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Entries categorized "Future of Books"
November 15, 2012
October 23, 2012
On tour in Brazil October 30 to November 12: Porto Alegre, Rio, Sao Paulo
I will be spending 2 weeks in Brazil, doing 5 speaking gigs, some workshops and many other meetings and get-togethers - really look forward to this!
Meet me in Porto Alegre BRAZIL at the Congress of Innovation Oct 30 / 31, or in Rio Nov 1-4, or Sao Paulo Nov 5-12:)) Some Context is here (Zerohora Newspaper). Don't miss this event on Nov 5 at the Museum of Sound in Sao Paulo; and if you are into advertising and marketing join me for the APG's annual convention in Sao Paulo on Nov 12 (see video below). Ping me if you want to meet up!
*** You can download some of my essays in Portuguese as well as some recent press coverage here (public dropbox folder) ****
From Zerohora: (english-kinda translation by Google here)
"Em uma sociedade cada vez mais conectada pela internet, ganham força a colaboração e a troca de ideias como motores da inovação. Soluções adotadas até recentemente já não se aplicam mais. Quem alerta para essa mudança são dois estudiosos das transformações que a tecnologia vem impondo: o norte-americano Steven Johnson, professor da Universidade de Nova York e autor do best seller De onde vêm as boas ideias — a história natural da inovação, e o alemão Gerd Leonhard, fundador do instituto Green Futurist, também autor de obras como The Future Of Content, entre outras.
A dupla de pensadores do futuro estará participando do 5º Congresso Internacional de Inovação, promovido pela Fiergs, nos próximos dias 30 e 31, em Porto Alegre (informações e inscrições no site www.fiergs.org.br/inovacao2012 ). Johnson e Leonhard anteciparam algumas das ideias que discutirão no evento em entrevistas concedidas por e-mail a Zero Hora. Confira os principais trechos.
Gerd Leonhard — Fundador do instituto Green Futurist
ZH – Como o uso cada vez maior das redes sociais está mudando a forma como as pessoas interagem entre si e se relacionam com as empresas, enquanto consumidores?
Gerd Leonhard – Estamos nos tornando uma sociedade conectada. Em alguns casos, tanto “compartilhamento” e transparência poderá acabar com nossa privacidade, mas, de uma maneira geral, esta nova era traz mais benefícios. Consequências claras disso são um aumento radical do poder dos consumidores, maior transparência política e declínio da corrupção, marketing mais honesto e publicidade mais útil. Deveríamos, aliás, descartar o termo mídias sociais porque não se trata apenas de mídia, mas de algo que chamo de Social OS (sistema operacional social). Cada empresa ou governo deverá se tornar conectado, aberto, transparente e engajado. Caso contrário, iremos ignorá-los.
ZH – Alguns críticos dizem que a internet tornou disponível um grande volume de informação, mas o uso que se faz desse conhecimento é superficial. O senhor concorda?
Leonhard – Em 1971, Marshall McLuhan disse que a aldeia global não é “quieta e harmoniosa”, mas tem dose considerável de barulho e caos. Não é questão de overdose de informação, mas de filtro. É aí que os jornalistas entram: não basta só conteúdo, é preciso contexto. Não se trata só de volume, mas de dar relevância aos fatos.
ZH – A internet já transformou a indústria musical e agora está mudando o cinema, a TV e o mercado literário. As corporações ligadas a esses ramos, porém, parecem não estar faturando como antes. As empresas terão de se habituar a ganhar menos nesta nova realidade?
Leonhard – Na era dos monopólios, as empresas estavam habituadas a margens de lucro fantásticas porque os consumidores não tinham escolha. De agora em diante, os preços por unidade de conteúdo estão caindo, em alguns casos, até 90% – veja o Netflix (serviço de vídeos online) x DVDs. As boas notícias são que mais pessoas podem ser alcançadas por meios digitais, os custos de distribuição são menores e a publicidade está se tornando digital rapidamente – nos próximos três a cinco anos, veremos 50% dos orçamentos publicitários – globalmente, uns US$ 600 bilhões – migrarem para meios digitais, móveis e sociais. Há grandes oportunidades, mas nada será como era 10 anos atrás.
