Cultural Research

Google Researchers Design an "Infinite Digital Bookcase"

Chrome Experiment - WebGL Bookcase

"A digital interface needs to be familiar enough to be intuitive, while simultaneously taking advantage of the lack of constraints in a virtual space. In this case, we imagined something that looks like the shelves in your living room, but is also capable of showcasing the huge number of titles available online—many more than fit on a traditional shelf."

"With this in mind, we designed a digital bookcase that’s an infinite 3D helix. You can spin it side-to-side and up and down with your mouse. It holds 3D models of more than 10,000 titles from Google Books."

Source: Designing an infinite digital bookcase

iPad iBooks: Redefining Books or Realizing eBooks?

paidContent:UK: Penguin's Upcoming iPad books

Penguin recently demoed a few "forthcoming books from iPad's iBook Store" in the video above and they give a much better sense of what the ebook can be beyond the shovelware dictated by devices such as Amazon's Kindle. Though the PC offers the potential for ebook development, history to date suggests that devices like the iPad will be required for new ideas to flourish.

One can see how such developments could affect textbooks and reference works. In fact, with both textbook rental and open textbooks on the rise, there may be an interesting opportunity for folks willing to connect the dots.

Though paid:Content:UK did not identify the event at which the above video was made, I'm assuming it was at the "Financial Times' Digital Media & Broadcasting Conference in London on Tuesday" where Penguin Group Chairman and C.E.O. John Makinson stated:

"The definition of the book itself, as far as we can see, is up for grabs."

At this point it's actually rather difficult to redefine the book which has such a solid place in human consciousness. But the ebook is certainly up for grabs as something that somehow bundles together networked multimedia in a form that is still uniquely identifiable despite having expanded, porous boundaries. It's the uniquely identifiable part that helps maintain the ebook's status as a digital object as opposed to a site or service and that's key to commercial concerns.

I think such developments put libraries in an odd situation since digital formats strike me as lending themselves more to subscription services than to outright ownership of ebooks. I also see a lot of the educational needs implied in the above video being served by websites as multimedia platforms. But I also see the above format having potential with consumers and therefore shaping expectations of library users. It feels like an odd "wait-and-see while continuing to move at digital speed" moment.

Related Cultural Research Coverage:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

Apple Unveils iPad, All Wars End, Human Evolution Skips a Step, Other Great News to Follow!!!

Apple Launches iPad (PRNewsFoto/Apple)

With every other web pundit acting like the long awaited tablet computer from Apple, the iPad, is as significant to the future of man as every last savior imagined by humans returning all at once to usher in an age of paradise, I figured you deserved the word straight from Apple's PR department with fresh quotes from CEO Steve "Godhead" Jobs Himself.

So here is the official press release:

Apple Launches iPad

A Magical & Revolutionary Device at an Unbelievable Price

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple® today introduced iPad, a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. iPad's responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch(TM) display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds-- thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499.

"iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

iPad features 12 next-generation Multi-Touch applications. Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction. The precise Multi-Touch interface makes surfing the web on iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer. Reading and sending email is fun and easy on iPad's large screen and almost full-size "soft" keyboard. Import photos from a Mac®, PC or digital camera, see them organized as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad's elegant slideshows. Watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD or flip through pages of an e-book you downloaded from Apple's new iBookstore while listening to your music collection.

iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. The iTunes® Store gives you access to the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple's new iBookstore, the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.

Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for iPad, the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for Multi-Touch. With Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® you can create beautifully formatted documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, and spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for $9.99 each.

iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, so you can sync all of your contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications and more from your Mac or PC. All the apps and content you download on iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to your iTunes library the next time you connect with your computer.

iPad's brilliant 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display features IPS technology to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent color with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle. The highly precise, capacitive Multi-Touch display is amazingly accurate and responsive whether scrolling web pages or playing games. The intelligent soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad's larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard.

iPad is powered by A4, Apple's next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours.* Apple's advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology deliver up to 1,000 charge cycles without a significant decrease in battery capacity over a typical five year lifespan.**

iPad comes in two versions--one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.

Continuing Apple's dedication to designing and creating environmentally responsible products, each iPad enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy-efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. iPad contains no brominated flame retardants and is completely PVC-free.

Apple today released a new Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPad, so developers can create amazing new applications designed to take advantage of iPad's capabilities. The SDK includes a simulator that lets developers test and debug their iPad apps on a Mac, and also lets developers create Universal Applications that run on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Pricing & Availability

iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.

