America

Go Read This | The E-Reader Revolution: Over Just as It Has Begun? – WSJ.com

~ Eoin Purcell ~ 4 Comments

Think of it like the horseless carriage! I think that line about the real innovation is where it’s at:

“The real innovation in e-readers has been giving consumers a convenient way to buy books, wirelessly, without even having to use their computers,” says Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester Research analyst. “Giving consumers a digital storefront right in their hands, that’s what really made e-readers a phenomenon.”

But tastes and technology have moved on. People haven’t stopped reading. They are just increasingly likely to read e-books on tablets rather than e-readers, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. The polling firm found that 23% of Americans said they had read e-books in 2012, compared with 16% in 2011

via The E-Reader Revolution: Over Just as It Has Begun? – WSJ.com.

Go Read This | E-books overtake US paperbacks

~ Eoin Purcell ~ 10 Comments

First off, don’t get TOO excited. The figures are very impressive, but they carry some health warnings the three biggest:

  • Ebook sales are undifferentiated whereas print sales are segmented
  • Thess are self reported and not the whole market
  • These may still be seeing post-Christmas loading by new ereading consumers

That said, the market is clearly growing VERY quickly still. Read the whole release from the AAP here.

Sales of e-books in February tripled over the previous year to $90.3m, the Association of American Publishers reported, exceeding adult paperback sales of $81.2m.

A 169 per cent surge in e-book revenues since the start of the year contrasted with a 24.8 per cent decline in print book sales to $442m over the two-month period. February figures showed steeper declines in some print categories, with adult hardcover sales falling 43 per cent to $46.2m and mass-market paperbacks down 41.5 per cent at $29.3m.

via FT.com / Media – E-books overtake US paperbacks.

Quick Link | An American hero time forgot | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/18/2010

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

Barry’s family were originally from Wexford!

One of Barry’s most horrific battles, in May 1781, showed his courage and ability to inspire others – even while wounded.

The bloody action with two British ships in the Atlantic nearly ended in defeat. Without wind, Barry’s already damaged and undermanned frigate, the Alliance, was an easy target for the more mobile enemy vessels, HMS Atalanta and HMS Trepassey. They raked the stranded Alliance with continuous fire, at one point wounding Barry in the shoulder with a heavy piece of iron grapeshot.

He was taken below for emergency surgery as the situation worsened. But when asked if the colors should be struck and the ship surrendered, he “became a wounded lion,” McGrath wrote. ” ‘No!,’ he roared. ‘If the ship can’t be fought without me, I will be carried to the deck.’

via An American hero time forgot | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/18/2010.

Quick Link | Nine Shift : Why We Have a Deficit

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

The folks at Nine Shift have been consistently brilliant at describing both the problems and their root causes in society. Their book is a great read and I think their solutions sensible:

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the Industrial Age, and thus its components, are in decline. Here’s an example. The government is funding construction or rebuilding of 10,000 highways, yet driving is in decline.  And since society does not really understand the Information Age, we are not “full speed” in the Information Age either.

via Nine Shift : Why We Have a Deficit.

An Indian finds himself on the Emerald Isle

~ Eoin Purcell ~ Leave a comment

Very interesting article on the connection between Ireland and the Choctaw Indians, by way of the famine:

White Deer has just spent two days traipsing around the city with a filmmaker from Dublin, working on a documentary about the Choctaw-Irish connection. Among other places, they have visited the Irish hunger memorial garden in lower Manhattan, a quarter-acre grassy hill with the remnants of a famine-era stone cottage imported from Mayo. Etched into the stone base is a reference to the generous donation by “the Children of the Forest, our Red Brethern of the Choctaw nation.”

via An Indian finds himself on the Emerald Isle.