Encyclopaedia Britannica, the 244-year-old company, recently announced it would stop printing encyclopedias. Of course this triggered a flurry of talk about the end of printed books, magazines, and newspapers and a once-great company humbled by shifts in technology. But to fall into that narrative is to miss the greatest lesson of the story. Innovating, creating something new, playing the beginning of the game is the easy part. Britannica offers us invaluable insight into the much harder half of the innovation process: how to play the end game.You see, every game--chess, tennis, business--has an end. Every business will eventually die. We cannot escape this inevitability. Yet we hold on to the fantasy that somehow OUR company will be different, that our company is “built to last.” The key to long life in business is knowing how to play the end game so that you can position yourself to play the next game. Britannica seems to be doing that well.The Wi-Fi PatternTo understand what is going on here, think about Wi-Fi (wireless Internet) service. Ten years ago when you walked into a Starbucks you had to pay for Wi-Fi access. Now you get it for free. If something doesn’t cost anything to provide, eventually someone will give it away for free. Or as an economist would say, over the long run, the market price of any competitive product or service reaches its margin cost.Wikipedia has proven that there are lots of smart people out there who are willing to write content for free.... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2012-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Houston-based Kbuuk is one of the latest in a long line of file conversion and self-publishing ebook platforms to emerge in the wake of the digital explosion. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Libraries across the country are taking part in a high-tech treasure based on Simon Mayo’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Terry Deary's long-running Horrible Histories children's books series is coming to an end... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Horrible Histories author, Terry Deary, says his book series has "naturally come to an end" after 20 years of writing the popular children's books. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti has unveiled part of the government’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ingram has announced the addition of three new publisher clients: The Mother Company, Mandevilla Press, and The Law School Admission Council (LSAC). Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pottermore has moved into social gaming through a partnership with Sony. Pottermore at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is raising prices on its 20p ebooks after Sony ended the 20p promotion on its own eReader... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corporation’s new publishing company will get an infusion of $2.6 billion in cash and will have no debt when it separates from the company’s higher-growth cable channels and Hollywood studio this summer. In a filing with the ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IPC Media is focusing on not being distract by events outside of its control, as parent company Time Warner unveiled plans to spin off its magazine division Time Inc last night. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2013-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mainstream co-founder Bill Campbell has said the decision to cease forward publishing represents... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Smith & Son has seen a like-for-like sales increase of 14.3% in the year 2011-12, led by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After announcing in early February that it had discontinued sourcing paper from threatened Indonesian rainforests, a representative of Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) was at the International Toy Fair Show in New York last week to explain the policy to toy companies and children’s... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's laureate Julia Donaldson's follow-up to Edward Lear's classic, The Owl and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A British magazine distributed by a joint venture of Conde Nast and Hearst Corporation and aimed at primary school children has been featuring images of adult-rated video games. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2013-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus chief executive Mark Smith (pictured), chairman David Potter and c.f.o. Colin Adams have... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As it emerges from a hellish bankruptcy, the next phase for the storied news publisher is bound to be better than the last. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2013-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The $1.5-million San Antonio library – which will have computers, tablets, and e-readers, but no paper books – will be like 'an Apple store.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Norwegian bookshop chain Notabene, which filed for bankruptcy last week, is to be taken over by a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has reported a year-on-year profit boost in the final quarter of 2012, at the same... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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