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"Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List, providing a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall." 2. They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of "electronic narcotics." 5. If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. 18. Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf. 27. Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for "save," a telephone for "phone," and a snail mail envelope for "mail" have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens. 35. Probably the most tribal generation in history, they despise being separated from contact with their similar-aged friends. 47. Before they purchase an assigned textbook, they will investigate whether it is available for rent or purchase as an e-book. 56. They have always enjoyed school and summer camp memories with a digital yearbook. 71. Despite being preferred urban gathering places, two-thirds of the independent bookstores in the United States have closed for good during their lifetimes.

Gabe Rivera, founder of news aggregator Techmeme. Credit: Mark Milian/Los Angeles Times.Don't tell News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, but technology news aggregator Techmeme is raking in profits. Rather than visiting the front pages of every newspaper or choosing a few out of brand loyalty, as Murdoch hopes consumers will do, aggregators put all of the Web's big headlines of the moment onto one page. There's no shortage in news aggregation. General news readers might go to Google News, a computer-generated engine that pulls in more than 25,000 newspaper websites and authoritative blogs. Left-leaning political consumers might visit the Huffington Post; right-leaning...

Newspapers Generating More Readers Per Copy - 04/16/2010

Speculation on the future of journalism and the possibility of user-generated content to gain local news stories.

If your novel isn't by someone famous, won't receive a star in Publishers Weekly, or can't generate a slavish "At Home" featurette in That Other East Coast Newspaper, how do you get someone in the media to notice it? Swag, of course.

Apple touts its latest sales figures for the buzz-generating tablet and acknowledges difficulty in keeping up with demand. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

Amazing numbers from China.  50% of the population under 29 read e-books (generally on cell phones)

This is article is worth looking at because it is a counterpoint to claims about younger generations being hyper-technical. This author cites Jeff Gomez's book Print is Dead and asks us to re-examine our assumptions about people's abilities and access to high-tech resources. It also warns us against adapting systems too quickly to this 'one-size-fits-all' digital system that might not meet the needs of a group because the group may be more diverse than we think.

Can Google continue to "Not be evil" and dominate the global market for search and user-generated content (YouTube, Blogger). Discussed how Google balances among free speech and privacy, the censorship demands of governments and its financial interests.

HarperCollins announced this morning that it is closing its Collins division and integrating its operations within different businesses in the General Books Group. As a result, Steve Ross, president and publisher of Collins, and Lisa Gallagher, senior v-p, and publisher of William Morrow, are leaving the company. In addition to closing Collins, CEO Brian Murray issued a memo today saying that despite efforts to avoid layoffs, a reduction in the workforce will be necessary.

We should know later today about the next generation of Kindle, but most interesting to me in this article is the mention that Kindle titles will be available for cell phones. This makes the iPhone a competitive product and greatly expands the market.

A Firefox extension for creating user-generated content mashups.

Technology research firm IDC makes forecasts for 2010. Also, a look at Apples new touchscreen tablet computer, or iPad, that will have an 8-10inch screen. The iPad will be ideal for watching movies, surfing the Web, playing games, and reading books. It will be general-purpose, unlike Amazon's single-pupose Kindle reader and may give the Kindle a run for its money.

Generous donations from the Knight Foundation have helped the news site MinnPost.com to get its bearings. Now it is trying to achieve business viability.

The future of e-publishing? It's impressive how sophisticated this technology has become.

Possible generation-gap-type issues for digital educational publishing for colleges: "Today, the college assumes all students not only have computer skills but a plethora of high-tech devices and services. The class schedule and registration procedure is entirely online-even if you're in the registrar's office....In the first class, the professor handed out her e-mail address and the URL where the syllabus could be found--instead of her office phone number and a copy of the syllabus. Unfortunately, the college sites are full of graphics and animations and download very slowly on my dial-up connection. (Even if I could afford a broadband connection, my ISP doesn't provide it in my area.)" "At least one exercise in each chapter requires accessing the publisher's textbook Web site. Many of these exercises could just as easily be put on the computer disk also sold-at an increased profit (I used to work for a textbook-preparation company)-with the text....Again, a dial-up connection won't download the videos. The audio files are .mp3; I can't open them, don't have the skill to know what program I need, and have no access to free technical support....So once every chapter I head for either the heavily used public library or the equally heavily used computer lab in the college's suburban learning center (branch campus)--and hope that a computer is available."

An interesting take on online content, algorithmically aggregated content, and user-generated content.