ZH – Atualmente, a Apple é considerada a mais criativa e valiosa empresa do mundo. Essa posição conseguirá ser mantida?
Leonhard – Sou fã da Apple, mas essa visão de mundo extremamente centrada e controlada que a empresa tem não se sustentará. Eles terão mais uns bons cinco anos – a genialidade de Steve Jobs continuará a impulsioná-los nesse período. Startups surgem em toda parte, e a próxima Apple deverá começar a aparecer já em 2013.
ZH – Há quem aposte que o próximo grande embate no setor de tecnologia será entre Google e Facebook. Quem vencerá essa briga?
Leonhard – Há espaço suficiente para cinco ou seis Googles e Facebooks, assim, como hoje existe espaço para DHL, Fedex e outras empresas de correspondência. À medida em que o mundo está se tornando hiperconectado, será mais importante quais problemas as grandes companhias poderão resolver do que quanto elas irão faturar no próximo trimestre.
September 26, 2012
September 03, 2012
For my readers in Brazil and Portugal: Conteúdo 2.0: a ‘proteção’ está no modelo de negócio
Thanks to Paula Neves and Flavio Gut
Gerd Leonhard: Conteúdo 2.0: ‘proteção’ está no modelo de negócio (Content 2.0: protection is in the business model) e não na tecnologia (pensamentos sobre o futuro da venda de conteúdo).
Abastecido pelas agitações na indústria da música e, finalmente, com a transformação muito rápida dos livros para o formato digital, há bastante debate em torno do fato das pessoas compartilharem habitualmente isto é, redistribuírem conteúdo digital sem que os usuários paguem por isso. Como se pode monetizar o conteúdo se a cópia é gratuita? Essa pergunta é uma questão chave em todos os sentidos, seja com a música, com livros digitais, noticiários, editoração, TV ou filmes.
Há o medo, claro, de que a partir do momento que um item digital foi comprado por uma pessoa, ele pode ser facilmente encaminhado para qualquer um se estiver num formato aberto, assim reduzindo significantemente a possibilidade de que outra pessoa pague dinheiro real por ele também (claro que o mesmo também é verídico para conteúdo digital supostamente trancado ou protegido – só demora um pouco mais). Não ter mais controle sobre a distribuição = não ter mais dinheiro. Certo?
Read more here
Check out my Kindle book 'The Future of Content'
July 19, 2012
May 17, 2012
Words of Wisdom from the World E-Reading Congress 2012 (good review of my talk and preso)
Roger Tagholm at Publishing Perspectives just published a nice review of the World eReading Congress in London, on Tuesday, where I had the pleasure of doing the opening keynote. The 6MB low-res PDF can be downloaded via this link: Download Ereading congress london gerd Leonhard (note: this is quick version, better resolution soon on Slideshare).
Here are the best snippets from Roger's review (and the rest of it is a good overview, as well!)
By Roger Tagholm
"Access not ownership, relationships not transactions and concerns over who owns the channel to market – these were some of the themes of the second World E-Reading Congress which began in London on Monday. Once again, organizers Terrapin had assembled a powerful line-up of speakers who provided a one-stop take on what is happening in the digital space. From “haptic technology” (from the Greek Haptikos, “pertaining to the sense of touch”) to “lean back” readers, this was also the place to get a jargon update and phrase fix.
The View from a Futurist
Media Futurist Gerd Leonhard kicked things off. He believes the debate will soon be about access, not ownership and said that “for those over 30 it’s very hard to understand this switch. There will be some ownership, but it won’t grow. With music, iTunes sales are flat, but streaming is growing. It will happen with books. A Spotify for books will come. If a student wants 300 books, he’ll buy a three-year subscription”. Small examples of that already exist, but Leonhard means on a mass scale, such as that being contemplated in Brazil “where the government is looking to buy 100 million devices for students so they don’t have to buy the physical books”.
