James Bridle writes a lot about the future of books and publishing and all that (here). And very wise, well-written and prescient writings they are too. But his words gain massively greater weight from the fact that he also does something about the future of books and publishing and that. All sorts of things in fact, from the innovative way he promotes Cooking With Booze (having actually written it first ) to organising the London Lit Plus festival to his latest thing - bkkeepr. (Which, in case you hadn't spotted is a disemvowled version of 'book-keeper').
It's a splendid and ingenious little thing, letting you keep track of, and share, your reading via your phone and twitter. It integrates with everything you might want it to. It's simple to do and it recognises that many people have their phone near them when they're reading and many don't have their computer.
And it's another perfect example of the sort of little service that some large corporation should have done, if only they had the nouse. I bet there are all sorts of publishers and book-sellers attending conferences about 'branded utility' and sitting in brainstormings about what they could do to extend their relationship with their readers. And James is just doing it. Because Doers like James are building the future, not just writing about it.
Brilliant. Thanks for pointing it out. It might be just what I'm looking for.
Posted by: helen | June 04, 2008 at 10:22 PM