Sussex students tackle the eBook issue

Posted on by Louise Hewitt
Undergraduate students at the University of Sussex are engaging with one of the biggest issues in digital publishing today: eBooks. The students’ first year Human Computer Interaction (HCI) module asks them to design an “electronic document shopping system” that could enable book publishers to create a unique environment dedicated to the marketing and sale of electronic-only content. We were invited to talk to the students, explaining a little bit about the commercial environment of perfoming HCI, or usability design, and how their project relates to the live work that we do at Semantico. Expecting a sea of blank faces, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were interested, listening, and even posed a few questions. Questions that, sometimes, were not easy to answer. Continue reading →

Some thoughts on the Carter Report

Posted on by Louise Hewitt
Cover of the UK Government's Digital Britain report

Cover of Digital Britain report

Last month saw the publication of the interim Digital Britain report from UK Minister for Communications Stephen Carter and his team. Most of the headlines have focused on the ’2MB for all by 2012′ promise, but the report raises other issues for digital publishing. National high-speed broadband access is likely to be a reality if not in 3 then at least 5 years time – regardless of the Government – as users expect more and more instant access to media and communications, free and online. The report’s target in this regard – everyone in Britain to have access to broadband with a data rate of at least 2 megabits per second by 2012 – is in any case undemanding, since this can already be delivered to over 90% of the population (source: Informitv), and the average broadband home in Britain actually receives around 3.6Mbps at the moment (source: Ofcom). Neither can the report be said to be particularly forward-looking, with its focus on DAB (a format which consumers have not shown themselves to be that enthusiastic about so far) and digital television networks: there is mounting evidence that the under-30 age group regularly, if not exclusively, access entertainment media through the internet. The report is right in noting, however, the importance of wireless broadband for current and future delivery of content. The surge in demand created by the popularity of the iPhone and other factors has made this channel increasingly vital. While the main focus of the report is on audio / visual content, there are several key points that relate to the online publishing market. Continue reading →

Optimism on e-books at Online Information 2008

Posted on by John Helmer
Exhibition floor, Online Information 2008

Exhibition floor, Online Information 2008

If there was a dominant theme out on the floor of this year’s Online Information 2008 show at Olympia, it had to be the continuing rise of e-books. I conducted a brief survey of opinions from the stands and, even discounting for the tendency of suppliers to talk up their own market, it was an optimistic view that emerged. The last year has seen barriers to adoption both financial and attitudinal subside. New tools coming into the marketplace have dramatically reduced the cost of producing e-books. Apprehensions about issues such as back-file access – if you cancel a subscription where does the e-book go? – have noticeably dwindled, according to Ebsco’s John Reid. So which are the sectors that are adopting fastest?

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