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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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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Collins' book, which will be based around her own experiences with a father in the military, will be released this fall. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Croydon Council has chosen the private company it wants to run its 13 libraries, with John... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#private company
At the Guadalajara Book Fair, Bill McCoy of the IDPF and Pablo Defendini of Safari Books encouraged publishers to abandon DRM, and set their own prices. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers are planning to celebrate the life and work of Sylvia Plath on the 50th anniversary of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Campaigners hoping to save Kensal Rise Library from being turned into flats are staging a protest... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo's CEO discusses Brazil, the world, and how POD will be added to the Writing Life platform. Also, our tart critique of Apple's new "Brazilian" iBookstore. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#publishnews brazil
El País, which had avoided the losses that have hit the newspaper industry worldwide as it struggles with the transition to digital publishing, announced it would dismiss one-third of its staff. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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(Reuters) - Germany's largest newspaper publisher will introduce a paywall for its flagship national daily Die Welt by the end of this year and is confident competitors will follow suit, Axel Springer Chief Executive Mathias Doepfner said. In an ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins is to reprint 100,000 copies of Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker Prize-winning... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Kindle Paperwhite is go on sale through Waterstones stores by the end of the month, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury's online Churchill Archive will aim for a school and undergraduate readership as... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sayville, Long Island, October, 2012 – Brainworks Software, the leading provider of newspaper advertising and circulation systems for North America has announced that the Times Publishing Company has selected Brainworks to provide their pro ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pottermore is to work with other brands, helping them identify digital strategies, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett has set up his own multimedia production company,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble will release its self-publishing platform PubIt in the UK following the launch... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Albuquerque Publishing Company – the advertising sales, production and distribution agent for New Mexico’s largest and most read newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal – is live with Atex Advertising. The Atex syst ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#advertising sales
YUDU Media is to make a push into the education market with the launch of YUDU Education, a new... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#education market
The European Commission said it was prepared to drop its investigation after Apple and four publishers agreed to let retailers sell ebooks at a discount for two years. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder is planning its most "innovative" campaign for Jodi Picoult's next novel,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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