Trailing sparks of intense controversy since the day it was announced, The Daily goes live today. The Daily is the news app created exclusively for the iPad by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The only thing not in doubt is Murdoch’s determination to make the venture work: word on the street is that he’s invested $30 million in it. He told Fox Business that The Daily was his “No. 1 most exciting project.” James Murdoch, who does not always see eye to eye with his old man, described it as “our flagship project.”

In addition to breathtaking techno-innovation the money went into the best journalistic talent money can buy, like New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, TV producer Steve Alperin, and Richard Johnson, Mister Page Six himself.

What has stirred so much debate? For one thing, restricting the news app to one dedicated device flies in the face of the shibboleth that information wants to be free.”News Corp.’s expectations for the The Daily seem pegged to the hope that convenience, novelty, and that old Apple chic will convince users to go against the now-established assumption that online news and feature content, which is so widely available for free, is not worth paying for,” comments Christopher Cocca in Huffington Post.

Cocca also cites another issue that seems counterintuitive: the publication’s subscription model and a Wall Street Journal-type pay wall. “Why part with a dollar a day for The Daily‘s curation of the news and other media that you and your friends on Facebook and Twitter are already curating for free? You already pay for your internet connection, your data plan, your cable. Will The Daily be such a useful digest of everything you’re interested in to be worth the extra 30 bucks a month?” A dollar a day? Murdoch has publicly stated it will be a dollar a week – $0.99 to be precise ($39.99 for a one-year subscription).

Interestingly, one aspect that is definitely not controversial will be the political slant: there isn’t going to be any.  Despite the rightist bias of Murdoch’s holdings like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post,from all we can reckon he’s going to leave his heavy right fist off this operation.

The launch event was held in New York’s Guggenheim Museum attended by Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet services. Originally it was to be held on the left coast with Steve Jobs presiding, but his health prohibited his attendance. Too bad; he might have answered a lot of questions and extinguish some of the fires of controversy that The Daily has kindled.

For information visit thedaily.com and check out the coolissimo video below.

Richard Curtis

Soon the Chinese will celebrate The Year of The Rabbit. The rest of us will celebrate The Year of the Tablet. Apple’s runaway success with the iPad has spawned an army of emulators and imitators that will leave consumers utterly bewildered when the time comes to choose.  And the time is approaching rapidly when everyone will want one, from students to business executives. Researchers project between 24 and 42 million tablets to be sold in the United States in 2011, according to New York Times‘s Joshua Brustein.

To assist the perplexed, the New York Times recently published a guide to the pluses and minuses of such iPad rivals as the Motorola Xoom, the H. P. Slate, the Dell Streak, the Blackberry Playbook and the Samsung Gallery Tab.

Conclusions? Though the Apple product “remains the dominant tablet computer,” its rivals exhibit some features like flash support that make them genuinely competitive.  And one, the Xoom, was named best gadget at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

With its huge jump on the rest of the pack, Apple doesn’t have a lot to worry about being surpassed. But neither will it have the field to itself any longer.

Read Tablets, Compared here, then pay yer money and take yer choice.

Richard Curtis

The iPad may be rolling up the educational market, but you can’t actually roll up an iPad.  A few years ago we posted a piece about a remarkable computer suitable for campus use that actually does, literally, roll up.  It’s accompanied by one of our favorite videos.

Here’s a reprint of that blog:

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We predicted that five years from now there’ll be a tablet PC under every student’s arm. We were wrong. It won’t be under their arms. It will be suspended from their shoulders. Or at least it will be if PC manufacturers are smart enough to adopt Orkin Design’s Rolltop, astoundingly “rolled out” and then rolled back up again in the demo video below.

A writeup says, “The device of the flexible display allows a new concept in notebook design growing out of the traditional bookformed laptop into unfurling and convolving portable computer. By virtue of the OLED-Display technology and a multi touch screen the utility of a laptop computer with its weight of a mini-notebook and screen size of 13 inch easily transforms into the graphics tablet, which with its 17-inch flat screen can be also used as a primary monitor. On top of everything else all computer utilities from power supply through the holding belt to an interactive pen are integrated in Rolltop. This is really an all-in-one gadget.”

Richard Curtis

Last May we explored student use of digital textbooks and learned that they were not going over well. “Students around the nation are flunking the format,” we reported. “They want their paper books back. It seems that e-readers are okay for reading, but textbooks are seldom read immersively like novels, and so far the e-books can’t match the functionality of good old paper. And even when it comes to reading for pleasure, gadgets like the Kindle DX tablet did not fetch high grades.”   (See Students Give E-Textbooks a Failing Grade)

That happened BiP – Before iPad. We suspected that once iPad found its way into schools we might have a different tune to sing.  We do. Winnie Hu of the New York Times reports that a number of schools are not merely encouraging the use of iPads but are actually purchasing and distributing them to students.  “As part of a pilot program,” writes Hu, “Roslyn High School on Long Island handed out 47 iPads on Dec. 20 to the students and teachers in two humanities classes. The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students.”

At $750 a pop, that’s no small investment, but there’s a tradeoff for savings on the cost of paper textbooks and other traditional school materials, plus a less tangible reward in the form of better student performance.  The iPads “allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.”

