As I have mentioned, one of the facets of what I do is book design. Recently, Co. Aytch, First Tennesee Regiment, or a Side Show of the Big Show was published by Providence House Publishers. I had the distinct privilege to be able to design what I believe to be the definitive edition of this book.

For those who are not familiar with Civil War history, Co. Aytch is considered to be THE memoir about the common soldier’s life in the war. It has been published numerous times over the years but never with the detail and added features to be found in this version.

Joe Avalon over at Civil War Interactive has reviewed the book and given it his blessing. If you’re a Civil War history buff, check out his review and also pick up a copy of Co. Aytch. In the coming days, I’ll have an in depth case study about the challenge that this new edition presented and how those problems were resolved. Stay tuned.

JM

written by JM

On Monday, Amazon.com announced their new e-book reader, the Kindle. The Kindle holds hundreds of books, newspapers and blogs and has an SD card slot for more storage. In addition, the Kindle has wireless access to what Amazon calls Whispernet. Carried over an EVDO network (like that of Sprint), the Kindle can download e-books available on on Amazon’s store which means you don’t have to be tethered to a computer. Select newspapers and blogs are also downloaded this way. To cap it off, the Kindle has a reported great battery life for hours and hours of reading. Amazon says that you can go for days without charging the device. Are we seeing the iPod of e-book readers? Some might say yes.

At the time the iPod was released, there were several other mp3 players on the market. As we can now see, they failed to capture the hearts of music lovers the way the iPod has. Likewise, e-book readers have been around a little while but have not really taken off. Sony’s recent e-book offering also uses the same e-ink technology of the Kindle but lacks its feature set. While there are some similarities, these two forms of media and their climate are quite different.

While advances in printing, binding and of course creation of books have changed, the end result looks pretty much the same as books that are hundreds of years old. There just aren’t a lot of surprises there and the book has proven itself as a lasting technology. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to innovate…far from it. I’m just not so sure that this is what will take us there. There are a lot of good things about the Kindle, but in contrast most importantly, there are even more drawbacks.

All About Design

Admittedly, this whole thing kinda hits a little close to home. My primary work is that of a book designer. I have designed books that are mostly text and I have designed coffee-table books that were more graphically rich. The latter being where such devices as the Kindle fail design. Reportedly, the content viewed on the Kindle is in a serif font called Caecilia. The only exception seems to be in the logos of the aforementioned newspapers and blogs that can be accessed on the device. This makes for a rocky start when what font a book is set in is so important to a designer. This of course is to say nothing of the lack of color graphics in such devices. I know it’s still early in the game but a daring undertaking like redefining what a book is requires an equally daring solution to these sort of obstacles, like how to get the pretty pictures to show up on the expensive gadget.

Devious Ripoff Masters

Another big drawback to the Kindle is the DRM (Digital Rights Management). Book publishers, like movie studios and record companies, would not even think about being involved in this enterprise if there were not “safeguards” in place to protect their revenue streams. In the Kindle scenario, gone would be the days of loaning a book to a friend. There is apparently no provision for any type of sharing with the Kindle. Consumers don’t respond kindly to being told what to do with content that they have purchased. What happens if this whole thing doesn’t succeed? You are investing in a technology that offers you no other way to consume the content you have paid for in the event that your Kindle breaks and/or the device and the service are abandoned. For instance, earlier this year, Google abandoned their video service where people had purchased videos (some rented) and could only view them on their site. Once the plug was pulled, no more access to the content. Also not a big plus for consumers.

The Next Step

This device won’t be a runaway hit. I don’t even think it will be a modest success. Ultimately, the Kindle is asking too much of the consumer. You’re giving up a lot of cash to buy one, you’re giving up freedom to do what you want with your purchases and you’re giving up a system that works. We knew what we were getting into with the iPod. Listening to music with headphones or earbuds was an experience that we were familiar with. Reading a book on an electronic device is a frontier that many have not nor want to experience. The way we consume books may change in the future—I’m not foolish enough to think that the goals of the Kindle or any other e-book reader cannot be reached—I just don’t think we’re there yet.

JM

written by JM

Head on over to Apple’s site to check out a new trailer for what was previously known as 1-18-08. It appears as though now, what was thought to be the codename “Cloverfield” is actually the name of the movie. Little more is known about the film than what we knew before this latest treat was released. It does appear to be some kind of creature…not Godzilla presumably, but something else altogether. We also can review the teaser trailer and compare it to the new trailer to see that the Statue of Liberty’s head is now twice the size it was…and more realistic.

I’m still very intrigued by what J.J. Abrams has in store for us on 1-18-08. See you at the movies.

JM

written by JM

Hello all! I’m back after running a gauntlet that has left me rather tired. So tired in fact that I went to bed at 8p.m. last night. That just doesn’t happen.

I was presented with an opportunity to produce some new media that had to be ready in just under a week. Not only that, but in somewhat of an odd format. After some long days and into some late nights, the challenge was completed. I hope to get some examples of the product of my toil posted shortly.

