The Future of Print: Oxford English Dictionary

Anyone who has been to a public or college library, has seen the Oxford English Dictionary right in the middle of the reference section.   Often, the dictionary was displayed on its own stand that almost looked liked a preacher's lectern thereby suggesting some form of reverence for the English Language.  What is usually displayed is the one-volume edition, a mere subset of the multi-volume Oxford English Dictionary.

This weekend, the publisher of Oxford English Dictionary announced that the next edition will be published in digital format only.   Until now the Oxford English Dictionary had been available in both the bound and digital format.   The one volume edition will remain in print.

Facts about the Oxford English Dictionary (Source: OED.com)

• Last printed version (2nd edition) published in 1989.
• Second edition had 22 volumes and 21,730 pages.
• Number of entries in Second edition was 291,500  

Publication Dates (Source: Wikipedia and )

• 1884 - First published  under the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society
• 1895 - First published under the title Oxford English Dictionary
• 1933 - republished as a 12 volume set with a one volume supplement
• 1972 - supplement added for the letter A
• 1976- supplement added for the letter H
• 1982- supplement added for the letter O
• 1986- supplement added for the letter Sea
• 1989 - Second edition published
• 1992 - Version 1 of the CD ROM edition published
• 1993 - Supplement published as Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series
• 1997 - Supplement published as part of Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series
• 1999 - Version 2 of the CD ROM edition published 
• 2000 - Oxford English Dictionary Online edition published as a subscription.  The online edition has been updated quarterly
• 2002 - Version 3 of the CD ROM edition published
• 2007 - Version 3.1.1 of the CD ROM edition published as the first version that could be copied to the user's computer hard drive
• 2009 - Version 4 of the CD ROM edition published as the first version compatible with both Windows 7 and Mac OS operating systems

The Future of Print - Is it on an iPad?

Business Week just reported that the number of e-book applications in the Apple app store now exceed the number of game applications.   The growth in digital books as a means of gaining access to text-based documents can be seen in the rapid growth in the interest in consumers in just six months.   According Mobclix, a company that tracks iPhone application use, in October of 2009 six times as many games were sold as e-books.   By February of 2010, the ratio dropped to 4 games to every e-book.  This shift occurred even before the more text friendly iPad device even hits the market.  More importantly, a higher share of the e-book applications are purchased creating a profit opportunity for book and magazine publishers that may not exist for game publishers.

What is clear from early adopters of e-books is that they like the new format.  As Kelly Gallagher, a vice-president at R.R. Bowker, which provides analysis of the publishing industry tells Business Week, "once a person buys an e-book, there's a 50% chance that they will buy most of their books in electronic form."

While e-books may not be advertising friendly, publishers of magazines and newspaper will have subscription and free iPad designed apps out when it hits the market in the next few weeks.  More than likely the competitive tablet devices sold by HP, Dell and other computer manufacturers will handle these or similar applications as well.   Amazon will eventually have to update its Kindle device to handle the broader range of content that readers want or switch its business model to strictly a distributor of books and other content on iPads and other tablets. 

How soon will the iPad, dedicated e-book readers and other tablets make a difference in the print market?   Clearly, not everyone will have electronic readers for quite a while.  In 2009, only 2.5 million were sold.  While this is expected to double in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad, the growth rate is expected to slow down once the market settles out in 2011.  For publishers of books and magazines, the question is not how many e-readers there are but how many are owned by heavy buyers of books and magazines.  It is these consumers that will drive the shift of publishers to e-formats and not those members of the public that rarely buy books and magazines and these customers are clearly moving to digital.

Quebecor World Suspends Dividend Payment

Quebecor World Inc., North America's second largest printer announced today that it is suspending dividends on two series of preferred shares. In its press release, Quebecor World stated that while it "has the funds available to pay such dividends, it has been advised by counsel that as a result of recent developments, the Company may be prevented from paying dividends to holders of its preferred shares because it may not satisfy the applicable capital adequacy test contained in the Canada Business Corporations Act («CBCA»)."

Quebecor World's actions has led to speculation as to the value of the company's shares and the possibility that it may be purchased and taken private. Analysts have suggested valuations that range from zero to $6 per share. The current share price is is $2.44 Canadian.

Queborcor World is a significant producer of mail in both the United States and Canada printing advertising inserts and circulars, catalogs, direct mail products, magazines, books, and directories. In addition it provides services important to the production of mail including digital premedia, logistics, and mail list technologies. None of the financing and or ownership issues at Quebecor World should affect the service that the company provides its customers.