The App's The Thing: Shakespeare, Rebooted

The world's most famous playwright was a media theorist, says the co-creator of a new "Tempest" app for iPad, Notre Dame professor Elliott Visconsi. Here he explains how you re-create the bard for the iOS age.Today the lofty Times Literary Supplement--“the leading international forum for literary culture”--will run an unusual advertisement: It's for an iPad app. The app, “The Tempest,” is essentially an enhanced ebook version of the Shakespeare play. (You know, the one with Prospero, Miranda, the island.) It’s loaded with features--including an audiobook version read by professional actors, inline commentary from Shakespeare scholars, and social tools for your class or study group--and is available from the iTunes store for $9.99. Fast Company spoke with Elliott Visconsi, a Notre Dame professor of English and one of the app’s makers, to find out how a university can be like a venture capital firm and why Shakespeare is more fun than "Angry Birds."FAST COMPANY: First, full disclosure to our readers: many years before you became an iOS entrepreneur, you were my English professor. When did you decide the bard needed rebooting?ELLIOTT VISCONSI: A little more than a year ago. I saw that the iPad transformed the way the humanities was delivered to students and to the general public, and the tools that it makes available to foster collaboration and conversation. I started to educate myself as best I could about mobile technology, in and out of education, and about what was... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #silicon valley #changing rapidly

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The App's The Thing: Shakespeare, Rebooted'


Holiday Catalogs Data and Top 15 Cities, Per Popular iPad App

The turn-the-page Web catalog—tested widely in the 2000s as an alternative to e-commerce sites—once looked like an emerging shopping platform led by now-defunct tech providers such as RichFX. But the concept died on the proverbial vine. With the massive proliferation of tablets, however, the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #device level


Personalised audio for SourceBooks' Put Me in the Story app

Sourcebooks' Put Me in the Story personalised-book series has launched a new 'universal... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Stephen Hawking's first official app teaches the basics of the universe

Stephen Hawking has gone to great lengths to promote science through books and videos, but he has been conspicuously absent in the software world -- until now, that is. The astrophysicist has just teamed up with Random House on Snapshots of the ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen hawking #random house


Apple to give away songs, ebooks, apps during '12 Days of Gifts'

Apple will be giving away digital gifts every day for 12 days after Christmas to users of an app released Tuesday.     Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


PP’s Shakespeare Book Club: No More Tragedy…It’s Time for Romance

Publishing Perspective’s epic reading of the complete plays of Shakespeare, The Play’s The Thing. is near the finale. Next up: the romances, starting with "Cymbeline." Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing perspective


Penguin teams up with Readmill on booksharing app

Free app allows ebook readers to share highlights and update to social media websitesPenguin UK has teamed up with the Berlin-based ebook app developer Readmill to bolster direct ebook sales.The app allows readers to share ebook highlights and to talk to each other while they're reading,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mission statement #biggest brands


Data Proves We Pay For Things On Mobile, But We're Still Nervous Of Security

Credit card security firm Jumio has looked into how we're all using our smartphones and tablets to shop.Jumio, a young firm backed by Facebook billionaire Eduardo Saverin, has just published research on how consumers are using their mobile devices to pay for things. Among the data are two key... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mobile devices #key facts


'Where the Wild Things Are' celebrates its 50th anniversary (+video)

Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's classic 'Where the Wild Things Are' still tops polls as a favorite picture book and was adapted into a film in 2009. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wild things #maurice sendak #tops polls


Google Play update showcases big-screen optimized apps on tablets

As promised a month or so ago, Google Play is implementing a few changes today that'll push tablet-optimized apps to the forefront. That is, if you're using a device not quite small enough to be considered a phone (though we admit there are certain handhelds that bridge the gap). Indeed, tablet... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #android tablets #google play #tablet users


'Where the Wild Things Are' celebrates its 50th anniversary

Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's classic 'Where the Wild Things Are' still tops polls as a favorite picture book and was adapted into a film in 2009. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wild things #maurice sendak #tops polls


Former Kate Spade Art Director Develops An Adorbs Book App For Kids

My Monster, by Julianna Goodman, bridges the divide between slick digital storytelling and homemade visuals.It's rare to see and "touch" things on the iPad screen that evoke the texture, color, and unpolished feel of real life. Fortunately, a new children's book app corrects that shortcoming,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ipad screen #real life


Eyeing Indie Presses for The Next Great Thing

Last fall, Timothy O’Connell, an editor at Vintage, noticed a starred PW review of The Natural Order of Things by Kevin P. Keating. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #great thing


Wheelbarrow produces Shaun Tan app

An app has been produced for author-illustrator Shaun Tan’s latest title, Rules of Summer (... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest title


The More Social Media and Cable Change the News, the More Things Stay the Same

The media-industrial complex loves nothing so much as an anniversary -- especially a grim anniversary. Considering that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is an event that not only radically transformed our nation but the media itself, it's no surprise that the 50th anniversary of... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #exact replica #anniversary year #recent trip


Pitchfork Launches “Weekly Magazine” App

Most successful content sites are monetizing with sheer volume now, but Pitchfork is betting there's still a place for lean-back engagement. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sheer volume


Polaroid Kids Tablet 2 comes loaded with apps from Cartoon Network, Disney and Marvel

A kid-friendly tablet often isn't enough by itself to keep little tykes happy -- you have to get the content they want, too. Polaroid is counting on this formula to lure parents to its newly available Kids Tablet 2. The 7-inch slate comes preloaded with the full versions of 70-plus apps and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cartoon network


More Book Than Nook: Can Barnes & Noble Makes Its E–Reader Feel Like The Real (Paper) Thing?

To compete against the Kindle, Barnes & Noble is going back to its roots, leveraging decades of bookseller expertise to make its Nook e–reader feel more like a paper book. Released Wednesday, the new Nook Simple Touch GlowLight features a brighter, sharper display; lighter body; improved... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #matchbook service #ve purchased #made strides #customer service


The Atlantic: Can We Stop Talking About the Scientology Thing?

The Atlantic wants you to stop talking about the Scientology native ad imbroglio. Like, really, get over it. "It's been 10 months now and it's still being brought up," Scott Havens, president of the Atlantic, said at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Miami this week. The post The Atlantic: Can We... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2013-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stop talking #scott havens


Magazines Are Dead, or Why There's No Such Thing as a (Mere) Magazine Company Anymore

In the Oct. 21 issue of Advertising Age, you'll find the closely watched annual Magazine A-List, which honors 10 glossies that are doing really, really well. I'm part of the editorial team that, each summer and fall, works on the list (which involves a lot of in-depth research and... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #years earlier #kate moss #henry kissinger


Official Facebook app (finally!) available for Windows 8.1 users

For all the improvements Microsoft has made in bolstering the Windows Store's app selection, one insistent question has held back the company's dreams of grandeur: "Yeah, but where's Facebook?" Indeed, the largest social network in the land has been a conspicuous no-show in Microsoft app... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-10-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |