Forget Zuckerberg – the tech giants don’t have to own the future | John Harris

Facebook, Google and Apple make the headlines, but there are many inspiring startups to dissipate the sense of techno-dreadA quarter of a century ago, the Canadian author Douglas Coupland published his third novel. Microserfs was the tale of a group of young Microsoft employees who decide to exit the realm of Bill Gates in Washington state and chase a dream of their own in California places that, back then, sounded like the epitome of futuristic magic: Palo Alto, Menlo Park. As well as prescient flashes of the world to come – “Beware of the corporate invasion of private memory,” warned one of its protagonists – what always stuck with me was its air of techno-optimism, perfectly crystallised right at the end, when the central character’s mother has a stroke and is rescued from silence by a set-up attached to an Apple Macintosh. She communicates via such staccato sentences as “I am here”, and “I feel U”; the novel’s closing pages capture her and her family marvelling at the fact that she has become “part woman/part machine, emanating blue Macintosh light”.The book was published in 1995, when computers suddenly offered an ever-expanding window on to the world. Many of us had no doubt that the leap from old to new represented nothing but progress. By the start of this decade social media platforms were being hailed as a means of individual and collective emancipation. But where has this faith in the future gone? Related: The rise of technology in care: how will it affect... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: dispatches from a diehard fan

The Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, Fla., more than lived up to its hype for this fan. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Lives of the Novelists' by John Sutherland

These delightful biographies of 294 authors begin with John Bunyan in the 17th century and ends with Rana Dasgupta, born in 1971.My assignment: Read almost 300 literary biographies in more than 800 pages, all of English-language authors, beginning in the 17th century and ending in the present... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J.K. Rowling's Website Starts Selling Harry Potter E-Books

It didn't take a Hogwarts magician to know this day would eventually come. The bookstore feature of J.K. Rowling's Pottermore website went live Tuesday, enabling English-language readers to buy the digital editions of all seven Harry Potter novels—and the audiobook editions—from anywhere in the... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter ebooks now available to muggles

The Hunger Games may have had a heck of an opening weekend, but let's not forget who the top box office spot belongs to: a certain bespectacled boy wizard. Roughly a decade and half after the publication of the first book in the series -- and after several months of promises -- the ultra-popular... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter ebooks on sale today

The Harry Potter ebooks will go on sale exclusively from the Pottermore website from midday... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What To Read On Your New iPad: Fast Company's Retina-Optimized Mark Zuckerberg Cover Story!

The April 2012 issue of Fast Company is now available on the iTunes Store, and it's optimized for reading on the new iPad. The image below shows how much sharper the type looks when viewed on the new iPad with the Retina display. The images are in high definition, too, rasterized at four times... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oxford study to explore future of retail

An 18-month study into the future of retail in the age of digital technologies has been launched... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter E-Books Finally Arrive on J.K. Rowling's Pottermore

Pottermore was due to go live in October, but it missed its launch. The is expected to open to the public early next month. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Harry Potter' ebooks go on sale on Pottermore

The "Harry Potter" series, which has conquered mediums from books to movies, is finally available in ebook format. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book review: 'Reading for My Life,' essays by John Leonard

This is a brilliant collection of writings on politics, social and cultural engagement and literary life.Reading for My Life Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Smith and OUP win at APS Conference

John Smith & Son academic booksellers and Oxford University Press each scooped two awards at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Media and Tech Winning the Viral News War

Some new research sheds light on how social media is currently being used to share news articles from traditional publishers. Newswhip has looked at the number of news stories during January 2012 that received more than 100 mentions on Twitter and Fa ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Zell Company Seeks Part of Any Future Lawsuit Winnings Over Tribune Buyout

Billionaire Sam Zell is demanding a share of any money retirees and other creditors may win in lawsuits or legal settlements over the 2007 leveraged buyout he engineered of newspaper publisher Tribune Co. (TRB) The demand, made through the Zell-co ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Orion looks to the future with restructure

The Orion Publishing Group is to undergo a restructure, with the existing trade division and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter ebooks coming to schools, libraries around the world

Pottermore has partnered with ebook company Overdrive to bring electronic versions of the 'Harry Potter' series to libraries and schools in five languages. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The firm that's making a mint out of old tech

A regional NSW company that was on track to becoming extinct has emerged as a global digital photo printing powerhouse, selling $20 Facebook photo books to customers in over 80 countries including Afghanistan. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries, Tech-Smart Authors, and the Coming Digital Apocalypse

Whatever else can be said about Tools of Change, O’Reilly Media’s traveling road show on publishing and technological change, it seems to come along just when a concentrated dose of discussion—or perhaps muted confrontation—is needed. Over the course of the three-day conference in New York City,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Test our rivals' tablet claims, says Future as it publishes T3 data

Future is encouraging media agencies to probe the numbers its magazine publishing rivals are claiming for their tablet editions, as part of an "educational" initiative to grow the tablet advertising market. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2012-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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