Many gallons of bilge, in the form of newspaper and magazine ink, were devoted to upbeat stories saying Harry Potter would rescue the U.S. book industry. I was skeptical. The media should have been writing about the need for a TeleReaderish approach to build interest at a young age in book reading. Now comes the following--originated by the Associated Press and spotted in a Malaysian newspaper:

"With a struggling economy and competition for time from other media, 23 million fewer books were sold last year than in 2002, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Book Industry Study Group, a non-for-profit research organization.

Decline in many areas

"Sales fell to 2.222 billion books, down from 2.245 billion in 2002.

"The decline was in both hardcovers and paperbacks, in children's books and general trade releases.

"Even sales of religious titles, often cited as a growing part of the publishing industry, were flat.

"'We believe this is due to a variety of factors, the biggest being the used book market,' said Albert N. Greco, an industry consultant and a professor of business at the graduate school of Fordham University.'"

Two other big reasons

But there are two other reasons. First off, instead of taking a cue from the eagerness of customrs to save money, the book industry actually raised prices in 2003 to effect a 2.5 percent revenue increase over 2002 despite the slump in unit sales. Second, people really do care less about books nowadays than before, given all the alternatives such as cable TV and video games. Even the publisher of the Potter books admits that Harry has changed children's reading habits only "to a small degree."

What would change children's habits would be the widespread availability of free or at least inexpensive books that addressed their needs and interests--as well as those of their role models, their parents. Putting the books online, where so many children go to research their homework, would help. Maybe someday the book industry will learn to appreciate the efficiencies of e-books, ideally with wasteful middle people kept under control. The market will be there if business models improve, the way the technology is doing. Alas, with the higher prices, the book industry is going the wrong way.

(Item found via LISNews.)
posted by David Rothman at 3:56 AM | permanent link

"Good news! The Petabox is ready! 'The petabox by the Internet Archive is a machine designed to safely store and process one petabyte of information (a petabyte is a million gigabytes).' And luckily, as the Internet Archive notes, it's shipping-container friendly (20' x 8' x 8'). So save on delivery costs and order two!" - The Ultimate All-in-One Storage Solution, in Slashdot.

The TeleRead take: This is great news for public domain boosters, including multimedia types. Among the masterminds behind the petabox--consisting of ten standard computer racks of about 4'x4'x8'--is none other than Brewster Kahle. Besides being founder of the Internet Archive, the MIT grad is one of the planet's top library-storage geeks. In character he has used off-the-shelf components to the max to keep costs down.

The bottom line: Space for 50 million books

I asked Jon Noring, moderator of the eBook Community list, a stat freak as well as a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, to do the math. He calculated that the box could hold 50 million books of 300 pages--both the XML texts and the accompanying scans. The hardware could cram 40,000 books into a mere cubic foot. One million books would thus occupy 1/50 of the petabyte, or 1/5 of one rack. These days, even the tiny Sony U series can hold 1,000 books as page scans--with a 20-gig drive.

"The Petabox is nothing super-remarkable," Jon says, "when looked at in storage density terms. But where it wins is in intelligent design and overall cost. The cost of the petabox is largely driven by the cost of the hard drives themselves."

Maybe a million or so in startup costs?

Jon suspects that petabox hardware could cost a mere million or so, in which case the 50-million-book capacity could be rather achievable with help from the right foundation. Oh, and, just like the Slashdot contributor, I'm thinking: "Who says one is enough?" In fact, petaboxes could be scattered throughout the world, with reliable mirroring schemes.

Perhaps sooner or later the vision of the Library of Congress on a chip will be realized. Meanwhile this is an awesome start. In fact, Jon himself believes someday we could have petabyte level of storage in a handheld device. Consider the present progress in storage density and all the possibilities ahead through nanotech.

Beyond a mere detail: Remember the potential for storage of movies--both the copyrighted variety and the public domain variety. Brewster's ingenious solutions could drive down certain hardware costs of Hollywood and the rest of the powerful entertainment industry; in other words, help some of the very greedsters who want copyright to last forever. His box shows how a robust public domain can be a technological driver. Won't Jack Valenti ever understand? Needless to say, the same hardware could be used in apps ranging from military equipment to video games. When Hollywood does its jihad against the public domain, it is actually at odds with wealth creation. The computer and telecom industries dwarf Hollywood in size. It is despicable of regulation-fixated politicians to fight the tech industry while at the same time babbling on about the need to create new jobs and preserve America's technological leadership.

