MediaWeek (V7, N27): Childrens Books, Kodak Moment, Education Technology, Cengage Pricing +More

The Atlantic magazine goes along to the New York Public library to review an exhibit there on Children's books (Atlantic):

The exhibit also reveals that the books that matter to children are not always the same as the ones adults think should matter. Marcus cites Edward Stratemeyer, the turn-of-the-century author and entrepreneur who launched The Bobbsey Twins, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and other commercial favorites. An adulatory 1934 profile in Fortune magazine said that children's book publishing had been a sleepy backwater until Stratemeyer proved it could be big business, "and he did so by publishing book after book that the critics of the day thought mediocre but that children loved," Marcus says. Likewise, The Poky Little Puppy, which is on view, was one of the original 1942 Little Golden Books that the librarians of the day thought were not artistic enough to be worthy of children—but that kids loved anyway.

The genre has come a long way over four centuries. "Early children's books tended to be solemn and purposeful," Marcus says. "They were created to teach a moral lesson of some kind and they spoke to the child from on high. This approach worked well enough for groups with a fundamentalist view of life—the Puritans for instance—and with certain basic lessons that needed to be communicated as early as possible. But other kinds of books for children began to appear by the mid-1700s. Under the influence of John Locke and his observations about how children learn and grow, this new kind of children's book showed a greater awareness of children's interests and capabilities."

Another look at the fall of Kodak from Kenny Suleimanagich reporting in Medium:

Analysts have pointed to a number of factors in Kodak’s fall, from general mismanagement to poor financial decisions. Its divestiture of Eastman Chemical stripped billions in cash flow that might have propped it up as it struggled to make the transition to digital. Others point to antitrust suits that hampered the company for decades and opened the door to rivals. Some of those, notably Fuji, were able to manage the analog-to-digital conversion successfully.

To the people in the trenches, like DeMoulin, the failure always comes back to the same key error: Kodak, they say, suffered from a fundamental breakdown between, on one side the engineers and tinkerers — many of whom saw the digital future clearly and fought to bring it forth — and on the other the top management, whose interest remained fixed on molecules and the miracle of near-monopoly profits.

DeMoulin told me about watching a team in 1980 demonstrate a scanner-printer that converted film images to digital. “That’s when I thought: This digital thing is going to happen,” he recalls. His place at the helm of the professional-imaging division allowed him to autonomously invest in developing a digital still camera, and he says he pursued that vision, despite lukewarm support from the company.

The Economist takes a look at how technology is disrupting education (Economist):

The main reason for optimism, though, is the evidence coming in from classrooms. Adoption of education technology in America’s state-funded schools was given a boost by a requirement to measure pupil performance in the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by George W. Bush. Online learning was first picked up in some surprising places, including rural Idaho, where schools were looking for ways to expand the limited curriculums they were able to offer. Barack Obama’s Race to the Top initiative gave a further shove, making billions of dollars available to states willing to innovate. At the beginning of June his administration announced a plan to give 99% of America’s students access to high-speed internet within five years.

Those schools that have pressed on have done rather well. Rocketship, a chain of seven charter schools in San Jose, California, blends traditional teaching with at least an hour a day of individualised online instruction in mathematics, literacy and comprehension. Its low-income pupils outperform those living in the wealthiest districts in the state. Over on the east coast Mark Edwards, superintendent of the Mooresville graded school district in North Carolina, introduced personalised learning on laptops for all pupils aged ten and over in 2009. His district is now one of the state’s leading performers, despite being close to the bottom in funding per pupil. Between 2009 and 2012 the share of its pupils considered proficient in maths, science and reading rose from 73% to 88%.

The Chronicle of Higher Education covers the Cengage bankruptcy but in the comments was this from "Fyzprof" on textbook pricing (Chron):

See the article by Peter Roll, "Introductory Physics Textbooks", Physics Today, Jan. 1968, p. 63. The article lists 50 texts, ranging in price from $5.50 to $14.75 in 1968. This translates to roughly $36 - $100 in 2013 dollars, according to an online calculator that uses the Consumer Price Index. Since this is the high end of the "trade book" range, I would consider it reasonable for textbooks.

