Book to the future
Back in December I attended Publish! Organised by Media Futures, it was a day of innovation on the future of the book.
The future of publishing is an interesting topic that’s been floating around for a while. The written word will forever be popular but what formats are best suited to deliver it in, now and in the future? And how will traditional publishing and revenue models have to change to keep up?
The room was full, with a mix of authors, publishers and digital folk. Through each session: ‘innovation and the book’, ‘making money from digital’, ‘Pioneers or playing it safe?’ and ‘inventing the future’ there was a great sense of openness and honesty. It was clear that each section of the audience had a lot to learn but was equally eager to help where they could.
We saw some wonderful new work. Meg Geldens of Touch Press showed off a couple of beautiful iPad apps that bring content to life in magical ways. Dave Addey of Agant Ltd walked us though their Malcolm Tucker: The Missing Phone app that reinvents what you think ‘book’ content might be.
There were many more examples highlighting that if we can mix the best from the publishing world with the very best of what the digital world has to offer – agile approaches, digital strategy and engagement models, people shaped design, experimentation and innovation, then the future of the book, whether in body or soul will be an exciting landscape.
The last session ‘How to innovate’, was when I left my comfortable seat behind and had to get up and onto the stage myself.
I talked briefly about hack projects, why we often work this way and how we approach them. For us, hack projects have proved to be low cost, low risk, liberating, fast and exciting ways to get experimental work made and functioning ready for evaluation and improvement. A very pure, yet realistic way of innovating.
Here’s my slides:
And yes, while I was in Bristol I did collect Damian’s Champagne, and he was very lucky to get it back unopened!
