[FM Discuss] TOC report part one...

[adam hyde]

hey,

On Wed, 2009-02-18 at 13:41 -0500, Andy Oram wrote:
> This is a wonderful summary, Adam, and I hope you can post more. I'd
>  like to make a few requests and some comments of my own.
> 
> * Could you blog about this somewhere? Not all the details about
>  copyright or even your coffee-drinking habits, but material that would
>  help non-FLOSSies learn about the conference.
> 

glad you enjoyed it :) ok, i will work on the last reports and send thru
to the list then put on the FM blog

adam

> * O'Reilly conference keynotes are much better than most tech industry
>  keynotes. Instead of VPs droning on about how they meet their
>  customers' needs, we try to stimulate new thinking. And as you saw
>  with Stein (it's also true of Cory Doctorow), this means bringing in
>  keynoters with ideas diametrically opposed to many speakers and
>  attendees.
> 
> * The print book industry is in gradual decline, and the computer book
>  market in somewhat faster decline. I've managed to find some new
>  areas; one always has to take a risk. E-books will inevitably take
>  over, leaving print books as luxury artifacts like analog watches, so
>  publishers still have some chance to make money the traditional way
>  without opening up the whole process. But revenues will be less than
>  in the past.
> 
> * O'Reilly is in a position similar to a technologist who is one of the
>  first to try a new language or framework. It's painful and costly, but
>  we come out with things to teach. All those other publishers who
>  attended want to learn what we've done. So as you've said, we can make
>  money reporting our experiments even if the experiments have
>  questionable revenue.
> 
> * Regarding trade secrets, they do have value in the US. Now for a
>  shameless plug for our book Intellectual Property and Open Source,
>  which I think anyone who enjoyed Adam's post could benefit from. Its
>  chapter on trade secrets uses the Flaming Moe from The Simpsons as a
>  case study, and shows that trade secrets can be used to sue people for
>  misappropriation (through improper means or a breach of a confidential
>  relationship).
> 
> * The earlier writer, to my knowledge, who deeply investigated the idea
>  of open up books as conversations was Joseph Esposito in his 2003
>  essay "The processed book":
> 
> http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1038/959
> 
-- 
Adam Hyde
Founder FLOSS Manuals
German mobile : + 49 15 2230 54563
Email : adam at flossmanuals.net

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