Why I don't use an eReader--and hopefully never will

There are several technologies that have changed my life.  The move to CCDs and digital photography revolutionized the photo business and enabled companies like Corbis, where I spent 8 years scanning film and building the huge digital collection.  Electrophotographic print devices like HP Indigo, Xerox iGen, and Canon CLC proved that you didn't have to use silver halide materials to create one-off image-intensive prints and paved the way for the mass personalization that is so prevalent today. The Internet changed forever how we do business, and the smartphone changed the style in which that business is done.

If I had tried to imagine what my work life today would be like back when I was running a professional photo lab in the 80's I don't think I would have come close.  Keeping an eye on Blurb's global print network means that I'm at various parts of the country and the world at any given time, and the sun never sets on places where we do business.  Questions and issues don't wait for regular business hours and have to be managed in real time.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that the business I'm in could not exist in it's current form without the free-flowing communication that mobile devices bring.

But there is a downside of course.  Since I am remote from Blurb's headquarters I'm on the phone a lot.  Always.  Every day.  And because of this I've lost my ability to have a non-business phone conversation without trying to figure out how to end it quickly.  Talking on the phone has become synonymous with work.

It's very much the same with things I read.  During the week I take all of my news on-line, but on the weekends I crave my paper New York Times.  I even save some parts of the Sunday times to read during the week so I can savor it a bit.

Reading anything on a screen puts me into "work mode".  It's a sickness that I can't kick, the bit of OCD that serves me well when dealing with business but puts me in exactly the wrong space if I want to read for pleasure.  That's why I don't have a Kindle or a Nook.  I do have an iPad but I use it for "consumable" reading and to keep the weight of what I carry from town to town at a minimum.

I know that eBooks are what most folks talk about and I'm excited to see the possibilities that exist to new authors that did not in the past when publishers held all of the cards.  But to me a "transmissive" experience equals work or research and a "reflective" one equates to reading on my own terms.

Technology has indeed changed my life quite a bit.  But I'm determined to not allow it to completely run my life.  And reading books with ink on paper is my small rejection of a completely digital world.

Uncoated paper options at Blurb

At Blurb we've been in the final stages of judging for the fourth annual Photography Book Now international juried book competition.  It's always an exciting time as we wait to find out who the winners are and have one more chance to review the thousands of fabulous entries.  The competition is great for the artists that have the opportunity to have their work reviewed by a top-notch group of judges. But it's really good for us as well as we get lots of valuable feedback on what our highly creative customers need.

This year the big deal is the addition of Blurb ProLine, offering those submitting work to stand out from the crowd with options on book papers, end sheets, and cover linens.  While all of these options have been widely used by PBN entrants, the judges were most struck by the addition of our ProLine Uncoated Paper.  Which leads to the question, "what exactly is the difference between coated and uncoated papers"?

In general, uncoated papers have a bit more of a "natural" feel to them. A bit toothy.  Like what you would expect stationary paper to feel like.  Coated papers basically fill in the gaps in the natural fibers with a coating that enhances it's ability to hold ink with less dot gain, or spreading of the ink beyond where it is laid down on the paper.

When we were looking for a more natural look for artsy books, we knew we wanted an uncoated option.  But we wanted to limit the downside from a quality standpoint.  The obvious choice for us was the Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Ultrawhite with i-Tone surface treatment. Developed for digital presses, this paper has the feel we wanted but with excellent ink adhesion and durability.

ProLine Uncoated is a substantial 100# text/148 gsm sheet, perfect for high-end, photo intensive books.  But there are times that you want to add a bit of color to a more text-heavy option as well.  To that end we have recently released our new Color Trade and Pocket choices.  These are the same sizes and bindings as our one-color product line, but with the addition of 4-color printing.  The paper is complementary to our off-white, one-color paper, and is white with a vellum finish.  It's a lighter-weight sheet at 60# text/89 gsm, and you will see a bit more dot gain in this product.  But it's great for lower-fi applications like notebooks, memoirs, travel books, mini portfolios, and novels.  And we've kept the price low so you can buy a lot or sell for some bucks.

