers, and minds on the planet and its first publication, Hieroglyph, is about to hit the shelves.  The name of Project Hieroglyph comes from the notion that certain iconic inventions in science fiction stories serve as modern “hieroglyphs” – Arthur Clarke’s communications satellite, Robert...

Continue Reading →

IKEA takes a bit out of Apple with their new ad campaign ‘bookbook’

  Once in a while, something comes along that changes the way we live, a device so simple and intuitive, using it feels almost familiar. Introducing the 2015 Ikea catalog. It’s not a digital book or an e-book. It’s a book book  We have come to  that time of year when the annual IKEA Catalog is set to arrive and take up most of our mailbox. This year something is different. Using the Apple iPad ads as a launching pad IKEA has gone all out with a "bookbook" campaign which reminds us of the everlasting value of print.  [youtube]http://youtu.be/MOXQo7nURs0[/youtube] Loaded with gems espousing the benefits of print like: "the...

Continue Reading →

The Classics for the Masses: The Loeb Classical Library heads online

When James Loeb founded the Loeb Classical Library in 1911 he had two simple goals: 1. To make the work of classical authors accessible to as many readers as possible—regardless of their knowledge of Greek or Latin—so they could profit from the wisdom of the ancients that had enriched his life so much. 2. He wanted the Loeb Classical Library to offer the best of Anglo-American classical scholarship Loeb was also way ahead of the crowd by having the books in the series designed to fit into one's pocket (the Penguin paperback was still 20+ years away).   Technology has finally...

Continue Reading →