He believes there is more to the future than walled gardens and that “humans need meaning, not just cool technology. In the end, meaning is money. Apple has meaning, even though it is a totally walled garden — an oligopoly, a cult.” During the next three to five years he thinks we will see telemedia convergence. “The telecoms industry will realize that it will have to make deals with ISP operators to sell content — so that if you buy this SIM card, for example, you can get ten books.
“For the consumer, access to content will become much cheaper. We cannot force the consumer to pay the same for digital as physical. Technology owners reads more, so why penalize them? We need to innovate now to keep them.”
Sharing, he maintained, should be “non-negotiable. Sharing does not create economic damage.” Publishers must engage with their customers; attitudes to piracy must be rethought (“piracy happens when motivation meets opportunity”); and publishers must build value around content “because payment works if the context is right — if there is a reason, people will pay.”
Added note: "Duncan Edwards, President and CEO of Hearst Magazines International, took an entirely different view on pricing. “We have discovered that, because of the ease of use, people are prepared to pay as much — or even more — for the digital versions of our magazines.”
Really? Not sure that maybe that have just discovered their own desire to get as much as before, and found some willing fans - rest assured, this won't last. Look at iTunes and the music industry:) People will not continue to buy songs for €1 every time they are interested. Unsustainable, imho:=)
December 06, 2011
How to Capitalise On 21st Century Content Economics…
Here is my short letter via the Terrapinn blog announcing my opening keynote speech at the World eReading Summit in London, May 15/16, 2012.
"I am a longtime commentator on how the digital, mobile and social-media revolution has left Publishers reeling and in a state of total change or even disruption. This is a call to action to transform your business to embrace and conquer the digital age. Failure to do so will mean inevitable friction, market confusion and possibly a dysfunctional content ecosystem, when on the other hand you could stand to profit from long term revenue generating opportunities.
It is often said that where attention flows money follows (*Kevin Kelly kk.org), but the question is how, where and when to convert them. Today, digital natives are viewers, users, followers, friends, co-creators, co-producers or crowd-sourced collaborators, all-in-one. Going forward, data is becoming the new oil, and understanding, analysing, predicting and staying ahead of your ‘connected consumers’ is quickly becoming a MUST for your business in 2012 and beyond!
So far, technological content protection measures have not been successful. Instead, future ‘protection’ will need to come from the business models and from social cohesion. Delivering tangible value and inventing new free, freemium, feels-like-free models will be crucially important. Just look at Skype, Spotify, Amazon and the undisputed master of ‘free’ – Google. You need to asses the role ‘free’ will play in your business. How will you monetize your content and which new and innovative revenue generating concepts will transform the commercial prospects of your business? Yes, methods of monetizing content are fragmented, but also much more powerful, immediate and liquid than ever. This industry, this transitional period and the World e-Reading Congress 2012 are all key opportunities to harness your digital footprint and develop strategies that will pay dividends in solid revenue. I look forward to meeting you all at the World e-Reading Congress next May.”
Gerd Leonhard, CEO, The Futures Agency – Opening Keynote Speaker 2012.
October 24, 2011
Announcing my new Kindle book "The Future of Content"
Today is a very big day for me. My new Kindle book "The Future of Content" just went online at Amazon, and is already gaining a lot of traction. You can view a very short video greeting about the book on my GerdTube channel (Youtube:)
Of course I would be very happy if you would consider buying the book for yourself (only $3.90, Kindle-only) but beyond that it would be really great if you could help me spread the word via rating and / or 'liking' the book on the Amazon.com page, tweeting about it or just forwarding this mail to some friends that may be interested.