Whatever paper you choose, we want you to be able to find one that will enhance your vision.  ProLine and Color Trade and Pocket are just a couple of new ways to make your book your own.

Guest blog post at the Blurberati Blog

I have a guest post up at the Blurbarati Blog "An insider's guide to Blurb's Global Print Network".  Take a look!

What's on your wish list for Drupa 2012?

It's less than a year until the mother of all trade shows, Drupa, reappears to once again shape the future of all things print.  While the rhythm of print shows swings to Chicago and Graph Expo this year, most eyes are on May of 2012 when we'll get a chance to see the mavens of print manufacturing unveil what has been in process for much of the past years since Drupa 2008.

I see the printing industry at yet another tipping point.  It was big news when HP had the largest footprint at Ipex last year, overtaking the traditional offset manufacturers. And in a year where the biggest photo trade show in the US, PMA, is co-locating with CES in January, it will be interesting to see how the move to more electronic publishing is going to influence the folks whose main business is ink on paper.

When Blurb launched, we repurposed presses, DFEs, and binding equipement that was really made for other uses.  At Ipex there was a growth in new machinery that was more dedicated toward the POD book marketplace.  I'd like to see more of this, allowing larger digital printers like those in our global print network to continue to improve productivity, quality and price which will allow the self-publishing marketplace to continue to thrive.  I'd like to see the advances made in PUR binding continue beyond the few options currently available.  I hope to see high-speed ink jet keep improving print quality to the point that it rivals that of the best offset printing.  And I'd like to see lower priced entry-level presses to help to expand the global reach of companies like ours. Oh, yeah, and larger sheet sizes.  And faster.

What advances would you like to see at Drupa next year?

PUR-fect book binding?

When Blurb looks to add printers to the Blurb Global Print Network we look for companies that excel in four areas: printing, binding, IT, and fulfillment.  These core competencies bring together the art, craft, technology, and logistics that it takes to deliver one single copy of one unique book to one thrilled customer.  But it's not always easy.  When we delivered the first Blurb book to a paying customer in 2006, the state of the art for preparing files for printing, color management for digital presses, and one-off binding were all processes taken from other sectors, like direct mail, library binding, and traditional offset printing.

Book binding is where craft meets technology in a way that is not seen anywhere else in our process.  Our early books were all side sewn. We then moved some of our larger books to double-fan adhesive cold glue and wire stitching.  These were all alternatives to the way that longer run hardcover books are usually bound, Smyth sewing.  The issue is that POD is by nature run on small sheets, usually around 12x18 inches. To Smyth sew, you need to print in signatures, which are multiple pages printed on a single, large sheet and then folded.  Not really possible with cut sheets, so the POD marketplace required alternative methods.

Enter PUR, or polyurethane reactive glues.  This process, which has been around for a while but it was not really usable for short run book binding, is similar to hot glue binding which has traditionally been used for soft cover paperback books.  The issue with hot glue is that it does not "give" when there is pressure but on the spine, which is required for hardcover books due to the lever effect of the case on the book block.  PUR is much more elastic than hot glue allowing for a more "stay flat" binding that is closer to what you can get with Smyth sewing.

Working with the manufacturers of binding equipment and our network printers, Blurb pushed new products and processes to the market in our quest to keep improving on our promise of "bookstore quality" products. And we have been very pleased with the process.  A large portion of our books are now bound using PUR technology and we are continuing to expand the usage throughout our network.

There are other benefits of this move, some more obvious than others.  PUR bindings will hold even in extreme temperatures, has better adherence to coated papers, and can withstand a page pull of nearly double that of hot glue. It also allows for some aesthetic changes that we are working on for futre product releases.