Correction: Earlier I mangled details of the petabox's dimensions. Fixed.
posted by David Rothman at 11:41 AM | permanent link

The post-by-email WYSIWYG experiment with Blogger is continuing. At this point it's clear that Eudora 6.1 is far, far better than my old Outlook 2002, which, at least in an HTML mode, requires lots of cleaning up. So far the only Eudora-related cleanup is of indented paragraphs, and maybe I'll figure out a way of getting that right. One neat thing about Eudora is you can download a full-strength version for free if you put up with the ads. Now that it's daytime in the Eastern U.S., posting speed isn't quite as fast as it had been earlier, but at least as of now, I find it acceptable.
posted by David Rothman at 10:22 AM | permanent link

Project Gutenberg has added an RSS feed of newly available titles. PG plans to update it nightly. At the top of the list just now, I saw Game of Logic by mathematician Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
 
The Gutenberg feed is at:
 
        http://www.gutenberg.net/browse/recent/today.rdf

Distributed Proofreaders also has a feed:
 
        http://www.pgdp.net/c/feeds/backend.php?content=posted&type=rss

And so does GutenbergTalk:
 
        http://www.sakoman.net/pg/new.rss

Happy public domain reading!

posted by David Rothman at 10:11 AM | permanent link

This is a Blogger-created audio post in .MP3--click to play. Nope, I'm no threat to Dan Rather, but I couldn't resist experimenting with Blogger's free audio feature. This could be just the ticket for the blind and the visually impaired--and for K-12 teachers interested in encouraging stdents to do book reports. The kids could show off in audio and also do text versions.
posted by David Rothman at 3:42 AM | permanent link

Eudora 6.1 or another email program just might be the best editor for Blogger--an effortless way to enjoy WYSIWYG or "What You See Is What You Get."

For many months, on an experimental basis, my version of Blogger let me file via email. But for some reason the system wasn't as reliable as it could have been on matters such as the insertion of hyperlinks. Now I'm hoping that Blogger has its act together in the new incarnation of the service.

Decent posting speed--at least just now

The just-submitted post on California textbooks showed up in less than two minutes. Is it possible that the email posting method may subject me to shorter delays than posting through the regular Web-based system? Or is it just that it's early morning here in the Eastern U.S. and the system isn't under as much strain? Or that I've lucked out because of a speedy connection between my ISP and Blogger?

Of course, the best solution would be a Web-based WYSIWGY editor, but this is indeed progress. Now--if only Blogger can allow you to do a follow-up email and have the expanded or corrected post replace the original one.

Tips: Blogger has a nice how-to on email posting. It's easy. Alas, Blogger says you can't do image attachments. Finally, remember that plenty of email programs besides Eudora 6.1 may work smoothly. I haven't tried this trick yet with Outlook or Bloomba.

Multi-blog postings: The email capability might be just the ticket for posting to your own blog and a friend's at the same time--at least if Blogger modified the system to allow this when people signed up for guest accounts.

More on the posting speed issue: I made some tweaks in material above. Perhaps it's just coincidence,but just now Blogger seemed to post modfications faster and more smoothly when I used Netscape than when I used the latest version of Internet Explorer. These just might be quirks peculiar to my system.

Something I might experiment with: Audio Blogger, along with my three-way telephone service. I could interview someone while also hooked in with Blogger for the recording of the MP3. Audio isn't really my thing, but this could be rather exciting for those who are into it.

Bottom line: I'm still more than mildly annoyed with Blogger for a less-than-ideal interface for those of us who are hyperlink-crazy and don't want link-related HTML distracting us as we write. I also wouldn't mind additions such as the ability to categorize posts, the way Moveable Type allows. But little wrinkles like the e-mail WYSIWYG work-around and the audio will make Blogger much more interesting than it would be otherwise.
posted by David Rothman at 2:51 AM | permanent link

New weight standards for p-books are to be adopted this week in California. Proposed standards range from three pounds per book in the lower grades to five pounds for high schoolers. Nice, but what about the ultimate solution--e-books? You can hear a related segment in RealAudio on the Wednesday edition of a program called The California Report.

(Thanks, Alev.)
posted by David Rothman at 2:07 AM | permanent link

"Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton, who took command of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in February, said current law should be scaled back to allow consumers to make personal copies and exercise other long-established 'fair use' rights, now prohibited under a 1998 digital-copyright law." - eWeek.

The TeleRead take: Hmm. Perhaps Rick Boucher's Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, has more of a chance than the white hats had been thinking. Fingers crossed, but remember, Barton is just one guy. Let's see how many others follow him and the other legislators already disillusioned with copyright zealotry.
posted by David Rothman at 3:58 PM | permanent link

With its PR machinery turned up on "high," the Open eBook Forum held its annual meeting on May 29 last year. Notice, though? The group makes no mention of an annual meeting at BookExpo America this June 4.

Too bad. A public annual meeting held right now would be a chance for the OeBF to let members discuss such issues as proprietary e-book formats and have the directors vote openly on officers, especially the president.

