Yesterday, I stumbled across an incredibly simple but brilliant video about the end of publishing. It was produced by the marketing staff at Dorling Kindersley, a division of Penguin Group, for a recent sales conference. It talks about why Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1994) thinks that books are dead and boring.

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Recently, Seth Godin blogged on his dream iPad app. I thought I would follow suit and talk about something near and dear to my heart: my ideal iPad book application.

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A few days ago, I watched a video demo of the “SI Tablet” (see video below), a new eBook device developed by Time, Inc. and The Wonderfactory. It demonstrates how a touch screen, portability, and the convergence of text, audio, and video can create unprecedented opportunities for content providers. Frankly, it is the most compelling media device I have seen yet.

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I bought the Kindle 1. Then earlier this year I bought the Kindle 2. I was enthusiastic about both devices. But after nearly two years of using them on a regular basis, I have to admit, I still prefer bound books.

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Chris Anderson is the editor in chief of Wired magazine. He is also the author or The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, one of the most talked about books in the publishing industry. He is also the author of the new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. In a moment, I will tell you how to get a copy FREE—which seems especially appropriate for this book!

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A while back, I gave my impressions of the Kindle 2 after one week of use. In that post, I attempted to focus on what I liked about Amazon’s latest eBook reader. I also said that “I still don’t think this is the device that will dramatically change the game for publishing.”

For the most part, Amazon addressed the problems with the original Kindle. However, they still have a ways to go if they are going to capture the interest of the majority of readers. Here’s my list of what is still missing:

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It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the Amazon Kindle 2. However, whenever I write about it (as I did recently here and here), I always have someone who says, “I will never convert to an eBook reader. I just love the feel of a book in my hands.”

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Microsoft recently released a jaw-dropping video based on some of the their current research projects. These technologies will dramatically change your world and mine. The video is less than two minutes long and will give you a clear vision for what awaits us within the next ten years.

As Jonathan Crossfield explains, “These ideas are not science fiction but are just around the corner. It shows how far things will change in just a few short years and the ramifications for consumer behaviour are massive.”

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The publishing landscape is changing quickly. We have seen the digital future coming for some time, but it is finally upon us. As a result, we are doing a lot of experimenting at Thomas Nelson, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Six weeks ago, we introduced NelsonFree. The basic idea is that if you buy the printed format of the book, we throw in the electronic and audio versions for free. We believe this program adds value without a lot of cost and would actually induce sales of the printed format of the book. It’s too early to tell if this will be the case, but the early indicators have been encouraging. We will be adding several more titles to this program in the months ahead. Continue Reading

I attended the O’Reilly Tools of Change Publishing Conference in New York City on February 9–11, 2009. The conference itself was fantastic. The focus—as it is every year—was on how publishing is changing and what you must do to survive and thrive in the coming digital world. There was a great deal of discussion on new technologies and what people are learning. It was extremely stimulating and helpful. In addition, I made several valuable contacts.

On Wednesday I spoke on the topic of “Blogging as a Tool for Change.” The O’Reilly production team video-taped the complete presentation. It is embedded above. (If you are viewing this blog post via email, you may have to actually visit my blog to watch the video.) Among other things, I discussed 12 reasons why every traditional publisher needs to be blogging. I firmly believe this. It is one of the tangible tools you can employ to experience first-hand where publishing is going. Continue Reading