As with the printing press and the dotcom boom, initial frenzy and speculation obscures the lasting legacy of new technologies“Innovation,” wrote the economist William Janeway in his seminal book Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, “begins with discovery and culminates in speculation.” That just about sums up 2023. The discovery was AI (as represented by ChatGPT), and the speculative bubble is what we have now, in which huge public corporations launch products that are known to “hallucinate” (yes, that’s now a technical term relating to large language models), and spend money like it’s going out of fashion on the kit needed to make even bigger ones. As I write, I see a report that next year Microsoft plans to buy 150,000 Nvidia chips – at $30,000 (£24,000) a pop. It’s a kind of madness. But when looked at it through the Janeway lens, ’twas ever thus.“The innovations that have repeatedly transformed the architecture of the market economy,” he writes, “from canals to the internet, have required massive investments to construct networks whose value in use could not be imagined at the outset of deployment.” Or, to put it more crudely, what we retrospectively regard as examples of technological progress have mostly come about through outbreaks of irrational exuberance that involved colossal waste, bankrupted investors and caused social turmoil. Bubbles, in other words. In recent times, think of the dotcom boom of the late 1990s. Or in earlier times, of the US railway... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-30 16:00:37 UTC ]
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We are going to put the con back into BookCon,” Mac Barnett, says of the pranking workshop that he is leading with his fellow expert, or, partner-in-crime, Jory John, today, noon–12:45 p.m., on the Downtown Stage. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK and Amazon are in dispute over terms, with a new contract under negotiation. If a deal is not reached Amazon could begin to pull or downgrade the availability of PRH titles from its ecommerce channels as it did with Hachette Book Group USA titles last year. With a number... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House and Amazon.co.uk are involved in negotiations for new sales terms, but representatives from the publisher denied speculation that Penguin UK was thinking of withholding it titles from the retailer if a deal isn't reached. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Tor says ‘we’d be nuts to decline’ 13-book contract, which will include three young adult novels alongside next instalments of Old Man’s War seriesAmerican science fiction author John Scalzi has signed a 10-year, 13-book deal with publishers Tor, which will net him $3.4m (£2.2m).Scalzi... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Murray is to publish Thing Explainer, the follow-up to Randall Munroe’s What If? In Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, Munroe uses a series of diagrams to show how a variety of things, from a nuclear bomb to a biro, work. He will use just the drawings and a vocabulary of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The omnipresence of drones in the world’s skies—haunting Afghanistan, hovering over Yemen, delivering your tacos—has lately found its equivalent in world culture and art. Thinkers and creators in many genres have been wrestling with the unsettling implications of this new aerial technology, with... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins issued a statement late Monday confirming it has reached an agreement with Amazon over sales terms. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Local book industry argue changes proposed in Harper Review will impact their bottom line and may see less long-term investment in Australian writersAustralian publishers would be less likely to support, nurture and develop talented writers like Tasmania’s Richard Flanagan if the Australian... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The ongoing terms negotiation between Amazon and HarperCollins in the US has been reported by Business Insider, the online newspaper that counts Amazon founder Jeff Bezos among its investors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Longterm subscription funding platform Patreon adds creators after acquiring Subbable, a similiar platform founded by the Green brothers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Smith’s Bookshop chain has triumphed at the Academic, Professional & Specialist Awards, scooping all four titles it was eligible for. Meanwhile Oxford University Press has won Publisher of the Year yet again. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[Sponsored Content] Miami International Airport and HCP/Aboard Publishing takes a cutting-edge approach to engaging travelers while they are en route. The post MIA Connections Makes A Huge Impact In The Travel Industry appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Blake Publishing has acquired the autobiography of 2014 Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst. Managing director Rosie Virgo acquired world English rights to Being Conchita from Guenter G Rodewald in Barcelona. She said: “We have extremely high hopes for this title. Conchita is a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More than twenty years after his death a new Dr. Seuss book, "What Pet Should I Get?" will be published this summer. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers are anticipating a much-desired boost over the next week with the arrival of Valentine’s Day on Saturday, followed by half term. Chain retailers across the country have rolled out romantic point of sale (POS) posters in the hope of capturing some of the Valentine’s Day shopping... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Green spoke before Wi10 booksellers Monday afternoon, thanking them for jump-starting his literary career 10 years ago. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Evangelical publishers are predicting little impact on sales and plans for future books about round trips to the hereafter following the admission by Alex Malarkey that the story he told in 'The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven' is false. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reports that physical books are gaining ground at the expense of digital are just plain wrongHas the ebook had its day? If you’ve skimmed a newspaper over the past month you could be forgiven for thinking just that. “The physical book market is making a comeback after years of decline,”... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The writers reportedly visited 22 schools over the course of one week for their children's book. 'Two' centers on prankster rivals living in the town of Yawnee Valley. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hundreds of Britons queue overnight to buy first copies of satirical weekly to be published since last week’s Paris attacks• Charlie Hebdo ‘survivors’ issue reviewedHundreds of people queued for hours outside newsagents and bookshops across the UK to buy copies of the first issue of Charlie... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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