An incumbent with distractions

The incumbent, Steve Potash, is struggling with the considerable woes of his company, OverDrive; the publisher count at its Content Reserve distribution arm is down to 505 from a high of more than 700. Even considering the outrageous charges that Content Reserve inflicted on publishers recently--especially the smallest ones, which must now pay $300 a year per title for storage costs--those are not the best numbers.

As we've noted before, Steve could help the OeBF by gracefully stepping down. With the delay of the annual meeting and of the election--unless it has already been held quietly behind members' backs--an inevitable question arises. Is Steve there to serve the OeBF or is the OeBF around to serve Steve? Is he really entitled to be president for life? An e-Napoleon?

Better for all

Actually Steve, his company and the OeBF would all come out ahead if he resigned and if the group then held elections in an open way. Perhaps in advance the OebF could even change its governance to allow ordinary members to have a good crack at the board memberships as powerful members do. Otherwise the OeBF will hardly be the inclusive organization it claims to be, and meanwhile Steve won't be able to devote his full energies to saving OverDrive.

If the OeBF remains a naked tool of the big software interests and of one particular company, OverDrive, then what's the point of the group's existence? The con is so, so evident. Steve's "Open" standards organization has utterly failed at creating something like a Universal Consumer Format. Look, wasn't the point to avoid VHS vs. Beta? Now we have it X 10. Steve, despite all the talk to the contrary from apologists, is the real barrier. He may talk the talk about interoperability but he seems awesomely set on contuing to earn his living in alliance with the Proprietary DRM Mafia. The OeBF will never live up to the old promises if Steve even sits on the board. Exile him to St. Helena, and patrol the surrounding waters very carefully.

Should Steve want to hang on and should his big software friends let his OeBF empire go on as a pathetic marketing tool rather than an honest standards group, the message about the group will be clearer than ever. Time to put this puppy out of its misery just as we originally suggested--so that serious standards work can be done elsewhere.
posted by David Rothman at 7:42 AM | permanent link

The Da Vinci Code and other usual suspects are on the OeBF bestseller list for April.

How many e-bookers out there believe that the Open eBook Forum's methodology favors the established p-publishers?

Or is the list just reflecting the realities of today's publishing?

I'd welcome opinions from either side.
posted by David Rothman at 1:24 PM | permanent link

"I, like most members of Congress, had no idea that what would be deemed to be fair use for books, CDs, and TV programs is not the case for DVDs--and nobody intended that the people that would enable you to make a single copy of a DVD should be held criminally liable and go to jail and that's insane." - Former congress member Bob Livingston, as quoted by Fox News and Dan Gillmore on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The TeleRead take: Hey, it wouldn't be so bad for the typical consumer to be able to back up e-books, either. Meanwhile Rick Boucher in my state of Virginia, along with other fed-up members of Congress, is pushing the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, which the recording industry and the other black hats will fight successfully--for now.

Andy Rosenberg for Congress: A personal endorsement

I'm doing what I can to change matters here in the Eighth Congressional District of Northern Virginia where a scandal-prone political hack named James Moran, our local embarrassment on Capitol Hill, is a dim bulb about the Net. Years ago I can recall meeting his now-ex-wife at a polling place and talking to her about the need for laws more friendly to telecommuting. She assured me without hesitation that her husband's office would listen. No such luck, just a quick brush-off. Oh, well, the usual congressional scum and more. Turns out that the "When did you stop beating your wife?" stuff was an all-too-applicable question in Jim Moran's case.

Now Andy Rosenberg, a bright 30-something lawyer with Patton Boggs who once worked for Ted Kennedy, is running against Moran and has written me in response to a query: "I am a strong believer in fair copyright laws that protect the rights of both creators and consumers. For this reason, I have reservations regarding legislation like the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act." He's also interested in learning more about the possibilities of a well-stocked national digital library system--which would be a natural issue for the son of a teacher and an education-oriented legislative counsel. Doing Andy's highly informative and polished Web site is another Kennedy alum, Chris Casey, who was among the pioneers of net.politics and is still ahead of the crowd.

Speak up against Bono--and for Andy

If you're in the Eighth District, which includes the city of Alexandria and Arlington County as well as parts of Fairfax County, I'd urge you to catch up with the Rosenberg campaign. Share your opinions about bought politicians and the need for action in the very much related areas of copyright law and campaign finance--not to mention the urgent need for a well-stocked national digital library system! Pitch in for Andy and tell your friends about him. And remember to vote for him on June 8! Put that date on your e-calendar now, whether you're into Outlook or freeware alternatives.

Details: TeleRead is nonpartisan and includes Republican conservatives and Libertarians among ardent supporters. Literacy is too important an issue to worry about partisanship. The above endorsement of Andy Rosenberg is simply my personal opinion and not a TeleRead one.

No, I won't necessarily agree with Andy on every issue, but I like the priorities expressed on his Web site. Oh, and also the site's interpretation of fair use. I rather doubt that in the midst of a busy campaign, Andy has asked the Washington Post and the rest for permission to repost articles. He gets it. Reason #1 why we grant the media freedom of the press is the need for more enlightened public debate.

