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Apple’s Wall gets higher January 20th, 2012

Yesterday Apple announced their latest plans for the iBooks platform. The event focused on textbooks and education. There were three main takeaways. All of which have their pluses and minuses.

First, there is a new iBooks app for iOS devices. It looks slick with video, sound and other rich media embedded in the books. It’s inline with where ePub3 and HTML5 are going. But it’s still not available on the desktop, just iOS. I was dissappointed in this. I do have a few reference books that I like to look things up in. If I am working on the desktop it is sooooo much easier to just open the Kindle reader or Nook reader apps and find what I need, rather than having my iPad next to me. And isn’t this what textbooks are used for? Reference? Looking things up? Multi-tasking and note taking aren’t strong points of having a tablet. So rather than have the one device we’re back to two devices. Not cool.

Second, there is the partnership with textbook publishers coupled with the efforts to make textbooks available at the $15 price point. That sounds good to me. If anyone needs a price break, it’s students. My fear here is that it could be a “Netflix-like” situation, where if a publisher doesn’t like the revenue flow situation or wants to renegotiate terms and Apple digs its heels in… where does that leave all the students, their notes, school libraries, etc.? Which brings us to the third takeaway…

the new iBooks authoring tool. It sounds pretty easy to use and the seamless integration is cool, but there are so many other limits and ramifications. Liz Castro did a good list on the concerns around the authoring tool. My big concern is that whatever you make in this tool Apple will not let you sell anywhere else. I was so excited when Apple embraced the ePub format with the rest of the world. But now it seems they have taken a page from Amazon’s playbook (or maybe the iTunes .m4a strategy) and will start building their own walled .ibook garden. It’s a shame. Because these strategies are not about creating the best user experience (which I do believe has been a driving force at Apple), but it’s about controlling parts of the supply between content creation and the reader.


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Books Arts Documentary January 11th, 2012

PBS has a great new documentary-short series out with the latest installments focusing on a handful of book artists. This video is under six minutes long. The film starts with a paper engineer who has helped make some of the world’s best pop-up books as well as a paper sculptor (timecode 2:08) who cuts books and images into “book tunnels”. They also talk to an artist (timecode 3:37) that tears, glues, weaves and re-molds books into new collages and forms, in an effort to make her artistic point. It’s all very fascinating. PBS posted the documentary to YouTube and I have embedded it here:

 


One Dollar books at Little Professor January 9th, 2012

Little Professor in Homewood have set up a space for $1 books. I stopped in to see what was there so I could share. Most of the books are in used condition and from big name authors (Kind, Patterson, Steele, etc.). They are stocked on shelves below the table top. There are some ‘new’ books too though.

It’s certainly worth stopping by to see what they have. But then they always have used-books upstairs that are worth keeping up with as they rotate stock pretty regularly and there are always new finds to scan through. I’m not sure how long they plan on leaving the $1 offerings there, so you should check it out soon. It’s right in front of you, behind the first round table, as you walk in the main door.


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Birmingham Wordcamp Jan. 14th-15th January 6th, 2012

I’m signed up and ready to go! Wordcamp Birmingham 2012 is January 14-15. WordPress is the software platform that this site (and a gazillion others) run on. It looks like they have a great line up this year, with three tracks offered. So regardless of where you are with your skills, you will learn something and meet some cool folks along the way. At a minimum you’ll walk out with a grocery list of killer plug-ins that you didn’t know existed. At least that’s what always happens to me.

So go check out the tracks and sign up, I’d love to meet some of you out there. Saturday takes place at the BJCC and teh Sunday line-up is at Samford. The WordPress faithful here in Birmingham really is a neat crew. I’m thankful for these annual events where I can soak in some new things.

Also, during the year, they have some WordPress meet-ups with most updates going out with #wpbham on Twitter. I haven’t been able to make one in a loooooooong time, but they always sound like fun. So check those out too.

Hope to see you in a week!


Typographic Calendars for 2012 January 4th, 2012

Here are three of my favorite typographic calendars available this year. It’s amazing what type designers are doing in the way of font choices and materials. I admit that 99% of my “calendaring” is done via computer, but these three pieces almost elevate the calendar to the level of art.

Heather Lins’ A Year in Caps

This one is $32 and is printed on 12 different wooden cards. Each screen-printed with colorful inks and starkly different fonts.

365 Typography Calendar

This one has been around for over a decade (it’s been known as Pentagram’s calendar) and the designers are branching out with this one. The 2012 edition is comprised of original fonts that are not for sale anywhere. The fonts were designed by contemporary designers who used landmarks, technology and pop culture as inspiration. This is sold in two sizes for $35 and $55.

