2012 was quite an interesting year – climate, Olympics, elections, “fiscal cliff”.
It was a wild ride in the ebook market—lawsuits, refusals to sell to libraries, library backlash against publishers, brick-and-mortar bookstores closing, start-up companies challenging traditional publishers and distributors, and publishers’ consolidation.
Looking ahead to 2013 — an other interesting year.
- Apple versus Google versus Facebook versus Amazon continues to play out
- Mobile devices and the impact of BYOD
- Intelligent objects—The Internet of Things
- Expansion of cloud computing and thus a greater need for security
- Publishers will use metadata in more sophisticated ways
- Publishers will still grapple with testing new business models—library pricing, subscription models, DRM-free sales, etc.
- Schools will increasingly have to deal with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) issue
- More publisher consolidation
The post on the review of 2012 and trends to watch in 2013 is well worth a read as the identified trends will have an impact on school communities.