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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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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#penguin children
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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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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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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#tribune company
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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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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#final quarter
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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When Audiobooks.com launched a year ago, the service’s distinguishing factor was that it provided unlimited audiobook listening for a flat $25 monthly fee. On Monday, the company changed course and switched to a two-tier pricing model for a specific number of books. Audiobooks.com now charges... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Maurie Perl, the longtime chief spokeswoman at Condé Nast, is hanging it up after 21 years at the company. For 12 years, Perl built and oversaw the PR machine of the publishing company, reporting to parent Advance Publications Chairman Si Newhouse and then-Condé Nast CEO Steve Florio, who since... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Ann Cleeves has described herself as "furious" over Newcastle City Council's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Internet service provider Free restored the ads after meetings with French online publishing and advertising groups, which had complained about a loss of revenue. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2013-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The leadership of the "new" News Corp., which is being referred to internally as "PubCo," continues to fall into place. Heading up communications for the standalone publishing company now led by longtime News Corp. lieutenant Robert ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Puffin is joining in the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations by publishing a year-long e-... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fresh from apparently wrangling online content fees from Google last month, Belgian newspaper websites will, in 2013, launch an industry-wide platform to take back their readers. Major Flemish- and French-language newspaper publishers, magazine publ ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The government is to introduce exceptions to copyright law that would allow individual users to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wiley’s sales and operating income have been hit in its second quarter due to a weak higher... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Through exclusive interviews with Amazon's David Naggar, author Paolo Coelho, and others, we get behind the scenes of Amazon's Kindle Store launch in Brazil this week. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foyles has said it has received an "overwhelming" response, including from heads of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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