Harald Geisler’s Typographic Wall Calendar

This one is by far my favorite. Geisler successfully ran a Kickstarter campaign to push his calendar into production. His calendar is massive as he used 2012 computer keys to list out every day of the year. No doubt this one would be one heck of a conversation piece. It’s pretty fun. There are various prices. A single calendar runs for $35 (including shipping). Prices go up if you want signed copies or the actual keyboard keys. It’s worth watching the video just to get an idea of the artist and how the calendar is laid out.

 

 


Local Letterpress and Southern Prints January 2nd, 2012

I have been on a paper and ink kick lately. I can’t get enough of some of the letterpress and screen printing stuff out there. I think the local Kempis Press, with a storefront studio down in Five Points, is great. Lots of high-end papers, inks and designs. When I stopped they had lots of interesting pieces to show. Since this is a working shop much of what they do fall into the marketing and invitation categories. But the posters I saw showed a very different and creative side. It’s worth checking out.

On the other side of the artistic spectrum Old Try is a Boston-based outfit comprised of two Southern expats. Their work leans more to the iconic and bold. Some of their current pieces are wonderful and take tattered Southern symbols an treat them as stand alone pieces of art. Almost elevating some to the arena of pop art. I do hope they keep it up.

Here in Birmingham we have a pretty cool Birmingham Printmaker’s group on Facebook (of course you’ll have to be on Facebook) that is worth keeping up with, even if you’re just a fan, like I am.


Another Good Idea for Indie Bookstores December 30th, 2011

I don’t think you can have a conversation about bookstores, in Birmingham, Alabama, without Jim Reed Books being mentioned within the first two minutes of the discussion. Reed has done many things “right” and the shop is a favorite destination for many bibliophiles around the Southeast. As a unique a place as his store is, it’s his newsletter (sign-up at the bottom of his site’s page) that bookstores could learn something from.

Reed is a creative writer and inspiring free-thinker and each edition of the email newsletter is peppered with his prose, but my favorite part is always the “What We Sold Last Week“. It’s like scanning someone’s bookshelf right from my InBox.

Of course, you never know who bought these books or even where the lucky book owner lives. But I have tripped over so many interesting titles and authors while skimming the newsletter that I never even would have even known to look for. His last email had 225+ items listed. Some are records. Some are gizmos. Most are books. Amazing. I am certain that 99% of them I have never heard of.

I’m not saying that your shop would have to be as consistant as Reed (though it helps) and you certainly wouldn’t have to publish lists as exhaustive as his, but it is fun for your customers (and potential customers) to see what others in their community are buying, outside of the “Best Sellers” and “Book Sellers Recommends” lists. Who knows what unknown titles (and sales) would surface.


Great Gatsby Videogame December 28th, 2011

Earlier this year, someone says they paid 50 cents for an old Nintendo cartridge that had some Japanese bootleg version of a Great Gatsby game. And thanks to the world of emulators you can play this 8-bit wonder right in your web browser.

You start off dodging butlers and tipsy partiers as Nick Carraway. Your goal is to simply “find Gatsby”. I admit that I have not played very much of the game and have no idea where it goes with the story or characters. I just thought its was neat that even way back when NES was the coolest, someone thought it worth while to make a game out of a book.


Best Bookstore Twitter List December 21st, 2011

Last week someone started the #bkstoreluv to help folks celebrate their favorite local book shops. GalleyCat picked up on this and has started compiling a list of great bookstore twitter accounts. I’ve already submitted my two local favorites here in Birmingham – @81churchstreet and @little_prof.

Hopefully they will get added to the main directory listing soon. I also follow a few other out-of-town bookshops on Twitter. Are there others that you are fond of that are worth a follow? Please share! I’m always looking for good book conversations.


Book Review: The Sisters Brothers December 9th, 2011

I’m not one for westerns, but I added Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers to my list after reading Read Next’s review earlier this year. I just now got around to reading it…

This was one of the more fun books I read all year. Some of the dry one-liners  are laugh out loud. And I’ve never felt so bad for a horse in all my life, though this also made me want a horse. I admit. That’s kind of weird. The book is set in the Old West during the time of the California gold rush and follows the exploits of Charlie and Eli Sisters, two hired guns with a reputation for dirty killings. These two brothers are out doing the bidding of a very powerful man when things start to change for them and they start plotting how to best ensure their survival with all of the double and triple-crossing going on.

No bones about it – this is a violent book. But then how could the lawless West be any different? What’s interesting are all of the tender and contemplative moments that the author has peppered the story with to help draw the characters’ changing lives out and the readers in.

The whole way through you never know how it’s going to end. Ride of in the sunset? A duel at sunset? Gunned down in the back, payback for any one of the dozens of murders these two have committed?
It was a brutal time and these guys were neck deep in it. But it’s worth following all of the way through, to the end, to see just how far their killer instincts and brotherly allegiance will get them.

A very unique story for 2011 and I’m glad I read it. I am giving this one 3 out of five stars.


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