RAW 211114

This weeks RAW offerings to peruse this weekend over your favourite beverage:

• New AAP Stats Show that Reports of the Demise of Paperbacks Were Greatly Exaggerated
• 5 Highlights from Futurebook 2014 Conference
• Samsung Made a Butt Robot (Robutt? Ass-bot?) to Test Smartphones
• Barnes & Noble Sync UP pairs ebooks with print – for a price
• Read 50 Pages Before Deciding to Drop a Book

And if you haven't read it already, check out one of my recent articles...

Plato, Politics and Eugenics - Space Viking, A Book Review.

wolfsbooks.com.au - As a teenager I loved this book and read it often. It is a classic space opera with fast paced action scenes and a good dash of empire building as well.  It also contains some politics, but it is simple and easy to follow, not like C.J. Cherryh’s Chanur Series, which gave me a headache and slowed the pace of the novels somewhat.

Publishing

New AAP Stats Show that Reports of the Demise of Paperbacks Were Greatly Exaggerated

the-digital-reader.com - The Association of American Publishers announced today that the US ebook market, or rather the segment tracked by AAP member publishers, saw moderate growth in the first 8 months of 2014.   Read more />

5 Highlights from Futurebook 2014 Conference

goodereader.com - The fifth annual London Futurebook conference featured 47 speakers from the publishing industry and beyond. A pre-conference survey suggested only 1 in 7 publishing insiders thought the industry was ready for the next stage in the digital revolution.  But the atmosphere was excitement, not anxiety. Read more />

Technology

Samsung Made a Butt Robot (Robutt? Ass-bot?) to Test Smartphones

tor-com - We suppose someone should have expected this, given the iPhone 6 bend debacle, but somehow, the possibility sailed right by us: Samsung decided to prove their phones wouldn’t bend by creating a robot that could sit on them over and over.
Watch the video />

Bookstores

Barnes & Noble Sync UP pairs ebooks with print – for a price

teleread.com - Barnes & Noble has introduced another service to lever off its bricks-and-mortar presence into greater ebook market share with the rollout of B&N Sync Up, which offers ebook pairings with a selected series of paperback titles.  Read more />

Reading

Read 50 Pages Before Deciding to Drop a Book

lifehacker.com - If you're feeling lukewarm about a book, read 50 pages before deciding whether to continue or drop it. Doing this will allow you to try the books you want to read without you feeling obligated to complete them. Read more />