Google Hangout emoji icon book love

This is a really silly post and that's just how I'm feeling.

I was going to put up my review of Charlie LeDuff's "Detroit", but there is an apocalyptic thunderstorm happening in Chicago right now so let's focus on things that are fun.

Gmail just changed their chat systems in an effort to push Hangouts. With that came literally a billion new emojis. Obviously, my friends and I had some fun playing with them today and I discovered so many book things!

Do you use Gchat? Totally not while you're at work... of course. What do you think of the changes they've made?

I think I'm just going to book bomb people constantly.

Also, Steve Holt.

P.S.
- You can't give bees as a gift, Michael (Welcome back AD!)
- This is what has been sucking my time away (just like with any new project, it needs tender, loving care for a bit before I can let it thrive on its own)

Gadget Covers, Part II

Kate Pruitt from Design*Sponge put together a pretty extensive collection of e-reader and iPad covers sure to please basically anyone interested. It features a few covers I had on my own list (CLICK HERE to see it), and a few more I'd like to add.
(From top to bottom) Moleskine Cover with Reporter-Style notebook; M-Edge Flip Jacket; Jonathan Adler Punctuation Cover

The third is my favorite. I love all-things ampersands! 

Gadget Covers

We all claim to love sleek-shiny new toys, yet, we also love when we can cover them up and make them look like books. Here are some of my favorite book covers for tech toys.

1. BookBook from twelve south. Available in Vibrant Red and Classic Black, for MacBook Pro only.

2. Hymn Book from SUCK UK, for iPod. The site says it hasn't been made available yet but I'm pretty sure I've seen it around.

3.  Vintage Covers from VintageCovers on Etsy. My favorites by far. For the Kindle, the Nook, the Kobo, Sony Reader and the iPad, and created from actual vintage books.

4. BOOK from Nedrelow. A simple design that seems like it would protect your iPad really well. You can also personalize it but adding your own text to the cover and/or spine.

Change, For the Better

Going along with my last post, if you're interested in the future of reading and the bound book, I recommend checking out the if:book blog.

The blog belongs to The Institute for the Future of the Book, a "New York-based think tank dedicated to inventing new forms of discourse for the network age". Most of the posts contain a lot of text, but it's a lot of text full of interesting ideas and important news regarding the book's printed pages.

I really hate to hear people say print is dying. I think The Institute for the Future of the Book and the video I posted yesterday make it clear that evolution is not death, it is opportunity.

I was pleased to hear a related story on NPR about the journalism industry (CLICK HERE to read and listen to the story). As a recent recipient of a journalism degree, I can almost promise you that not a week has passed since I started in this industry without a person telling me I had joined a dying trade. But in the story, Geneva Overholser, director of journalism at the USC Annenberg School, calls the changes in the industry "a renaissance, a re-creation", not a depression. I've embedded the story below, it's only 5 minutes, and encourage you to take those few moments out of your day to take a listen.




It seems to me the people who say print is dead are the people who had no interest in print, news or good design in the first place. Those who already have those interests will evolve along with the print industry to create even greater materials but I seriously doubt print will ever truly die. I am at least confident I will never see the end of it.