Moreover, even just expressing "reservations" about Bono is a delightful change from the 'tude of the typical wimps on the Hill. The average pol cares more about Hollywood contributions than about saving the billions of dollars that Bono will eventually cost our schools and libraries and the public in general while enriching the copyright gentry. Let's all work together to make Bono and the current DMCA too dangerous to support.

Related: File sharing professor in Japan arrested for developing software.
posted by David Rothman at 10:30 AM | permanent link

From Keven Marsh, Network Services Librarian, with the Library of Texas e-library:

I was glad to see that Library of Texas was mentioned on your site. I'm not sure who Billy Barron is in Plano, but he has some accurate and some inaccurate concerns. Publicity is a real problem for statewide projects like Library of Texas, and I'm sure that his 99% estimate [of the number of Texans ignorant of the library's existence] is pretty close. We are just beginning to work with local libraries to get the word out about this project.

Meanwhile, users from any public or academic library in Texas can log in from home using a TexShare login ID provided by their home library. This is the same ID that has allowed users to reach the TexShare commercial databases from home for the past few years. Some libraries prefer to bring users in through a gateway site and proxy server, but Plano does not appear to be one of these.

The only time he will need his library card is when he requests an interlibrary loan using the online form. When that request is sent to his home library for verification they will use his card number to confirm that he is a valid patron with current borrowing privileges.

* * *

Related: Library drive raises $262,690 to save genealogy database. But medical reference service may not survive state cuts, in the Dallas Morning News. - David Rothman.
posted by David Rothman at 10:04 AM | permanent link

Michael Moody, deputy director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, will be a guest on the eBookWorm chatcast June 15 at 3 p.m. CST.

This is an interesting time for audio books for the blind and others with disabilities, as NLS and others cope with issues such as digital technology and DRM. In the UK the Royal National Institute for the Blind is distributing audio books without DRM to reduce hassles for users. Problems with books ending up on the Internet have been few. Offenders risk expulsion from the institute.

Coming up May 20 at 3 p.m. CST on eBookWorm will be an interview with e-book maven Jon Noring, moderator of the eBook Community list and acting vice chair of the Publication Structure Working Group of the Open eBook Forum.

Related: Audio Ebook Expo on Oct. 29.

posted by David Rothman at 9:23 AM | permanent link

From Lori Bell:

From 1912 to 1996 Agnes De Witt presented herself to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota as a benevolent priest, Father Damien, all the while concealing her female identity. In The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse, novelist-poet Louise Erdrich reconstructs the DeWitt story. DeWitt debates what to reveal to an envoy from the Vatican investigating a nun’s alleged miracles.

On Wednesday May 19 at 7 p.m. CST, the Audio Avenue show moderated by Tom Peters will discuss the novel. Visit the Handheld Librarian for more information about the Erdrich program as well as others, including one in June on The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics, by Bruce J. Schulman.

(Erdrich photo from Modern American Poetry Web site.)
posted by David Rothman at 8:38 AM | permanent link

...then listen up and heed the hyper-useful advice below from KnowBetter.com's Jay Hartman, as posted to the eBook Community list!

We've offered free Ebook Listings in our Ebook Directory to both publishers and authors for a number of years now, and we have to practically beg them to participate.

It costs them absolutely nothing, yet they don't take advantage of a free service designed to get news of their title broadcast out to thousands of people. Then, to have people turn around and complain that their ebooks aren't selling and they just can't get the word out blows my mind.

Sample chapters: Another good idea

I think if publishers and authors alike took full advantage of the resources available to them out there, including either inclusion in free directories or publishing sample chapters, you'd see a spike in sales. Why people choose not to avail themselves of these things yet still claim to want to be successful boils down to one main thing: the majority of authors and a lot of the indie pubs forget that it's not just a craft, it's a business. Just throwing it up on a website isn't enough.
posted by David Rothman at 12:39 PM | permanent link

The New York Times today is running Divorce That Book. The obvious e-book angle? Well, actually the medium can prevent many a divorce by making it a snap to carry around books to which you might return later. This is especially handy with public domain books. I'll download the most promising titles without the slightest delay--recognizing that if I hate them from the start, I can stop reading immediately without the least guilt. Might even want to return later. We're really talking separation in many cases, not the big D.

Needless to say, a TeleRead-style library system could address the divorce-your-book issue. With the library model in widespread use online, people would be more ready to try out new authors and expose themselves to new topics. No need to worry about trips back to a physical library before the fines are due!

Past the courtship stage right now: Great Expectations, which I'm reading in line with my "classics are wasted on the young" theory (as in George Bernard Shaw's line, "Youth is wasted on the young").
posted by David Rothman at 11:36 AM | permanent link