The Future Of Publishing Blog by Thad McIlroy
March 24th, 2010
I’m catching up on some very old email, and found a note from my sister Sue from before Christmas directing me to AbeBooks’ Weird Book Room. There’s quite a treasure trove here, and it’s tough to pick a favorite. Here’s one that’s pretty good, Andrew Kirk and Jane Moseley’s “Dead Pet: Send Your Best Little…
January 27th, 2010
When we evaluate new technology I believe that the key equation is “push or pull.” It is the rare new technology product released to the public where the reaction is an immediate: “I want that.” I suppose Facebook and Twitter are recent examples of “I want that” being a very common refrain. It certainly didn’t…
January 26th, 2010
“The McGraw-Hill Companies reported a 43.2% increase in fourth quarter EPS,” says today’s press release.(Log-in may be required). The big gains were in McGraw-Hill Education at 2.6% and in Financial Services at 10.6%. “Information & Media” declined by 11.4%; you’ll have to dig deeper than I have to figure that one out. The major message…
January 16th, 2010
A fine blog post from Joe Esposito that I wish I’d written…a small excerpt: Empires, by definition, begin their decline at their peak. Today Amazon bestrides the publishing world like Caesar, and it may seem far-fetched to think of this company slipping from its dominant position. There is some doubt, however, that Amazon can continue…
January 5th, 2010
OK, I’m obsessed. I just checked and I’ve written over 30 blog entries in the last few years about Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, for what I consider empty, meaningless hype around the Kindle and eBooks generally. Where is Peter Finch’s Howard Beale when we need him: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take…