Last week I was smart enough to attend the half-day TH(ink) E-Readers 2010 Summit in NYC (www.thinkereadersummit.com). This event was on the tail end of a longer conference. The Publishing Business Conference ran from March 8 - 10th, and it was produced by Book Business and Publishing Executive. I couldn't make it to New York until the 10th; next year I hope to attend the whole shebang.
The e-reader summit was presented by mediaIDEAS, a research and consulting firm that focuses on the future of publishing, and the Publishing Business Conference. The infamous Bob Sacks "Bosacks" is one of mediaIDEAS senior analysts, and I attended the summit especially to meet Bob/Bo (www.bosacks.com). He did not disappoint.
While I attend commercial printing trade shows and print buyer events, my interest extends outward - far beyond commercial print - to Communications in general.
My position is this: If those of us in and of the printing industry don't keep up with trends and technologies in Communications, we're operating in a vacuum. I'd go one step further: I'd say we're doomed.
I'm interested in all media that deliver content to us, period. Print is my springboard.
Among the topics discussed at this first-ever summit were the main types of e-readers. (My only personal experience with this technology is with the Kindle I bought for my husband. It is now passed from him to our teenage son to (very occasionally) me, as we fight over who gets it next.)One of the summit speakers was Nick Hampshire, Senior Analyst and Partner, mediaIDEAS (www.mediaideas.net). He is widely acknowledged to be a leading expert on the subject of the e-paper display-based e-reader market. He's written over 20 books on IT and is an authority in digital publishing. Nick was a "virtual speaker," all the way from the UK. We watched him on a PC monitor that sat on a table on the stage. He spoke for an hour. I learned loads.
In today's Print Tip, I want to share some interesting facts about e-readers, courtesy of Nick Hampshire. When you hear the term "e-reader," you likely think of the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes & Noble Nook. In fact, there are over 50 e-readers available. Nick covered the market - and the types of e-readers - in a fact-filled, easy-to-follow presentation.
©2010 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. Your comments are encouraged. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues. However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.


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