Learning about learning from Benjamin Franklin

Last week I viewed a remarkable interview of Ralph Nader on C-SPAN's In-Depth program. While I do not agree with much of what Nader says, I respect him for his unwavering commitment to his beliefs.

During the interview Nader talked about Benjamin Franklin, who is one of his heroes. Nader said:

Franklin is the demonstration of the power of self-education. He came from nowhere—was curious, observant—and taught himself. With all the current talk about education, there was never any reference to self education, which, of course, is the only way to learn. Instead we have a bureaucratic process of education when self education should be the progenitor. Anyone who wants to teach their children should learn from the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin who once said "he was born too early and in the wrong century." Franklin was a diplomat, writer, negotiator, merchant, printer, publisher, inventor—all self taught.

While we must continue to embrace all forms of education, it is most important to stress life-long learning and the value of having a curious mind.

The world of publishing is undergoing a revolution with new technologies and devices to provide accessibility to learning we would not have dreamed of just a few short years ago.

At the same time the value of great intellectual content is as important as ever. Now, though, we can imbed huge amounts of content through the use of technology and broadcast it instantly around the globe.

Devices like the iPad allow publishers to insert video, photos, audio clips, links to websites, blogs, you name it within and next to the written word. Unlike one dimensional e-readers such as Kindle and Nook, iPad type devices can provide a much richer experience. Within the next year or two there will be an incredible number of new products with even more capabilities. We are just scratching the surface.

While some my bemoan the transition from printed books to these multichannel electronic devices, we must embrace this new technology and use it to its utmost. After all, what would Benjamin Franklin do?

My bet is that ole Ben would be at the forefront of this new technology.

Amazon Kindle sales stats easily misinterpreted

You may have seen the headline earlier this week: E-Books Top Hardcovers at Amazon in the New York Times.

Sometimes it is important to dig a bit into a story to see what is hype and what is reality. While the information is true and, amazingly, in just a couple years Kindle sales have skyrocketed resulting in huge e-book sales at Amazon and other online merchants. However book sales consist of several formats and are not all hardcovers. In fact hardcovers are around one third of book sales with other sales divided between trade paper and mass market paperback. Also, Amazon has been selling Kindle versions of bestselling hardcovers at around ten dollars compared to the normal average list price of twenty-five dollars for a print copy. Many decisions for purchasing a Kindle download are made at point of sale. In other words, the customer is shown two choices. They can buy the print version or save a substantial amount by downloading a Kindle copy.

So while this is certainly worthwhile news it is not as earth shattering as what Amazon would like us to believe.

Will e-book sales continue to grow? You bet.

Is the printed book going the way of the dial tone? Not at all.

If one drills down into the statistics they will find that some genre sell extremely well as e-books while others are best suited as print copies.

Let's say you want to read the latest novel from John Grisham. You may be tempted to buy the e-book and load it onto your reading device so you can bring it along on an upcoming trip.

For other books you may want to have them in your library as a reference. In those cases you may prefer to have a printed copy.

Bottom line is that e-books are a great option and we, as consumers, like having choices in how we access our media. Rather than e-books being the way all books will someday be acquired, instead we will have multiple ways to access written content. What is important is that we embrace both future, present and past technologies so that the consumer can receive written content in whatever way they wish.

It would be a mistake to embrace one technology and cast off all others.

Will these changes in how written content is accessed make our lives more complicated. Absolutely. Get used to it.

Today we have so many choices in how to broadcast our intellectual content. From starting a blog to publishing conventionally, and everything in between, there has never been a time when we have had so many opportunities to share information.

Truly a great time to be alive!

How will the iPad affect book publishing

I don't know about the rest of the world, but this past Wednesday I was following the minute-by-minute reports posted by CNBC covering the announcement of Apple's iPad. As an Apple devotee and a Mac user since the mid 1980s, I have learned that Steve Jobs is a visionary leader whose company produces products that work right out of the box. Every Mac (or for that matter, iPod) I've owned has performed beautifully and held up nicely. As someone in publishing I also know that e-books represent the future of many genres of book publishing.

A couple years ago I was intrigued by the introduction of Amazon's Kindle book reader. I've followed published reports on the sales success it has had and have heard from many friends and colleagues who not only own one but also love it. Some of them thought they would never use it but soon found it to be indispensable. The only drawback for me is that the Kindle is a dedicated single-function device in a world that is increasingly wanting multiple functions in their technology products.

In contrast the iPad is a multi-use device combining a book reader with so much more. The iPad will also have an iBooks store that will operate much as iTunes does for music and videos.

The iPad display is full color with the capabilities of adding publisher content such as author interviews, study questions, videos, etc. This enhanced content will allow users to have an enriched book reading experience. Imagine, too, if audio were combined with the printed content so the user could switch between text and audio depending on what works for them at that moment. So, for example, let's say you are in the middle of a novel and needing to head to work. Imagine getting in your car and being able to listen to it? From a publishing perspective the capabilities are endless.

Bottom line: For book publishing the iPad represents disruptive technology at its finest. Roll over Guttenberg, the iPad is on its way.