*Apple tested wireless battery life by browsing web pages and receiving email over an AirPort® network, never letting the system go to sleep during the test, and keeping the display at half brightness. This is a typical scenario of use on the go, resulting in a battery performance number that is very relevant to mobile users.

**A properly maintained iPad battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPhone, iPod touch, iTunes, iWork, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Apple Store and AirPort are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100127/SF44883
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN6
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Apple

CONTACT: Colin Smith, +1-408-862-1171, colins@apple.com, or Bill Evans, +1-408-974-0610, bevans@apple.com, both of Apple

Related Cultural Research Coverage:
Beyond Ereaders: Future/Past Tablets & User Interfaces
Mag+ by Bonnier & the Future of Digital Readers

Beyond Ereaders: Future/Past Tablets & User Interfaces

The Tablets of Our Dreams

Gizmodo shares the above video that strongly reminded me that we've already seen so many of the design possibilities for tablets, a form of portable computer, as well as related user interfaces in science fiction films.

I've been keeping up with the avalanche of news regarding ereaders and tablets and I'm pretty convinced that ereaders will basically morph into tablets or fall by the wayside. At the end of the day, all such mobile devices will have to be some form of computer or they won't make it in the market.

We can thank the Apple iPhone for that, since it's basically a mobile computer that includes phone services among its features.

Fast Company has an interesting Layman's Guide to the Tablet PCs of 2010 that provides a nice overview of the current landscape as well as this brief summary of developments:

"Every major PC maker is releasing a tablet now. Think of it as the next phase of the mobile computing evolution: in the past few years we've gone from smartphone (again spearheaded by Apple) to netbook to e-reader. And now the tablet, a mobile Internet device that serves as a multimedia player, e-reader, and Web browser all in one."

While one should never assume the death of any format until it's actually dead, for example, vinyl LP's are currently experiencing quite a profitable resurgence, it's most likely that ereader makers themselves will find ways to push the transition as Amazon seems to be doing with the Kindle.

If you're really into this stuff, whether or not you want to be, here are some other useful and/or interesting articles of note.

For those who need to evaluate such devices, DIY Touchscreen Analysis looks pretty darn useful.

Since the future should be accessible, devices like the Intel Reader are worth following, though it apparently has a long way to go to meet the actual needs of its target market.

And don't forget to factor in the issues of DRM and customer service:
Calculating The DRM Tax On A Kindle
Despite Awful Customer Service, Woman Felt Forced To Buy
Another Sony eBook Reader... Thanks To DRM

Of course, all this talk of devices can obscure the fact that a lot of the most interesting developments are in the area of user interfaces for both devices and for ebooks themselves, independent of the particular piece of equipment.

Many of the tablet OS's will come from smartphone design, with the likelihood that lessons learned on smartphone operating systems, rather than desktop/laptop OS's, will be applied to other portable computing devices such as tablets.

But, independently of that development, ebook interfaces are also worth following, for example, Ray Kurzweil's Blio ebook format is well worth checking out.

Personally, I'm most interested in the future of flexible epaper displays. I think it would be so cool to have a display that you could roll up like an old time scroll or something. I've seen some cool examples of such things in other sci fi movies not included in the above video though, sadly, I can't recall which ones!

Note on future coverage:
I don't want to be "that guy who keeps up with everything about ebooks and ereaders" but I am keeping up as much as I can and would be happy to share that info as requested. I'll periodically do posts like this and, if that's all you need, that's cool. But I am quite happy to try to please my handful of current readers cause you guys rock!

Spelling note:
There are so many variations on ebook and ereader that I'm going with the simplest version that looks the least like something schemed up in a marketing meeting.  If anybody has a different sense of what should be the standard spelling of such terminology, I'd be interested in hearing more.

Mag+ by Bonnier & the Future of Digital Readers

Mag+ by Bonnier

I'm gathering material for an overview of eBooks and eReaders but it seems pretty clear that the future lies not with the Kindle but rather with tablets and similar devices that exploit multimedia potentials instead of recreating paper-based reading experiences.

Mag+ is a conception by Bonnier R&D and design partner BERG of one direction such tablets could take .

The above video discusses features and properties of magazine design and use that were used in creating Mag+ as well as those that were left behind. I was happy to hear Jack Schulze's negative take on the faux page turning of online readers such as Zinio.

More from BERG.