I say again, let us pay. Make the process as easy as possible. Make it invisible and transparent. Make us register once and once only. Walls are not the way forward, but walls are not the same thing as payment, and without some form of payment, the press will not be here in five years’ time. (more…)

[M]ake a distinction between “formats” and “forms.” A hardback, a paperback, an audiobook, and many an ebook simply represent different forms of the same work. New formats, on the other hand, represent deeper changes in how authors develop content and readers consume it. (more…)

We have the ability to predict the performance of an article on the front page into the future—and empowered with that information we generate real-time recommendations on what articles to place where on the front page,” [Visual Revenue] CEO Dennis Mortensen wrote in a blog post.

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I think the thing that attracts me most to Vanilla is its simplicity and elegance. Sure, it is incredibly powerful however this is not at the expense of usability. The admin interface is beautifully designed and intuitive to use. You can add categories, manage users, send out announcements and indeed do everything else you would expect without any documentation or training. It’s just obvious.

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Rupert knows the ad model of publishing is doomed. Print and broadcast command the heftiest premiums, and both are at risk of price and volume erosion as consumers cut their ties to offline media. (more…)

[T]he scenario I foresee:

1. Major online video providers (Netflix, Amazon, Vimeo, Major League Baseball, etc.) already have invested in H.264, both technically and legally.
2. These providers, right now, today, send H.264-encoded video in one of two ways: directly, to clients with native H.264 playback; and wrapped in Flash, for web browsers with Flash Player installed.

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People who don’t have a photographic memory are going to forget who’s who or what’s what. In the digital context, you can easily help people with that; but if you’re anything like me, you tend to follow a link to learn more about a subject, and then you end following this interesting trail that never leads you back to what you were originally reading. (more…)