In the 1960's, science and math books tended to be more expensive than texts in other fields due to the complex manual typesetting of equations and diagrams. Everything is electronic today, so I don't know why the prices are still so high. A Cengage text for a one-semester advanced course (3rd ed.) that I thought was expensive at $16.50 in the 1970's now retails for $347.95 (7th ed.). Yes, three hundred(!) and fifty bucks. The publisher's rental fee for the fall 2013 semester is $120. A Wiley text that cost $13.50 in 1968 (1st ed.) now costs $247.99 (10th ed.) for the regular version and $257.99 for the extended version. The electronic version is $89 and requires that the student download and install proprietary software. The electronic version may or may not stay active throughout the entire multi-semester course sequence. It is frustrating to have proper texts available, but not be able to use them.

The publisher and bookstore reps are always extremely helpful and have been very good to me through the years. I appreciate that very much. Unfortunately, the astronomical prices effectively sabotage my courses. I recently had a class revolt on the first day of the term because of a $180 paperback for the one-semester course. I used that book for over ten years, but I can't use it any more. Its current list price is $271.95, and even the previous edition, used, is well north of $150. Students generally prefer paper books, which are easier to use and sell. Many electronic versions are non-transferable and expire within a year. Students who might otherwise keep their books for future reference cannot do so. They find it necessary to sell their books from one semester in order to raise the money for next semester's books. To save money, students order their books online. The term is half over by the time the books arrive. In the meantime, the students fall behind and make excuses for not completing their assignments. Even if students don't revolt openly, the resentment is there and that makes it difficult to establish a good rapport with the class. This whole textbook situation just doesn't make for a good learning experience.

From twitter this week:
'Publishing has gone mad': literary world rocked by moves at HarperCollins and Penguin Standard
The Guardian Literary clock - add a quote Guardian
Newsstand in Brooklyn subway station becomes pop-up shop for books and zines PW
Russell Brand: what I made of Morning Joe and Question Time Guardian

And in sports, how great was Andy Murray? (Guardian)

Cengage Declares Bankruptcy as Expected

Cengage has submitted a per-arranged bankruptcy filing which will wipe $4Billion in debt off its balance sheet and in the process enable them to "better position the company for long term growth" according to their press release.  The wipe-out leaves the company with approximately $1.8Billion in debt but it will be the crippling debt payments, loan requirements and covenants that will do most to free up the company to do what the private equity investors said they would do in the first place which is to push the company into producing more digital and on-line products.

The company has been aggressively re-populating its' executive suite and under Michael Hansen who joined as CEO from Elsevier last year, the company now has an almost entirely new executive management team.  It would be expected that this new team will have more flexibility in developing new products and expanding their Cengage MindTap (which still sounds like a medical procedure) products.  When the original Apax led private equity deal was done, there were promises made that Cengage would begin to haul back the advantages that Pearson and McGrawHill had built up in their respective investments in digital learning; however, reality bites, and the debt coupled with a fast slow down in the education market conspired against them.  It is likely that insiders at the company knew this day was inevitable at least two or three years ago as the market slowed and their cash flow became less buoyant.  That's only to imply that the market did not grow sufficiently to match their projections and allow them space to grow the business.

Perhaps this is finally the end of stupid publisher ticks with debt.

Here is the Cengage press release and the text is below:

Stamford, CT – July 2, 2013 – Cengage Learning, Inc., a leading educational content, software and services company for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide, announced today an agreement with certain of its lenders to restructure its balance sheet and significantly reduce its approximately $5.8 billion of outstanding debt to better position the Company for long‐term growth and profitability. In order to implement the financial restructuring, Cengage Learning and all of its domestic wholly‐owned subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York.

