I loved the novel Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. It’s a twisting tale of relationships that grow during a hostage-taking. Ms Patchett grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. Since last year Nashville had been been bereft of bookstores. So the author decided to open one. Like many large cities, Nashville had been home to a thriving [...]
On March 18th I bought an iPad. I’m thrilled with it. According to Fortune Magazine, as an iPad owner I have lots of company. On release day last month 500,000 people bought an iPad 2. The International Data Corporation reports Apple sold 14 million of the original version. I can read the newspaper on my [...]
Right now – this week in fact – some Canadians are busy test-marketing the New York Times’ new pay-to-read system. It won’t roll out in the U.S. of A. until next week. The ink-stained and the bean counters at The Grey Lady have apparently worked out some kind of balance between the flow of news [...]
The New York Times announced this week that they will start charging frequent users for their paper online. Good, I thought, who better to take the lead on this “monetizing” thing. Then a friend sent along a lecture by the editor of the Guardian newspaper who, to my surprise, thinks erecting a “pay wall” is [...]