Day: January 25, 2013

Go Read This | With 2 million members, Storybird is ‘reverse-engineering’ the picture book

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

A very nice, very smart, very exciting idea:

Initially, Ury and his cofounder, Kaye Puhlmann (both formerly consumer experience designers for digital ad agencies; Ury has worked with clients like Apple, Nike and Starbucks), imagined that families would be the primary users of the site. “Parents reading on the iPad to their kids in bed,” Ury said. Parents and kids are indeed using Storybird — “and a lot of people create stories almost as extended greeting cards,” Ury said — but it turns out the largest demographic is teachers and students. Over 125,000 schools are now on Storybird, with teachers issuing assignments to students and using the site in the classroom to help kids with their writing skills. The most recent demographic — and “the most voracious,” according to Ury — is teen and tween girls. “They are using it for what I’d almost call conversation and communication,” he added, sharing images and messages with each other online “the same way you might use Tumblr.”

via With 2 million members, Storybird is ‘reverse-engineering’ the picture book — paidContent.

Go Read This | Economic perfect storm: The four trends that killed Western growth | City A.M.

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

As disturbing as it my seem, we live in a world that has more than just publishing and books in it. hence today’s post. A fascinating analysis of where we are in world economics and how we got here (though not always one with which I wholeheartedly agree) can be read at the link below. Perhaps the most interesting idea is around the energy revolution and the coming (if you like) energy crunch, well worth pondering for a while:

The critical equation is the difference between energy extracted and energy consumed in extraction – energy return on energy invested (EROEI). Since the Industrial Revolution, EROEI has been high. Oil discovered in the 1930s provided 100 units of energy for every unit consumed. But EROEI has fallen, as discoveries have become smaller and more costly to extract. The killer factor is the non-linear nature of EROEIs. Once returns ratios fall below 15:1, there is a dramatic “cliff-edge” slump in surplus energy, combined with a sharp escalation in cost. And the global average EROEI may fall to 11:1 by 2020. Energy will be 50 per cent more expensive, in real terms, than today. And this will carry through into the cost of almost everything – including food.

via Economic perfect storm: The four trends that killed Western growth | City A.M..