As you probably know, I have published my last 3 books as free pdfs (which are quite popular) but really wanted to try something new with this book; after all reading on the Kindle is a much better experience than reading a PDF, and thus is, to quote Kevin Kelly, one of those "New Generatives" :)
"The future of content" will also be available in dead-tree-versions aka print, via my Lulu store, soon - please stay tuned. Happy reading!
Gerd Leonhard
(Media Futurist and CEO of The Futures Agency),
Basel / Switzerland
http://twitter.com/#!/gleonhard
My public Amazon / Kindle profile
(sharing all my book highlights there)
Update October 25 2011: this nice review may be helpful:
Increases brain power for content creators, October 25, 2011This review is from: The Future of Content (Kindle Edition)
"I challenge you to expand your brain and read this book. What Gerd Leonhard is always doing is informing the global brain (or the collective brain) in ways that help us all get where we're trying to go. He builds the buildings in front of us.
This collection points toward several compelling answers for content creators. As a writer who is already swimming in the changing currents of "content," I found it intensely informative. Leonhard shores up my courage to continue embracing a digital world without DRM, and ebook prices "for the masses." He makes the all-important concept of curation crystal clear. If you are providing any kind of content in print or on the web, it's relevant. If you want to stay on the front edge of content creation and publishing, it's basic. I'm making this book mandatory reading for my epublishing circles"
Amazon Kindle German Store
Amazon Kindle French Store
Amazon Kindle UK Store
ABOUT "THE FUTURE OF CONTENT"
Futurist Gerd Leonhard has been writing about the future of content i.e. music, film, TV, books, newspapers, games etc, since 1998. He has published 4 books on this topic, 2 of them on music (The Future of Music, with David Kusek, and Music 2.0). For the past 10 years Leonhard has been deeply involved with many clients in various sectors of the content industry, in something like 17 countries, and it’s been a great experience, he says. “I have learned a lot, I have listened a lot, I have talked even more (most likely:) and I think I have grown to really understand the issues that face the content industries - and the creators, themselves - in the switch from physical to digital media.”
This Kindle book is a highly curated collection of the most important essays and blog posts Leonhard has written on this topic, and even though some of it was written as far back as 2007 - “I believe it still holds water years later. I have tried to only include the pieces that have real teeth. Please note that the original date of each piece is shown here in order to allow for contextual orientation.” Leonhard’s intent to publish this via the amazing Amazon Kindle platform, exclusively, and at a very low price, is to make these ideas and concepts as widely available as possible while still trying to be an example of what digital, paperless distribution can look like, going forward.
February 09, 2011
New video: my talk at MidemNet Academy 2011 on Innovation: music industry learnings from other industries
This is a good one - loads of information in here, and pretty well recorded. More details and PDF with all slides, here. Enjoy and spread the word. Subscribe to my video RSS feed, here, if you want (download all videos directly to iTunes, watch on your iPod etc).
June 02, 2010
New Video Interview from the INMA World Congress in NY: the Future of Content & News: ECOsystem not Egosystems
Just found this
- some good soundbites of my favorite memes - well worth the 3 mins 50 secs;) . The slideshow from my keynote at the International News Media Marketing event, itself, is here.
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May 06, 2010
The latest revision of my book "Friction is Fiction" is now available on Lulu and Amazon
I just did my 4th edit, and am now offering a really cool, low-cost version (b&w inside) via Lulu and Amazon. The PDF download is priced at $3.99 for a limited time. Take a look - nothing that keeps you from buying multiple copies btw;). If you want the dead-tree version Amazon.com sells it, as well (but I prefer if you bought from Lulu.com). My other Lulu books are here btw (Music 2.0 etc).
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March 22, 2010
Immediate Media Futures: my preso at the Guardian CMS: data is the new oil; forcing to buy is like... forcing to love
I really enjoyed being at the Guardian's Changing Media Summit in London, last week. Not only is the Guardian one of my favorite online news-sources but I also got a chance to talk to Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales, during the event, and I met tons of great and inspiring people - London is always a goldmine for that. So, as promised, below is the slideshare version of my presentation as well as the direct link to the low-resolution PDF download; feel free to download and re-use as you like (under the usual creative commons, attribution / non-commercial license).