In conjunction with the Chapter 11 filing, Cengage Learning entered into a restructuring support agreement with an ad hoc committee of first lien lenders who hold approximately $2 billion of the Company’s first lien debt. In this agreement, the lenders committed to support a restructuring transaction that will eliminate more than $4 billion in debt from Cengage Learning’s balance sheet and position the Company to implement management’s strategic business plan.

Cengage Learning maintains substantial cash balances and expects to generate positive cash flow, and therefore does not need nor intend to obtain debtor‐in‐possession (DIP) financing. In addition, the Company has reached an agreement with its secured lenders that permits it to continue to use cash flow from operations to continue to fund the business and meet obligations in the normal course during the restructuring process.

Michael Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of Cengage Learning, said, “The decisive actions we are taking today will reduce our debt and improve our capital structure to support our long‐term business strategy of transitioning from traditional print models to digital educational and research materials. Cengage Learning began an operational transformation six months ago under the leadership of our new senior management team, which is executing bold plans to enhance our customer relationships and introduce innovative digital and print products and solutions to meet our customers’ evolving needs.

“A more appropriately‐sized capital structure, along with our established product lines, leading market positions and strong customer relationships, will position us well to accelerate our growth and take advantage of business opportunities in the education and research space. We are grateful for the support of our key financial stakeholders for our business plan and restructuring. We will continue normal business operations, with no expected disruptions to our relationships with our employees, customers, business partners, or vendors. Our customers can be confident that they will continue to receive the same high quality content, products and industry leading services and support they are accustomed to without interruption,” concluded Mr. Hansen.

Cengage Learning plans to make timely payment to vendors for goods and services provided to the Company during its restructuring in the normal course of business. It is anticipated that employees will continue to receive their usual pay and health and welfare benefits.

Cengage Learning has filed customary “First Day Motions” with the Bankruptcy Court, which, if granted, will help ensure a smooth transition to Chapter 11 without business disruption and will minimize impact on its employees, customers, authors, content providers, business partners, vendors and suppliers. The motions are expected to be addressed promptly by the Court. Cengage Learning plans to make timely payment to vendors for goods and services provided to the Company during its restructuring in the normal course of business. The Company fully anticipates that employees will continue to receive their usual pay and health and welfare benefits and is confident that the Court will approve its request to do so.

MediaWeek (V7, N 26) Digg Reader, Quantified Self, Chicago Public Maker Fair, Music Data Miners + More

Developing the Digg Reader replacement for Google Reader (Wired)

McLaughlin saw a blog post in the Fall of 2012 speculating that Google Reader, choked of resources, was shutting down. He sent a teasing note to a friend at Google offering to “take it off their hands.” To his surprise, he got a serious reply. Google, his friend replied, had concluded that it couldn’t sell the name, user data, or code base (which would only run on their servers) and so there was nothing to actually buy.

The following February, McLaughlin, now full-time at Digg, bumped into this same pal at a TED conference. The friend warned him to act fast if he really did want to develop a Reader. “He said ‘I’m not telling you anything, but we’re not going to keep this thing around forever and maybe you want to have something ready by the end of the year.”

But instead of year’s end Google announced plans to shutter Google Reader on July 1. That same night, Digg put up a blog post announcing that it was going to build a replacement. The Internet went crazy.

The idea of Digg building a Reader replacement just resonated. The revamped Digg.com was already popular, especially in news and developer circles. It had a reputation for scrumptious headlines and kickers, courtesy of editorial director David Weiner, a HuffPo alum. Its tech team, led by CTO Michael Young had already shown serious backend chops, which meant people didn’t doubt its ability to pull off building a reader. The same minimalist sensibility that design director Justin Van Slembrouck had given the front page of Digg would translate well to the new project, and, hell: Its GM Jake Levine might even be able to figure out a way to monetize it in ways Google never had.

