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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Kate DiCamillo and David Levithan were among the 10 authors who made the first-ever long-list of finalists for the National Book Awards, part of a new nominating process that prize organizers hope will lead to increased attention and sales.Ms. DiCamillo and Mr. Levithan were nominees in the... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The National Book Awards launched its first long-list with the 10 books in the running for the 2013 award for Young People's Literature on Monday.The National Book Awards launched its first long-list with the 10 books in the running for the 2013 award for Young People's Literature on Monday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a two-decade-long relationship between the magazine giant Time Inc. and American Express, Time Inc. plans to close quickly on its purchase of American Express’s publishing division. “This 20-year courtship is finally bei ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Smith & Son is to open two new campus bookshops in time for the new academic season next... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ASAE and its 21,000 members represent leading trade association, individual membership societies and voluntary organizations across the United States and in 50 countries around the world. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-08-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s hard to imagine someone more out of place at Comic-Con than a politician. But Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis took the pop culture and comic convention by storm with an autobiographical graphic novel and a new arena to deliver his message of tolerance and acceptance. It... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Derek Johns has announced his retirement from agency AP Watt. Johns, who will retire at the end... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Murray Press has announced two new appointments to the editorial team. Mark Richards,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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People ask Google some deep questions, like “why am I here?” “should I have a third child?” and “why is my scab turning that color?” Apparently 10% of our time on Google is spent digging into broad topics like these. So Google is curating and featuring authoritative treatises on popular subjects... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While some books on this year's Man Booker prize long list have gotten buzz here in the US, none of them compare (so far) with the success of last year's winner, Hilary Mantel's 'Bring Up the Bodies.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hutchinson has acquired a new biography of British monarch King John by Marc Morris. Sarah Rigby... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Times Book Critic David L. Ulin reflects on DOMA and writer John Rechy.John Rechy should be proud. It was his 1963 novel "City of Night" ¿ the story of a gay street hustler that took place, in part, in downtown¿s Pershing Square ¿ that helped carve out a place for gay writing in American literature. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher John Blake has signed world rights to a new title about the life of Nelson Mandela [... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A debate over how much publishers care about independent booksellers broke out during yesterday... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Long, editorial director for digital at Pan Macmillan, is moving to the newly created role... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twitter has often been cited as anathema to long-form journalism, but one of the social giant's co-founders thinks the two concepts can work together. Medium, a content production and delivery platform started by Twitter and Blogger co-founder Ev Williams, has acquired the sci-tech long-form... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer Thom Donovan says he was sent a cease-and-desist letter by Yoko Ono's lawyers after he published a graphic novel about the life of John Lennon that included some rarely seen photos. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Murray has signed a new book from Ben Schott. Schottenfreude: German Words for the Human... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing houses are Germany's intellectual backbone. For many years, they created a culture of literary abundance and generated healthy profits. But in the age of Amazon, ebooks and self-publishing, they could be facing demise. Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2013-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House US has adjusted its proposed terms for authors with Random House's new digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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