Best Links week 22-24

Post-Artifact Books & Publishing (link)
An essay, or rather–a pamphlet, by @craigmod on digital's effect on how we produce, distribute and consume books.

How Ebooks Change Our Lives and Homes (link)
I find this is very interesting, there's a great media opportunity here: "It turns out that IKEA is already adapting their product lines. While they do not see any direct shift in sale, they are in the process of e.g. redesigning the Billy book cases. Creating deeper versions so that it can be used for display or ornaments and bigger 'coffee table books' (which is still mostly print). They are also adding the option of glass doors, effectively turning them into cabinets."

Why Innovation in Publishing Is Important (link)
"Of course all industries have to evolve in order to keep pace with what's happening in the world we all inhabit: but the change does not always need to painless, as the experience of the music industry has showed. How we respond to this essential challenge will dictate what kind of shape we emerge in."
Related: When Hard Books Disappear

Future of Media: This Is No Time for Incrementalism (link)
"The biggest challenge facing the industry is 'an imagination deficit.' Instead of just trying to charge for existing content, more organizations need to take risks with their business model. The problem is that most mainstream media entities are not designed for experimentation, and in many cases the way they function hasn’t changed noticeably in decades."

Jeff Bezos With A Super Awesome Explanation Of Why He's Not Scared Of Failure At Amazon (link)
"If you invent frequently and are willing to fail, then you never get to that point where you really need to bet the whole company. AWS also started about 6-7 years ago. We are planting more seeds right now, and it is too early to talk about them, but we are going to continue to plant seeds. And I can guarantee you that everything we do will not work. And, I am never concerned about that. … We are stubborn on vision. We flexible on details. We don’t give up on things easily."

Why Content Isn’t King (link)
How Netflix became America’s biggest video service—much to the astonishment of media executives and investors

Future of Media: Community Is Your New Business Model (link)
"The bottom line is that unless media companies find and engage with their communities of readers, they will continue to decline in importance (and likely in revenue as well), despite all the paywalls and iPad apps."

Time-spent on Social Networks: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter & Tumblr Reach New Heights in May (link)
"With each passing month it seems that social networking becomes more deeply ingrained into our digital lives. If we take a look back at the past few years we can see just how pervasive it has become. Back in 2007, social networking represented about 1 out of every 12 minutes spent online, while today it accounts for 1 out of every 6 minutes spent online."
Related: Infographic: Facebook Is The McDonald's Of Social Networking

Special report on the Social Web: Super Socialize Me (link)
A collection of perspectives and articles on the social web, compiled by IEEE.

A New VC Model Turns Designers, Not Techies, Into Startup CEOs (link)
"Enrique Allen had an epiphany while meditating one morning about how to bring design literacy to Silicon Valley.  Instead of spending so much of his energy mentoring and consulting with startups about how to bring iterative creative thinking and a respect for user experience to their company culture, why not do the inverse?" Yeah, why not? I really hope this takes off – this just might be a way to mass produce Steve Jobs-visionary leaders.

The Terrifying Truth About New Technology (link)
Read this piece on the pshycology of adopting/adapting to new technologies with a humble mind: "I'm not saying you have to keep up. But at the moment you choose to stop growing, your world will begin to shrink. You'll be able to communicate with fewer people, especially the young. You will only see reruns. You will not understand how to pay for things. The outside world will become a frightening and unpredictable place. /.../ As they say, the only constant is change."

The Guardian Draws a Line in the Sand: Digital Comes First (link)
"Guardian has identified 'about 10 different revenue streams,' including a recruitment business that’s growing rapidly, as well as more traditional streams such as display advertising, and even a dating site. As part of the announcement on Thursday, Miller said he expects digital revenues will double over the next five years."

The Article and the Future of Print (link)
"Digital first, aggressively implemented, means that digital drives all decisions: how news is covered, in what form, by whom, and when. It dictates that as soon as a journalist knows something, she is prepared to share it with her public. It means that she may share what she knows before she knows everything so she can get help from her public to fill in what she doesn’t know. That resets the journalistic relationship to the community, making the news organization a platform first, enabling a community to share its information and inviting the journalist to add value to that process."

The Birth of the ‘Alive Web’ (link)
"The “Alive Web” is about to completely displace the way we’ve previously experienced content, community and media.
What’s also important to me is the impact these trends will have on culture. Self expression, identity and relationships will be formed and codified through the expression and conversation around media. Look no further than Tumblr to wonder about the validity of this idea. An entire new generation of startups is about to emerge. Every data source will become a social object and the common language will become social."
Related: Say Hello to the Alive Web!

5 Technologies That Will Shape the Web (link)
1. The Mobile Web Will Be a Smarter Web / 2. Video Is Poised to Inundate the Web / 3. Everyday Objects Will Join Our Social Networks / 4. Web Data Will Explode, and That's a Good Thing / 5. Voice and Gestures Will Change Human-Computer Interaction.

Insiders Tell The Story Of LinkedIn's Stunning Success (link)
Business Insider talks to Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn's executive chairman and principal founder, and two former long-time executives.

The Most Important Organization In Silicon Valley That No One Has Heard About (link)
"MedLion recently opened up a clinic in Mountain View, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. It’s apropos to open a clinic in Silicon Valley since technology a critical element of having a high quality at a low cost. Dr. Qamar has received inquiries from doctors all over the country seeking to replicate MedLion’s success. These leading doctors are thrilled to remove the yoke of insurance and work for their patients rather than a faceless insurance company."

Bitcoin Virtual Currency May Be Worst of Both Worlds (link)
"Easy to steal and impossible to trace."
Related: The Currency of the Geeks

Have you read anything interesting related to the links above – or, even better, something completely different and mind-blowing – please share it in the comments below!

All the best,

@jonas_o