Not everyone is convinced of either the financial or the educational value.  If a school wants to go electronic there are cheaper devices, but they’re not as sexy as the iPad, and besides, “about 5,400 educational applications are available specifically for the iPad, of which nearly 1,000 can be downloaded free,” writes Hu.

As for academic benefits,the jury is still out, as researchers and psychologists report that screens create distractions for students. (See The Medium is The Screen. The Message is Distraction) Focusing attention on the subject at hand, even with colorful, entertaining and interactive applications, is a problem, as is retention of information. “There is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better by using these machines,” Larry Cuban, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, told Hu.

Despite unproven educational benefits, it looks like nothing is going to stop the iPad steamroller. The Times tells us that schools and school systems in New York, Illinois, California and Virginia have invested in iPads.

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by The New York Times.

Until recently, Guardian columnist John Naughton was so dedicated to his subscription to The Economist magazine that every weekend he made an “appointment” to immerse himself in his cherished publication.

But lately? “Every Friday, the postman delivers the print edition of The Economist. But the envelopes now sit unopened, gathering dust on the hall table.”

What happened?  The Apple iPad happened. The magazine’s management launched it as an app, accessible on a pay-wall basis for subscribers only. “It’s easier and more pleasant to read than its printed counterpart,” Naughton writes, “and much nicer than the Kindle edition of the magazine. The iPad has delivered a genuinely ‘immersive’ reading experience. In part, this is a reflection on the device’s screen technology and interface. But it’s mainly down to the quality of the app’s design.”

From a magazine it’s just a hop, skip and jump to books, says Norton. “The concept of a ‘book’,” he writes, “will change under the pressure of iPad-type devices, just as concepts of what constitutes a magazine or a newspaper are already changing. This doesn’t mean that paper publications will go away. But it does mean that print publishers who wish to thrive in the new environment will not just have to learn new tricks but will also have to tool up. In particular, they will have to add serious in-house technological competencies to their publishing skills.

“If they don’t do it, then someone else will. There will always be ‘books’. The question now is: will there always be publishers?”

The full story in Publishers take note: the iPad is altering the very concept of a ‘book’

Richard Curtis

Let’s see if we have this straight.  According to Inquirer, Amazon has created a free shopping app for iPad, the tablet manufactured by its bitter rival Apple.  And for the name of its app Amazon has picked the pocket of another rival, Microsoft. Is it an Amasoftapp? A Micrappazon? No, it’s Windowshop.

To go windowshopping, you survey product categories on the iPad screen. A touch takes you to the product page where you can browse via audio and video. Touch the item you’re interested in buying and it goes straight into your shopping cart.

Read details in Amazon releases a bookstore app for the Ipad by Edward Berridge

Richard Curtis

Years ago I described the elaborate courtship ritual between agents and editors known as lunch dates, from the ringing of the phone (which automatically makes agents salivate) to the final, discreet burp. (See Let’s Have Lunch).  Many aspects of this ceremony have changed since those halcyon days. In particular, publishers are broke and now expect agents to pay for the meal or at least go dutch. (See End of the World Is at Hand!)  However, the fundamental object of the game remains immutable: the agent pitches his authors and projects and if the gods smile the enterprise, the editor makes an offer.  All in the civilized context of a splendid luncheon in a many-star dining emporium.

The introduction of the iPad puts a new twist on this ritual. Agents are now bringing iPads with them to lunch to demonstrate authors and projects right at the table. Tell me about the author? No problem. A few swipes of the screen produce the author’s website.  Is the author a good promoter? Another swipe and there’s a video of the author delivering a mesmerizing speech. Can I read an excerpt? Sure, just don’t get cheesecake on the screen.

Is this just a gimmick?  Read how the use of an iPad at a restaurant has substantially boosted wine purchases by customers. “Since their debut six weeks ago,” writes Kevin Sack in the New York Times, “the gadgets have enthralled the (mostly male) customers at Bone’s. And to the astonishment of the restaurant’s owners, wine purchases shot up overnight — they were nearly 11 percent higher per diner in the first two weeks compared with the previous three weeks, with no obvious alternative explanation.”

Can there be any question that screen color and interactivity can be compellingly persuasive?  The iPad may turn out to be the agent’s best friend.

Choosing Wines at the Touch of a Screen by Kevin Sack.

Richard Curtis

When people talk about e-books in color, what exactly do they mean?  Is it that the device’s frame comes in rainbow colors (like the now-defunct Cool-er) while the screen remains black and white e-ink?  Or do they mean there is a color strip at the bottom of a black and white screen  – The Nook – displaying colorful thumbnails of book covers?

Or is it that the black print will be replaced by yellow or green or blue or red ink and the  background will be red or blue or green or yellow?

That question isn’t answered, or even really raised, in an article by Anne Eisenberg in the New York Times updating us on developments in color e-books  Is the question so big no one knows how to articulate it?  Or is it such a fundamental assumption that we don’t need to articulate it at all?

