CMAP #2: How Books Are Made – Charlie’s Diary I have had a few conversations recently with people who have kvetched about having to pay the same price for an ebook as they do for the paperback, and I have wished that I was able to easily find this post to point them at. Short version: the cost of your paperback book is *not* a materials cost. Physical production, shipping and distribution account for around a quid of the price. The other six of seven quid is labour, and there's a lot more labour goes in that you might think, and most of it isn't the author's.
Twitter Blog: Introducing the Innovator’s Patent Agreement This is quite a good idea, although one might quibble over what "only used defensively" means – it's possible that I'm misunderstanding the legalese, but it looks to me that any company who has filed a patent infringement suit for any reason in the last ten years (and who might be infringing, obviously) would be fair game. Which in turn means that this is meaningless, and will be just as innovation-stifling in practice as any current agreement. But I await being told that I've misunderstood.