Entries tagged with “tim o'reilly” from Tools of Change for Publishing

In-depth insight from Tim O'Reilly on lessons learned from Safari Books Online

Andrew Savikas
November 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

"As I outlined above, Safari adopted a "cloud library" model rather than downloadable ebooks as its fundamental design metaphor. I thought it might be worthwhile to understand how we arrived at that decision, as well as some of the other lessons we've learned over what is now 22 years of ebook publishing experience. (O'Reilly published its first ebook, Unix in a Nutshell for Hypercard, back in 1987!) With that, a few reflections on lessons learned"

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/10/safari-books-online-60-a-cloud.html

Posted via email from Andrew's posterous

Publishing Models for Internet Commerce

Andrew Savikas
October 14, 2009 | Permalink | Listen

Last week I pointed to a 1994 interview Tim O'Reilly did that touched on the impact the Web would have on publishing. A nice contemporary companion is this 1995 paper titled "Publishing Models for Internet Commerce" that remains relevant (perhaps more so) today:

In an information glut, it is not content but context that is king. Someone chooses the New York Times over the New York Post not because of any kind of proprietary lock on content (though to be sure there is a role for scoops and special features) but rather because it has developed an editorial point of view that appeals to a particular class of reader. In a similar way, there is an enormous role for the establishment of "information brands" on the net--publications that have established relationships of trust with particular audiences.

A Classic from the Archive: Tim O'Reilly interviewed in 1994

Andrew Savikas
October 7, 2009 | Permalink | Listen

Unfortunately I don't remember who pointed me to this (it was a few months ago via Twitter I think), but I came across it while cleaning off my Mac desktop. It's open government maven Carl Malamud interviewing Tim O'Reilly (mp3 link) from a weekly series (something that 10 years later would properly be called a "podcast"), and a lot of what's covered is eerily prescient (especially around the role of the Web in publishing).

Well worth a listen.

(Some other notable names in the interview series include Tim Berners-Lee and Brewster Kahle.)

Ebook Piracy is Up Because Ebook Demand is Up

Andrew Savikas
May 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9) | Listen

My email, twitter, and "real-world" information stream is abuzz today with references to a New York Times story about the increase in piracy of ebooks:

“It’s exponentially up,” said David Young, chief executive of Hachette Book Group, whose Little, Brown division publishes the “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer, a favorite among digital pirates. “Our legal department is spending an ever-increasing time policing sites where copyrighted material is being presented.”

John Wiley & Sons, a textbook publisher that also issues the “Dummies” series, employs three full-time staff members to trawl for unauthorized copies. Gary M. Rinck, general counsel, said that in the last month, the company had sent notices on more than 5,000 titles — five times more than a year ago — asking various sites to take down digital versions of Wiley’s books.

The reason there's an "exponential" increase in piracy of ebooks is because there's an exponential increase in demand for ebooks:

That's not a bad thing! It's an indicator of unmet demand (and in particular for non-DRM encrypted content). I know I have no interest in buying an ebook that's locked to a single vendor or device, and I'm sure many of these "pirates" feel the same. This is a good time to revisit Tim O'Reilly's seminal Piracy is Progressive Taxation, which includes the following lessons:

1. Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.
2. Piracy is progressive taxation.
3. Customers want to do the right thing, if they can.
4. Shoplifting is a bigger threat than piracy.
5. File sharing networks don't threaten book, music, or film publishing. They threaten existing publishers.
6. "Free" is eventually replaced by a higher-quality paid service.
7. "There's more than one way to do it."

I'm not suggesting publishers stop sending those DMCA notices; but 3 full-time staffers? Putting those resources toward building new ways to meet that demand is a much better investment.

Coincidentally, our research report Impact of P2P and Free Distribution on Book Sales is now available.

At TOC: Drawing for Pre-loaded Sony Reader Signed by Tim O'Reilly

Andrew Savikas
February 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Though much of the ebook buzz today has been around Kindle and Plastic Logic, the Sony Reader has a real following, and the company's new touch-screen version is by far the most elegant-looking reader I've come across (check out this session on Wednesday for a look at the device landscape). Because Sony (wisely) supports EPUB natively, it's a great fit with our ebook bundles.

Sony has kindly donated a PRS-700 for the TOC Conference, and to celebrate crossing the 400-title milestone for titles available as ebook bundles today, we're giving it away, pre-loaded with as many of them as I can fit on an 8GB SD card in EPUB format, and signed by Tim O'Reilly. Here's a photo of the reader:

That's more than $12,000 in ebooks! All paid TOC attendees (sorry speakers, press, and staff) are eligible, and we'll announce the winner on Wednesday (you must be present to win).