You would think that with some 11 million boringly monochromatic e-book readers sold this year and 15 million projected for 2011, the industry would feel that black and white ain’t broken and there’s no need to fix it. And we’re not aware of any plans afoot for major players like Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble/Nook to introduce color. But “The popularity of the Apple iPad, on which people can read books, surf the Internet, watch videos and enjoy thousands of apps — all in full color — has shaken up the market,” writes Eisenberg.

Transforming e-readers from b&w to color is far from a mere wave of a wand.  The beauty of e-ink is its minimal power demands, and though Kindles, Sonys and Nooks can’t be read in the dark without a lamp, neither do they suck electric juice like backlit devices (the iPad) with LCD screens.  And there are other advantages to boring old e-ink. It reduces the weight of e-readers, and reduces blinding glare in strong sunlight.

But this still begs the question, which we repeat: do people want to read colored words on colored backgrounds?  Did you say no?  Are you sure?  Is it that long since you read a children’s book?

We grow up reading colored words on colored backgrounds.  We may feel we “graduate” to black and white when we grow up but how locked into b&w are we, really?  Modern readers are conditioned to read blue ink for Internet links, and red ink for editorial comments on manuscripts and legal documents.  Are we ready for a steady diet of colored words?

You may find out as the next generation of e-book screen technology slouches in your direction.  Read about it in Reading E-Books in All the Colors of the Rainbow.

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting conducted by the New York Times.

No Contest.

That’s the judgment rendered by technology maven David Pogue in his New York Times column evaluating the latest version of Kindle and comparing it to rivals iPad, Nook and Sony. Here’s his pronunciamento: “Certain facts are unassailable: that the new Kindle offers the best E Ink screen, the fastest page turns, the smallest, lightest, thinnest body and the lowest price tag of any e-reader. It’s also the most refined and comfortable.”

Following is a thumbnail sketch of Pogue’s take on Kindle 3 (in his own words):

• The smallness comes in the form of a 21 percent reduction in the dimensions from the previous Kindle…Yet the screen has the same six-inch diagonal measurements as always because they shaved away a lot of that empty beige (or now dark gray) plastic margin…The background gray is a few shades lighter than on any other reader, producing much better contrast behind the black text.
• The Kindle is almost ridiculously lightweight; at 8.5 ounces, it’s a third the weight of the iPad. That’s a big deal for a machine that you want to hold in your hands for hours.
• Then there is the $140 price. That’s for the model with Wi-Fi — a feature new to the Kindle that plays catch-up to the Barnes & Noble Nook…Quite a tumble from the Kindle’s original $400 price, and a tiny sliver of what you would pay for an iPad ($500 and way, way up).
• The Kindle’s catalog of 630,000 current books is 10 times the size of Apple’s.
• E Ink is great for battery life. (Amazon says that on the new Kindle, if you turn off the wireless features, you can read for a month on a single charge.)
• The new Kindle reduces the page-turn wait to well under a second. It’s the fastest page-turner among e-readers.
• The new Kindle’s nonremovable storage now holds twice as many books: 3,500 of them.
• The tiny joystick has been replaced by cellphone-like four-way control buttons, and the page-turn Forward and Back buttons, which flank both edges, are silent now, for the benefit of sleeping spouses. And the new Kindle handles PDF documents much better now; you can even add notes to them and magnify them.

Are there flaws in Kindle 3? Yes. Problems? Some. Invidious comparisons to competitive devices? Sure.  Learn what they are in New Kindle Leaves Rivals Farther Back

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by the New York Times.

Raz Godelnik blogging on the website of the Independent Book Publishers Association asks Is E-Reading Really Greener? We’ve been asking the same question for far too long and it’s good to hear voices other than our own talking about it.

Godelnik’s is an important one.  He’s co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris, a company working with publishers, authors, bookstores, and book lovers worldwide to promote green practices in our industry.

To determine which format – print or digital – has a smaller carbon footprint, the IBPA applied life cycle analysis “which evaluates the ecological impact of any product, at every stage of its existence—in this case, from cutting down trees for paper to the day when the iPad and the Kindle will end their lives,” writes Godelnik.

One test was revealing, demonstrating “that you need to replace a purchase of at least 100 physical books with 100 books on your e-book (or at least the iPad, the device used for the test) to make the device “a greener option from a carbon footprint standpoint.”

However, as one team of researcher assets, “the carbon footprint is just one part of the comparison. With respect to fossil fuels, water use, and mineral consumption, one e-reader has as much impact as 40–50 print-on-paper books. And with respect to human health consequences, they claim the figure is somewhere between 50 and 100 books.”

There’s one more important criterion to bear in mind as we consider our future choices:  “Someone who (like most Americans) reads only six to seven books a year and switches to a newer e-reader version within three to four years may not be going green.” What happens to your discarded e-reader is something you probably don’t want to know, but you really need to look in faces like that of the child in our picture sitting in a park – a park strewn with all the horrors of civilization.  (See Getting Rid of E-Trash? Dump It on Asia’s Poor and Which Is Greener, E or P? Count to Ten Before Answering)

Read Is E-Reading Really Greener?. And if you’d like to learn – and do – more, visit ecolibris.net.

Richard Curtis