It may not seem as noteworthy as two railroad giants merging in the late 1800s, but we did see an interesting move in digital publishing yesterday:
Maybe Steve Jobs doesn’t think there’s a market for e-books on the iPhone, but Amazon seems to. On Monday, it acquired Lexcycle, the company that developed the popular Stanza iPhone and iPod-Touch e-book reader application, for an undisclosed sum.
Alas, the competition between the two services seemed promising, but Amazon probably recognizes better than most that when it comes to digital content, consumers want a good e-reader, but they also want flexibility to move between devices. Stanza and Kindle can actually sync your bookmark even when you use your iPhone and your Kindle to read the same book.
This NYT article profiles Bradley Inman, a rare entrepreneur who combines Silicon Valley and New York publishing experience. His Vook.tv is a platform for embedding video and twitter feeds with text, a melding he thinks will be the natural evolution of the digital reader.
Although many thrillers seem “film ready” even on the page, we’re less sold on the idea that fiction should be merged with video and other communication tools. But the idea of turning a business book into a box containing text, online tools, video-cast lectures, and Facebook-style interaction seems not only plausible but exciting. Open the book and the author pops out, along with a social network of other readers with whom you can share and exchange ideas.
 To the best of our knowledge, DVDs and books are still the predominant way training and development tools and products get distributed to companies. This has the advantage of providing trainers and consultants with in-hand products they can build courses and development programs around. But does that old system still meet the need of organizations with dispersed workforces in a global 24/7 business environment? Why shouldn’t you be able to continue your learning via BlackBerry at the airport terminal when your flight is delayed? Why can’t you twitter your team with a sales tip and video from a great coach or motivator as soon as the idea hits you? Why don’t more organizations use Facebook-style interfaces for project management? The instant updates and the ability to friend other people in the organization for help and direction seems invaluable.
This article on Slate.com describes the frustrating lag between technology and service in the home video market. As Manjoo says, “charge me a monthly fee and let me watch whatever I want, whenever I want, as often as I want.”
The parallels are striking.
Apple is about to sell its one billionth “app“, an amazing pace of development for a marketplace that just got established 8 or 9 months ago. In contrast, it took a couple years to sell a million songs on iTunes. A lot of entrepreneurs are toiling in basements and coffee shops to make those kinds of numbers happen.
Ning has now generated 1 million social networking sites, evidence that virtual  networking is becoming a way-of-life. When social networking becomes a way-of-work we’ll see projects, teams, and organizations run differently.
Now expert advice service is becoming increasingly virtual, too. The question will become – how do you determine quality and how will those services be delivered in ways that solve our work and life frustrations?
You can read a great review in the Wall Street Journal of the book, The Industrial Revolutionaries by Gavin Weightman. The author makes the case that the practical applications of innovations – and the systems that underly their successful deployment – are what really changes our lives, not the innovations themselves. For example, telegraph lines existed before Samuel Morse, but it was Morse’s telegraph system and his famous code that made long-distance communication indispensable for businesses. Similarly, it was Trevithwick’s steam locomotive that enabled steam power to change economics and society.
Peter Drucker made similar points about the Internet. The internet, he wrote, is our steam engine. But internet commerce, or the “buy-button” as Lou Gerstner once put it, is our steam locomotive. Think of how our buying and business habits have changed with the widespread emergence of digital commerce.
Al Vicere, our June presenter, has a similar view of the economic shifts we’re experiencing now. According to Dr. Vicere, the information age is finally upon us. The economic crisis of 2008-2009 is hastening the demise of many traditional economic institutions and organizations, and what emerges on the other side will feel a lot more like the promises we’ve been led to expect for some time now.
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