Some of the bottom lines from my presentation: 1) in content and media, we are rapidly moving from just selling 'stuff' i.e. copies of content, to selling services and experiences 2) EGOsystems are rapidly becoming ECOsystems; i.e. because we are all (well, most;) connected now we must create and implement mutually beneficial business models that are based on market-making and revenue sharing 3) Trying to enforce control when trust is crucial is a very bad idea, i.e. the quickest path to failure in this new content economy 4) In the content industries, the concept of mostly 'selling copies' is becoming 'toast' - "New Generatives" based on access must urgently be created and delivered 5) The future is in selling -and bundling - access, not (just) copies, and the ecology of selling access is totally different - we must get used to it! 6) The content 2.0 economy will work only in conjunction with a new approach to what telecom companies, ISPs and mobile operators will and can do, going forward. The creation of a new telemedia ecosystem is needed to really solve the key issues that the Internet has made even more urgent to solve 7) All content is shifting to the cloud, and Media As A Service (MaaS) will become a standard, very soon 8) therefore, as I have said many times before, data is the new oil (!!) 9) Value, Reason, Price, Ease of Payment and Packaging are the main success factors in selling content online 10) Most business models in the content industry will be based on a constantly changing mix of 'I pay, you pay, they pay' 11) A message to Murdoch et al: Forcing to Buy is like Forcing to Love!
Download Future of Media Guardian CMS Public Gerd Leonhard Low Res blog (3.8MB PDF)
Immediate Media Futures (Presentation at Guardian Changing Media Summit 3/18 2010)
View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard.
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February 17, 2010
Video: the Wired Magazine Tablet Application (Demo), my comments
Everyone in the content industry should watch this demo, below, of what the Wired guys are working on - it's fantastic food for thought; exciting stuff. And just gotta love Scott's Matrix-dude-like, gravely voice in beginning;). Well done, guys.
4 'IF' comments: 1) If the publishers can and will provide very addictive, immersive and interactive experiences at LITERALLY no-brainer prices or via bundled services (big 'if' here) 2) If the media companies and 'rights-holders' decide to get rid of all that crippling and legitimate user-insulting DRM and other technical protection models (remember, Protection is in the Business Model) 3) If the advertisers and brands are really going to fast-track their support for these kinds of new platforms 4) If everybody can finally resist the temptation to make this yet another 'walled garden' competition, albeit with prettier flowers....THEN indeed, we just may have something here. I'll be watching (+).
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February 12, 2010
Meet me at the INMA World Congress in NY (April 27): Keynote on how to monetize content in the next 3 years
I am delighted to have been invited to hold a keynote at the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) prestigious World Congress in New York City, on April 26-28, 2010.
Here is what I will talk about (Tues, April 27, 9am): The Future of News, Publishing, and Media: How to Monetize Content In the Next 3 Years. "The challenge of how to monetize content in a digitally networked and always-on world is growing more severe by the minute, driven by constant advances in technology, smarter devices and faster connectivity, as well as by drastic changes in consumer behavior, worldwide. Can those analog dollars be converted to a much larger number of digital quarters and dimes? Where will those next-generation revenue streams come from, and how can you fast-track them? Can and should copies be controlled, online, and if not, how do you “compete with free”? How can “selling access to copies” be turned into real money, not just page-views and social media buzz? What is the role of advertising, mobile device makers, the ISPs, telecoms and mobile network operators, and how will publishers position themselves in this new “telemedia” ecosystem?" Hope to see you there!
Contact Me 
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February 09, 2010
From Hardbacks to Hot Bytes: the Future of Books & Publishing (March 19 event in London)
Today, I am delighted to announce a very special event on "The Future of Books & Publishing in a connected World", on March 19th, in London. I have teamed up with Clive Rich (Rich Futures / Olswang) and Dominic Pride (the SoundHorizon) to jointly present a powerful, conclusive and inspiring program (8.30 am to 12 noon), geared towards Senior Executives, strategists and decision makers from all sectors of the book publishing industry, including the creatives, i.e. the authors / writers and their agents and representatives.
