The Daily Square – Repeat Edition
In which we repeat ourselves. You may skip this one without feeling guilt.
Considering Accessibility
Do you know that blind people use computers? This is not an idle question. Do you realize this? In addition to blind people, there are deaf people, people with cognitive problems, individuals with mobility problems, and, yes, people who are too vain to admit they need help reading tiny print. Normally, we would raise this issue in conjunction with a rant about making your website accessible. Yes, accessibility continues to be a very important issue to us — and, frankly, just about the smartest thing you can do if you want to be found on the Internet. Remember, the biggest
The Daily Square – Who’s Gonna Save The World Edition
Today we’re all about the writing contests. It’s a slow day.
How The iPhone Can Save The Book Business
Here’s how things work: yesterday, Paramount Pictures announced they’re going to make downloads of feature films available via iTunes. In other news, Apple changed its name and announced the long-anticipated iPhone. Lightbulb, on. Bad timing, Paramount. Great news, book industry. Omigosh, you’re saying, cellphone? Books? Hello? Apples, oranges, dropped calls, excessive fees, itty bitty screens. Okay, the following is mostly fantasy. But fantasy based on solid science. As we know it*. In addition to an exclusive deal with Cingular (‘nother story, ‘nother day), the iPhone does stuff like surf the web, play media files, and make phone calls (a key
The Daily Square – I Like Birds Edition
We look at the lovely history of chapbooks, the sheer, uh, cluelessness of OJ Simpson, and take another look at literary guilt…as in, guilt? You don’t know guilt.
The Daily Square – Find The River Edition
Gosh, so much news, so little time. Book publicists and Amazon’s price guarantee. We wonder why reading makes people feel guilty and how cell phone novels remain a trend in Japan.
Did You Hear The Book About…?
Say what you will about the New York Times, but covering the obvious is something the publication never fears. Okay, possibly a bit on the harsh side, but today’s story about audiobooks and technology shift had us giggling. A little. The gist of the story is that as more people get iPods, they turn to digital downloads of books rather than countless CDs. This has naturally been a boon for services like Audible (still the home of a really lousy user experience). It has also been a great deal for books — people are able to enjoy fine reading in
The Daily Square – Small Town Edition
Today…can a writer really retire? Alice Munro is going to test the theory. Also, hanging with authors while cruising the high seas and “whatever happened to Google Book Search?”
On Making A Mark
One might concede that Harry Potter is not great literature. But to witness the sheer pervasiveness of its appeal, which pays no attention to age, gender, language or cultural differences, and still to claim that it has little merit seems hugely wrong-headed. JK Rowling: The Mistress of All She Surveys
Looking At The Future: The Price Of Books
We were sitting quietly, considering possibilities for the big stories of still-nascent 2007. What, we wondered, would people be talking about in the coming year? At first we thought to look back to 2006, but, well, this is a modern blog. It’s all about the future, baby! Where our crystal ball failed (we so want a refund), the headlines of the day came through. Pricing of books, we have decided, will absolutely be a hot topic in the near future. How could such an obvious answer escape the sharp mind of BS Last week, in our still-ongoing discussion about readers