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 ]
News tagged with:
#central character
Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Wed, 09/03/2011 - 08:39 John Murray has acquired a title by the c.e.o. of Google after a seven-publisher auction. M.d. Roland Phillips acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a "major" deal to Empire of the Mind: The Dawn of the Techno-Political Age.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#seven-publisher auction
#claire roberts
#eric schmidt
#jared cohen
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 04/03/2011 - 10:08 Book Marketing Limited has began new research among publishers to predict what comes next in digital. The provider of market research is working on behalf of Publishing Technology to assess what impact e-publishing is having... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#market research
#digital future
#journal publishers
#publishing technology
#select group
John P. Loughlin, EVP and GM of Hearst Magazines, kicked off DMA's Circulation Marketing Day at the Time Inc. Conference Center in New York City as keynote speaker. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#hearst magazines
#keynote speaker
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 28/02/2011 - 16:12 Strong sales in its UK campus stores have helped John Smith & Son to report a sales increase of 3.1% in its latest trading results. The academic and specialist bookseller reported sales were up from £39.3m to £40.5m for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#sales increase
#total sales
#john smith
Written By: Laura Richards Publication Date: Fri, 25/02/2011 - 11:39 A sketch from "Harry Hill's TV Burp" is to be the subject of a knitting book acquired by Anova. Katie Cowan, publisher for Anova's Collins & Brown imprint, bought world English-language rights for The K Factor from Avalon... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#show called
Magazine publisher Future, owner of Total Film and Classic Rock, has appointed former media investment banker Manjit Wolstenholme as non-executive director. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#non-executive director
#total film
#classic rock
By Tim Conneally, Betanews Google on Thursday finally launched a renewed web-based Android Market that integrates with a user's Google account and lets him shop for applications and send them to the various Android-powered devices linked to the account. This new shop marks the industry-wide... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#browsing experience
#copyright betanews
Expect much higher capital expense costs and much greater need for in-house digital development skill. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#execs imagine
#media company
Written By: Graeme Neill Borders has finally secured an agreement for fresh funding, with GE Capital providing $550m of new cash, but only if publishers stump up $125m. Publishers Weekly reports the troubled retailer has said for the first time that it doesn't rule out the possibility of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#finally secured
#fresh funding