The Future of Books will present C-Level publishing executives with the real (and so far unspoken) learnings from the music industry, a business which has been in transition since the days of Napster 1.0 and the first MP3 players. The speakers will present their views on what book publishers need to understand, believe and do, to take advantage of this dramatic shift from selling copies of printed books to selling access to a digital book (or both). Clive, Dominic and me will be making one presentation each, centering around several key questions: 1) what can and should really be learned from the music industry as far as adopting web-native business models is concerned? What really happened during the last decade in digital music, and why, and how could book publishers avoid a very similar situation? Is protection in technology or is it in the business model? 2) What are those 'immediate-future' business models for what we like to call Books 2.0, what exactly are the most likely new revenue streams and how can those real "New Generatives" be nurtured? 3) What needs to change so that a win-win-win future for publishers, authors and consumers can be constructed and realized?
In addition, we will try and address questions such as:
- How can publishers respond to these rapidly emerging scenarios? Will books become "free" and ubiquitous on all digital networks? If customers continue to pay, will authors and their publishers get digital pennies instead of pounds?
- As reading becomes another part of new retail environments and other services, how will it be taken to market? And what are the additional services and usages which will form part of the new value proposition, and ultimately new revenue streams?
- Publishers need to act now to ensure that they continue to play a valuable role in fostering talent, nurturing careers and in providing great content to readers
Dominic Pride: Founder and Principal Consultant, The Sound Horizon. Dominic founded The Sound
Horizon in 2009 to serve the growing number of companies wishing to create and maintain digital
strategies, successfully manage innovation and create new service concepts. Key clients for The Sound
Horizon include Nokia Media & Games and City Showcase. Prior to The Sound Horizon, Dominic was
Product Marketing Director for Shazam, where he spearheaded the company’s expansion into branded,
application-based services on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows and Nokia platforms, and helped to
position the company as one of the planet’s prime music discovery brands. At Orange / France Telecom
Group, he drove the international market development of mobile and convergent music services and
played a key role in DRM-free music.
» www.thesoundhorizon.com
» www.twitter.com/thesoundhorizon
Clive Rich: Principal, Rich Futures and Consultant to Olswang. At Olswang, Clive works closely with
the Firm's music and new media practices. Clive has a 25 year history of excellence in the Music
business as a lawyer, Board Director and Strategic Director. At Sony BMG Music UK Clive created and
ran the “Futures Division”, responsible for all Sony BMG’s new and developing business - including its
digital music business, TV programming and brand partnerships. This included developing the business
interests of Syco, SonyBMG's TV joint venture with Simon Cowell. Prior to that he held senior business
affairs positions with BMG, and chaired PPL and the BPI Rights Committee. Through Rich Futures he has
since provided business affairs services to, among others, the Royal Opera House, MySpace, SanDisk and
the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board. He also assists in the business development of a
number of emerging digital media companies in which he is a shareholder.
» www.richfutures.co.uk
Olswang London is generously hosting this event; registration is free-of-charge but invitation-only, and limited to senior execs from the book publishing business. If you are interested in participating please contact me directly (and soon - space is limited).
Prior to the event, check out the Books2.0 Twitterfall, and peruse the related #books20 hashtag tweets. Download the event flyer.
When: Friday 19 March 8.30am - 12.00pm
Where: Olswang LLP, 90 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6XX (click here for a map)
Below is our 'official' video trailer for this event, with all 3 speakers commenting on what we will talk about. A conversation with Dominic Pride and myself can be viewed below, as well. More videos are available on our Youtube channel.
Gerd Leonhard
Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, some say Iconoclast | Heretic, CEO TheFuturesAgency, Visiting Prof FDC Brazil, Green Futurist
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