Category Archives: Technologies for publications and Web content

Starbucks, in my opinion, is one of the more well-managed companies that is doing a lot of things right. I always feel welcome and believe I get value for the prices I pay for their products. (Their plain coffee is no bargain but I don’t ever drink that.) Unfortunately, they fall into the same trap [...]

An analyst with the marketing research firm Forrester recently talked to the Custom Publishing Council about online content management strategies that publishers are using to achieve growth. While the strategies look intelligent, closer examination of the analyst’s examples reveal that they still need a little work. Did the Sun run out of gas? Here’s one [...]

Writing a script for a video is like running for an 80-yard touchdown after repeated penalties. It’s nice to be able to say you did it—better still to have others say you did it—but deep inside you know that it was possible only because of what other people did. That and some luck. When I [...]

Like most organizations in the publications business, we’ve been intrigued by the Kindle, Amazon’s portable reading screen. Did you know you can publish a book on Kindle right now? Go to Amazon’s Digital Text Platform for instructions. There is no charge up front—not a penny. It’s all up to you You’ll find a lot of [...]

Does your organization have an abundant store of information that local affiliates or like-minded groups might want to make available to their readers? Then you should probably begin experimenting with an Application Programming Interface (API) like the ones introduced recently by The New York Times. We asked Nancy Scola if she’d let us share an [...]

If you’re a manager who has been toying with the idea of video on your Website, now’s the time to get your feet wet. But be aware: You’ll be a pioneer. There is a lot to learn. Much of what we see isn’t very good, although some things are priceless. We asked Gary Arlen if [...]

A few days ago we linked to Gapminder, a Swedish company specializing in animated graphs. Since then we’ve had a chance to peruse their site some more, and it’s opened our eyes to animation’s possibilities. Of course you can’t use animation in a printed document, but Gapminder’s method (now owned by Google and in part [...]

One of our recent posts quoted a WIRED magazine executive who wants publishers to hurry up and introduce sensemaking machines that present continually updated information in readily comprehensible ways. If you haven’t had a chance to see one of the best such machines, check out the pioneering Gapminder, a website whose software was originally developed [...]

WIRED NextFest wrapped up in Chicago yesterday. If you missed it, you can still enjoy a catalog of innovations (PDF) that will make life more efficient, environmentally benign, and fun in the years to come. With all the turmoil in the publishing industry, newspapers in particular, don’t be surprised at the absence of sleek, exciting [...]