Books

Philip M. Parker, a marketing professor at INSEAD (the European Institute of Business Administration), has written and patented a system that uses an algorithm to automatically compile data into book form. Between his works and those of his research group (ICON Group International), he has over 900,000 books currently for sale on Amazon. More than a smart search engine, his system only requires a few minutes or a few hours to scan the databases relevant to any given topic and organize that data into a technical report. Next stop? Romance novels.  Read More

Bookshelves have a basic design flaw. When books are neatly arranged for storage and display, they tend to tip over and lay on the shelf in confused disarray. This vexing problem has been solved by the Korea-based design group monocomplex, whose Lean/Bookshelf uses the force of gravity to keep things in order – no bookends required.  Read More

The design of both chairs and bookcases generally follow a certain pattern. Chairs need to accommodate the user, support their weight, and provide a certain level of comfort. Bookcases need to have plenty of room for books, which usually sit upright and facing outwards. In order to combine the two, some of these conventions have to be played with ever so slightly. The Bookworm does just that.  Read More

While few people would describe themselves as bibliophiles, most people like curling up with a good book. While tablets and dedicated eReaders, such as the Kindle and Nook have proven tremendously popular with readers, there is still a percentage that prefer the look and feel of a printed book and would rather spend some time hunting around a bricks and mortar store than browsing an online shopfront. It is these readers at which the Biblio-Mat – a vending machine for dispensing used books – is targeted.  Read More

In Myst, the successful graphic adventure video game released by Cyan back in 1993, linking books are written by the D'Ni people using a process known simply as "the Art." The purpose of these linking books is to transport people to other worlds known to the D'Ni as Ages. Linking books play an integral part in Myst and its sequels, and now a working replica of one has been created. Not "working" in the sense that it can transport the reader to other ages, but working in the sense that the Cyan games can be played using this real-life version of the linking book.  Read More

Almost ten years after the project began, a new public library described as "a magnificent shop window for knowledge, information and culture that unambiguously promotes the idea of reading day and night" has been officially opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands. Designed by MVRDV (which was the cause of some controversy a couple of years back when plans were released for its Cloud skyscraper), Book Mountain in Spijkenisse near Rotterdam features a huge glass and timber outer shell that's home to a five-story, tiered pyramid-like structure with thousands of books stacked on shelves that snake around the outside of its brick walls.  Read More

While the Kindle and Nook are busy adding HD displays and more storage, at least one company is focusing on making eReaders as portable as possible. German developer, txtr, recently revealed the Beagle, which it claims is the smallest eReader in the world, with a 5-inch screen and a weight of 128 grams (about 4.5 ounces).  Read More

Science fiction has lost one of its great heroes. It was revealed today that widely revered author Ray Bradbury passed away in his Los Angeles home on Tuesday at the age of 91. Bradbury's groundbreaking works, such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, influenced the science fiction genre as a whole and placed him among the ranks of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark.  Read More

Luminous Airplanes by Paul La Farge is a book that tries to answer the question of how to adapt the traditional paper and pasteboard book to the digital age. How do you take what is essentially a static collection of words and turn it into something open ended and interactive? How do you give it a new digital dimension? Mr. La Farge's answer is to turn his novel about a content manager returning to his boyhood home in the Catskills into an experiment in hypertexting or, as he prefers to call it, "immersive" text.  Read More