The advances made in PUR binding for print-on-demand books is an example of how Blurb is constantly looking to improve our products.  We are excited about the new and improved offerings on track for release in the coming months so keep an eye out for what is next.

iPhone home screen land grab

I don't know why I so jealously select what apps will be on my iPhone4 home screen, but I do.  Some of the apps are legacy from when I got my original iPhone but most have evolved to the ones I either use most often or want to have quick access to.

Out of my 16 flexible home screen apps, three are photo related, three are social, one news, one sports, one retail, with the remaining basic reference apps.

I definitely use my iPhone as my primary camera and image capture device.  I seldom remove my old Canon Digital ELPH from my backpack unless I really want to have more flexibility, which is rare.  The Blurb Mobile app has been great for capturing short stories, including video and audio.

On the social side, Facebook's place of status is legacy--I seldom use Facebook.  Twitter is my primary method of communication to my business contacts and my feed is connected to my LinkedIn status, so I don't use the LI app either.  When I'm on the road I use the AIM app to keep the folks in the office close at hand.

When I have a few minutes to browse, I usually start with the NYTimes app, then on to ESPN, and finally to Google News via Safari.

I've gotten quite used to the all-Apple ecosystem, and our corporate Zimbra server is always synced with my apple Contacts, Calendar, Maps, and Mail.  Switching settings is something I do quite a bit, I use the world clock to make sure I'm aligned with my partners worldwide, and in Seattle or San Francisco keeping an eye on weather is always important.

I have tons of other apps that I use often that are relegated to back pages.  Moving something to my home page is a big deal, so when Blurb Mobile was released I had to move Alaska Airlines to a new "airlines" folder.  I'm still thinking what to move up once I dispatch Facebook to the nether regions.

I'm interested in what apps you have on your iPhone home screen. Send a screen grab and I'll do a follow up post later with some of the responses.

A commitment, not a license

I spent an hour or so at the Washington State Department of Licensing last week getting my driver's license renewed.  It's a task we all sort of dread, but I have to give my State credit--even while cutting back the number of staffed licensing offices due to budget they have increased the things we can do on-line, even renewing some licenses.  Mine was not one that could be done from the comfort of my computer however.

After taking a required vision test and getting a new mug shot, the agent gave me my temporary license and told me if should receive my permanent license in about two weeks.  That was fine--I don't have any travel scheduled until later in June, which was why I wanted to get my renewal done.  But in Saturday's mail my shiny new license was delivered.

Now I should be happy about that, and I am.  But it really made me think about where we've gone with customer service.  "Under-promise and over-deliver" has been a tactic that has served me well over the years, but I'm afraid it has been abused to become a license for inefficiency.

Good customer experience is a commitment by the giver to the receiver.  "Did I solve your problem today?"  "Is there anything else I can help you with while you are on the line?"  It's a promise to value your time and your business.  But the laziness that has been created by companies and agencies purposely padding times to assure meeting a service goal has taken my old mantra to a place it was never meant to be.

I'm sure you hear about it all of the time.  In Washington State it often shows up in government.  A new bridge construction project is awarded to a contractor, who pads the time it will take to complete and then negotiates a bonus for finishing early.  A weekend road closure turns into a one-day project and the State announces "we've finished early!".

If you work in an e-commerce company you may see it in bloated engineering man hours for the project you are sponsoring.  Or in inflated heads needed for Customer Support to meet the response commitment SLA.  This concept not only costs you money, but it limits how much can get on your product roadmap and allows your competitors who work efficiently to out-perform you.

The fear of failure often drives the padding of delivery times, whether it be for software or services.  And the permission to fail that can offset this downward spiral has to come from the top.  I'm not blaming the folks on the front lines as the main culprits here.  As is often in what separates good companies from mediocre, it's the culture that is created by senior management.

"Under-promise and over-deliver" is a commitment to excellence.  It's saying that I will work hard to exceed your expectations.  But it's not a license to become a society where everyone gets a trophy and there are no real winners.  And it's not an excuse for inefficiency.