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Came across this because of a review on Macworld which gives it 4.5 mice out of 5. McSweeney’s is an independent publishing house in San Francisco which publishes the Quarterly (mostly short fiction), the Believer (monthly interviews, reviews, columns and essays), books and DVDs of short films.

The iPhone app consists of the “Internet Tendency” section which pulls content from McSweeney’s Website (which offers daily pieces of short, humorous fiction), while “Small Chair” contains a larger, weekly feature pulled from the McSweeney’s network.

The app costs $6. Anyone use it? Let us know.

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I’m a little late noticing this, but on January 31st TidBITS posted a detailed head-to-head comparison of the Kindle versus the iPad as e-book reading platforms. There is also some discussion of the Amazon/Macmillan dispute, though the outcome was unknown at that point.

TidBITS‘s Glenn Fleishman concludes:

In the end, Amazon is a bookseller, and its foray into hardware shows that it’s better at moving media than making machines. The Kindle has evolved into a nice piece of hardware that gets great reviews from those who keep it.

But, put bluntly, the Kindle DX just doesn’t compare favorably with the iPad in any way other than battery life and screen visibility in sunlight; the Kindle 2 benefits from being smaller and cheaper. And the Kindle ebook library may offer titles at a lower price, though Amazon may be forced to capitulate on that.

The article includes plenty of comparison photos and charts, and makes very interesting reading. As Fleishman, like me, has no difficulty reading from a lit LCD screen, his conclusions may not be valid for everyone, but I think he makes some very good points.

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Last week, Amazon bought a touchscreen start-up whose technology would work with color LCD screens. Today, the New York Times’s “Bits” blog has some interesting new glimpses at possible changes to the next model of Kindle.

Robert Brunner, founder of the design company Ammunition, worked with Barnes & Noble to create the Nook e-reader and says he believes that the Kindle will actually become two Kindles. “I think they are going to have to split their line. They can’t abandon E Ink screens, but they will need to create a color device too,” said Mr. Brunner. “Where it gets interesting is, do they just do a device that’s a color Kindle or is it a full computer?”

By scrutinizing Amazon’s job listings board, “Bits” suggests, it is possible to see what kinds of technical specialties Amazon wants to add to its Kindle team. Those specialties include understandings of LCD technology, wi-fi, and application development.

The article quotes several industry executives’ pontifications on what Amazon should do to compete with the iPad on a more equal basis. The consensus seemed to be that Amazon should move beyond just putting books on the device as-is, and instead offer a richer, more compelling experience.

I would be inclined to suggest that Amazon should first concentrate on improving how they put e-books on the device as-is until they get it right. If you have trouble walking, you shouldn’t be trying to run a marathon.

Nonetheless, this hints at some interesting possibilities. For example, about a wi-fi-only Kindle that would be cheaper because it did not have to subsidize a life-long 3G connection, with LCD (or similar technology) for faster screen refresh and apps to use for more than just e-book reading?

Convergence, here we come.

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No, no se os ha pasado la fecha de salida de la nueva novela de Arturo Peréz-Reverte. El asedio sigue esperando ver la luz el próximo tres de Marzo a través de Alfaguara, ya queda muy poquito. La cuestión es que todos tenemos tantas ganas de que salga que ya se ha convertido en todo un éxito de ventas. ¿No os lo creéis? Podéis echar un vistazo en la página web de La casa del libro, donde ya aparece como uno de los libros más vendidos, todo gracias a la pre-venta.

Y es que son muchas las ganas de ver la nueva novela que nos ha preparado este hombre. Ya nos contó mi compañero Miguel Ortiz, qué nos iba a narrar Arturo en esta nueva aventura de ‘El asedio’ que nos tiene preparada. No está de más recordar que la acción se sitúa en Cádiz en 1811. Mientras en España se lucha por la independencia, mujeres jóvenes aparecen desolladas a latigazos. Curiosamente, los cadáveres aparecen justo después de que haya caído una bomba francesa en el lugar.

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Un an d’eBouquin c’est 1500 articles, 1640 commentaires, 1115 mots-clés. Pour l’occasion nous avons décidé de vous offrir une compilation des articles les plus populaires et les plus dignes d’intérêt.

Voici donc une rétrospective de ce qu’il ne fallait pas manquer sur eBouquin cette année :

1. Tests Readers

• L’iLiad V2, un reader toutes options
• Le Sony Reader PRS-505, idéal pour les romans
• iRex DR100S, le conférencier numérique
• Cybook Opus, LE livre électronique de poche
• Le Sony Reader Touch Edition, un reader haut de gamme
• Zinky, une bibliothèque pour moins de 100 euros

2. Tests Services

• Relay.com en détails : test & interview
• Dropbox, la solution de sauvegarde (presque) parfaite
• LeKiosque.fr débarque dans votre iPhone

3. Trucs & Astuces

• Tout sur le Kindle : les raccourcis clavier
• Tout sur le Kindle : comment utiliser Twitter depuis un Kindle ?
• Tout sur le Kindle : comment changer l’écran de veille ?
• Tout sur le Kindle : le mode calculette
• Tout sur le Kindle : comme l’utiliser en dehors des USA ?
• Tout sur le Kindle : comment créer des dossiers ?
• Customiser votre PRS-505
• Emprunter des livres électroniques avec votre Sony
• Lire des eBooks sous Windows Mobile
• Lecture - Les logiciels indispensables sous Mac
• Comment créer un fichier ePub ?

4. Analyses

• Retour sur le Kindle 2
• Txtr, un reader très prometteur
• Netbook vs Reader : qui gagnera le marché de l’éducation ?
• Cybook Opus : polémique autour de l’écran
• Retour sur l’iRex DR800SG
• 10 bonnes raisons pour l’usage des readers en entreprise
• Txtr : un exemple de lecteur ouvert
• Nook vs Kindle : la concurrence frontale
• Creative et son mystérieux MediaBook
• Kindle : support du PDF et autonomie améliorée
• Un iTunes du livre électronique ?
• 10 prévisions pour le livre électronique en 2010
• Nook : le reader de toutes les promesses
• Le Nook n’a toujours pas convaincu
• Google - La Martinière : le village gaulois résistera-t-il encore longtemps ?
• France : Le livre numérique ne fait pas recette…pour l’instant
• Le Skiff Reader voit la lecture en grand
• Le QUEproReader de Plastic Logic en détails
• Le XO de demain : du netbook à la tablette
• Paulo Coelho et le livre électronique
• L’iRex DR800S arrive en Europe mais sans 3G
• Des archives de presse sur DVD
• Amazon propose 70% aux auteurs et anticipe l’arrivée d’Apple
• Bientôt des applications pour le Kindle
• Bienvenue à l’iPad : caractéristiques techniques et prix
• Une iPad au fort goût d’iBooks
• Apple aura ses propres DRM pour ePub
• Amazon retire de la vente les titres de MacMillan…puis cède
• Education : le Kindle DX n’a toujours pas séduit

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From the abstract:

Journal literature has long played a prominent role in the scholarly communication chain. In recent decades, however, the scholarly communication system has been facing a crisis due to the ever-escalating costs of journals. This paper examines the reasons for the high costs of scholarly journals. … Two of the features of the journal publishing industry cited a decade ago and still valid today are a “lack of competition” and “perverse incentives.” The “first-copy cost” is reported to be the main reason for high journal prices both in print and electronic publishing

For more information take a look here at Resource Shelf.

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