I like the idea of selling my 'quantified self' rather than allow just about anyone to come and take it. There will be a market in personal information. You watch. (Wired)

The much-publicized Scanadu Scout, which is slated to ship in the first quarter of 2014, is the result of his last two years of work. The puck-like device is a sleek vital-signs recorder – tracking everything from blood pressure, body temperature and heart rhythm via myriad sensors. The gizmo then beams your vital signs to an app loaded on your phone or tablet, where it’s yours to keep forever. De Brouwer designed the Scanadu Scout to be a DIY doctor’s office, minus the frustration, endless waiting, and lack of empowerment that’s often associated with the health care system.

Wired sat down with De Brouwer in our offices in San Francisco to discuss what it’s been like to delve into the health care space and how the Quantified Self movement will change medicine forever.

Chicago Public library is going all innovative (Press Release)

The Chicago Public Library is opening the CPL Innovation Lab at the Harold Washington Library Center. Already used by a variety of industries from retail to banking to universities, innovation labs offer organizations a place to test new ideas for services, programs and products. The third floor space at the Chicago Public Library will allow CPL to quickly experiment with new ideas and approaches in order to be more customer focused and able to adapt to the community’s changing needs.

The first innovation experiment in the space is the Maker Lab, part of the growing movement of hands-on, collaborative learning environments in which people come together to share knowledge and resources to design, create and build items. CPL is the first large urban library to experiment with a maker space. Made possible with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the Chicago Public Library Foundation, the Maker Lab will be open to the public from July 8 through December 31, 2013. While a number of maker spaces exist in Chicago, this will be the first free maker space open to the public.

Created in partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry, the Library’s Maker Lab offers the public an introduction to technology and equipment which are enabling new forms of personal manufacturing and business opportunities. After the six month run, the Library will evaluate the project to determine the fit with the Library’s mission and the ability to bring the project, or elements of it, to a wider audience in the neighborhood branches.

The Lab will offer access to a variety of software such as Trimble Sketchup, Inkscape, Meshlab, Makercam and equipment including three 3D Printers, two laser cutters, as well as a milling machine and vinyl cutter.

In addition to Open Lab hours during which patrons can work with staff members to master new software and create personal projects, a variety of programs and workshops will be offered throughout the seven day schedule of the Maker Lab. Family workshops will be offered every Sunday afternoon to foster invention, creation and exploration of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), the focus of this year’s Summer Learning Challenge.

Cengage continue 'constructive discussions' about their financial future (press release):

Cengage Learning continues to be in constructive discussions with its key financial stakeholders about a comprehensive financial restructuring that would strengthen the Company’s balance sheet and position Cengage for longterm growth and success. Although Cengage Learning has substantial cash balances and continues to generate positive cash flow, it has elected to take advantage of grace periods and not make certain debt payments as these discussions continue. Our goal is to undertake a financial restructuring that will put Cengage Learning on a stronger financial footing and allow us to support our strategic growth plans and ongoing digital transformation.

Musicians do data mining (Economist)

It helps that Ms Keating performs alone, which cuts down costs. She has no band, no manager, and no entourage on the payroll. Instead she tends to tour with her son, her husband and a nanny; sometimes there is someone to sell merchandise. But much of her success can be attributed to her skills as a data miner (alongside her cello-playing). By digging through the analytics on her various social networks, she determines where her fans are and what songs they like. A music-sharing site like SoundCloud allows Ms Keating to see which countries yield the most clicks. SoundCloud also lets users leave comments on songs, so musicians can determine fan preferences and perhaps alter their set lists accordingly.

From the twitter;
Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life – review Guardian
Does Jane Austen deserve a place on our £10 notes? Guardian Mr Darcy - man with a fortune
Jennifer Lopez sparks controversy with show for Turkmenistan president Guardian  Jenny from the dictatorship
Russell Brand: what I made of Morning Joe and Question Time Guardian
Barnes & Noble Throws in Towel on Tablets. NYT