print and screen
"It has a web-based format where users can read and discuss the book right inside the text. The Unbound Reader uses "proximity chat," which allows users to discuss the book with other readers close to them in the text (thus focusing discussion, and, as an added benefit, keeping people from hearing about the end). It also has shared annotations, so people can leave a comment on any paragraph and other readers can respond. By encouraging users to talk in a context-specific way about what they're reading, Bookglutton hopes to help those who want to talk about books (or original writing) with their friends (across cities, for example), students who want to discuss classic works (perhaps for a class), or writers who want to get feedback on their own pieces."
if:book
adventure journal
"The Super
Trackstick is the perfect tool for individuals, law enforcement and government agencies looking for a way to track anything that moves. The Super Trackstick records its own location, time, date, speed, heading, altitude and temperature at preset intervals. With over 4Mb of memory, it can store months of travel information.
The included magnetic mount makes the Super Trackstick easy to attach and remove from any metal surface.The Super Trackstick receives signals from twenty four satellites orbiting the earth. With this information, the Trackstick Pro can precisely calculate its own position anywhere on the planet to within fifteen meters. The Super Trackstick will work anywhere on the planet Earth. Your exact location and the route traveled can be viewed and played back directly within Google™ Earth. Everything is included and there are no monthly fees."
ripple effect
An easy way to determine the advent and prevalence of the ebook is to consider factors similar to those that determined the advent and prevalence of the codex. In the latter case new writing and reading modes and improved distribution formats were significant. Converging innovations then accelerated the wider adoption of the codex.
Sectarian enclaves of late Antiquity exchanged folded papyrus letters much like exchanges of bloggers today. These were folded into road map impositions and tied together for security and exchanged by the network of Mediterranean navigation. This traffic in folded letters, provided the basis for expansion into folded papyrus codices. Much later the sectarian format was popularized to wider use and wider cultures with the advent of paper and, later still with the advent of printing.
Ebooks are evidently still in their early adoption phase. If they spread beyond the enclave/sectarian stage it is possible that converging innovations not directly related and not yet assured, will take part. Wireless connectivity, geo-positioning and self-publication trends could all play a part. So far it is evident that simple mimicry of legacy book models will not work. It is also apparent that changing formats for listening and viewing are not hard linked with changing reading formats. Add to all this, it is apparent that all the legacy formats of exchange are themselves utilizing digital technologies, especially the print book. For example, formal, commercial publication of wiki content or print-on-demand spin-offs from book imaging, are not out of the question.
It will be fun to discover which tail is wagging the dog. A recent study on the influence of digitization on libraries dismissed as "ripple effects" interaction with the print collections. It is just possible that the
leaf master role will invert the situation as print mastering of digital content results in ripple effects on screen reading.
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