JM

written by JM

Earlier this week the Writers Guild of America went on strike for more fair compensation. Specifically, what they’re paid for shows that are downloaded or streamed on the internet in addition to demands on residuals paid from DVD sales. Writers last went on strike for a 22 week period in 1998.

While I don’t particularly care for unions in general, (I think they were once a necessary and helpful advocate for workers) I have to think in this case they are right in their demands. It has been somewhat humorously pointed out that it’s a little more difficult to feel sorry for the “higher-class” writers of the WGA than say someone in the UAW. Nevertheless, the major media companies have shown themselves to be nothing if not greedy and with the shift in media consumption to the internet, adequate compensation should be given.

Obviously we don’t know how long this thing will last. But as I have mentioned before there are those out there that are talented and have stories to tell that can help fill the void felt by a lack of new programming. It’s now incredibly easy to get those stories to a large audience via any one of the video sharing sites out there. In addition, the resources available to all of us for producing this content are incredibly economical.

All of this said, I don’t think the writers of our entertainment should feel like budding storytellers are out to get them. What this does is give a window of opportunity to those who would otherwise not get a chance to tell their stories to a captive audience. In time, all of this will return to some state of normalcy. While we wait though, hopefully consumers eyes can be opened to something that they would not have otherwise given a chance.

JM

written by JM

Earlier this week NBC Universal and Fox Corp. joint venture hulu.com launched which I mentioned before here. For now the rollout will be a slow one with access only for those who have been invited and that only in the U.S. And you want to know what? I could care less.

Yes, I’m a bitter and angry Apple fanboy who wishes that NBC weren’t pulling their content from iTunes. Admittedly most of the shows I watch currently are on NBC and I watch them on regular old TV. To me, hulu.com is just another in the arena of video sites that has an uphill battle to win over consumers attention spans. If I miss a show from any of the networks I watch and it’s not available on iTunes, I watch it on that networks website…which I guess is the next best thing for them.

For me and a lot of others, the lack of control on our part is why I think this venture will fail. I want to watch the content how I choose and not how they choose for me. iTunes comes closer to giving us that control than anything else out there other than illegal downloads. Perhaps one day the networks and music labels will realize that the majority of us consumers are not the bad guy. If they don’t get it, they’re only hurting themselves.

JM

written by JM

In my last post, I mentioned how I had difficulty in getting Quark XPress to print correctly in OSX 10.5 Leopard. All text that printed out was in the typeface Courier. I posted my woes to the Quark forum where at least some others had experienced the same problems. After having begun the process of installing Tiger(10.4) I received some helpful info on the Quark forums about a possible remedy. It involved trashing the Quark preferences, resetting the printing system, and some cache files.

I ended up not migrating any data from the previous system and did a clean install of Leopard after the Tiger install. I then installed Quark 6.0 and printed a test document. RESULT:Courier. I then installed the Quark 6.1 updater. RESULT:Courier. At that point all that was left was the Quark 6.5 updater. Result: SUCCESS! The test document printed out as it was supposed to and all was right with the world.

I have done no other testing beyond that but it is a promising start. I still plan to wait a while before even thinking about upgrading my production machine since there is too much riding on my work to risk any mishaps. Of course there is still a risk that any software updates pushed down by Apple, especially system updates, could inadvertently render Quark 6.5 useless or at least not able to print correctly…which is pretty useless.

So, consider yourself warned and don’t forget to backup!

JM

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So today I get a big treat. A trip to the Apple Store to buy some new computers for the office. I was excited about getting to use Leopard not to mention the fact I was going to get a 24″ iMac. Leopard does some amazing new things that I think most people would not want to miss out on. For the most part, all indications were that the transition would be a welcome one.

I did read that there were some possible problems with Quark XPress 6.5 but that it would work. HOWEVER, all was not well. Quark files appear to open correctly and look great. The problem is when trying to print to a Postscript printer, all the fonts come out in Courier. For the uninitiated, that stinks.

Now, Quark is at version 7.3 and that doesn’t seem to have those problems. I know that Quark is under no obligation to continue to support their software that doesn’t play nice with an operating system when they have a version that does. The problem is this…where does it end? The company where I’m working bought version 6 of Quark about 18 months ago along with new computers. I dare say for most companies and individuals, dropping the necessary funds on computers and software is no small thing.

Right now, you can buy a new Mac and still get OSX 10.4 on it. What happens in a couple of weeks to a month when 10.5 is pre-installed on all new machines? Then there won’t be a choice. No matter what software you are using, if there is an incompatibility you could be out of luck.

I know this is nothing new in the world of computers and software upgrades but those upgrades can easily become a more expensive proposition. What is the answer…’suck it up’ I guess. But,when you’re talking about dropping another couple thousand dollars on even more upgrades…it’s a tough pill to swallow.

So, for now, that shiny copy of Leopard sits in its paper sleeve…calling me…taunting me…tormenting me.

JM

written by JM