• Slot Music – it’s more than just a new format – Here's SanDisk's ecosystem approach (for digital music, not digital books, but still, it's illustrative). Leveraging their technology, they've begun putting digital music on solid state media (i.e., SD cards and what-have-you) that will go into multiple devices. They are piggybacking on the ecosystem of slots that already exists. I think it fully matures as an ecosystem when other other plays start making products, services, and accessories to support this standard.
• New Yorker cartoon – “This one, when you open it, smells like the Times.” – Cartoon by Leo Cullum showing a sensory-enriched Kindle. Thanks to Tom Williams for the pointer!
• Book Display Norms – Jan Chipchase – To what extent does the form, peruseability of books facilitate the behaviours around where they are sold?
• San Franciscan Reads Finnegan’s Wake Aloud, In Public – In the aftermath of the Finnegan's Wake Book Club dissolution.

Accidental entrepreneur David Weekly sets a new record for startup failure – Valleywag

Well, I learned a little bit about viral marketing. I also learned that big companies sometimes don’t like small companies innovating using them as a platform.

As part of some programming contest, some smart dude launches a site that monitors MySpace accounts and sees when someone’s relationship status changes to or from single. There are other sites that do something similar. Site is launched, reviewed, and then MySpace lawyers send a letter.

I just thought the quote was interesting, as it’s fascinating to watch the ecosystem (ahem) of products and services emerge around big successes. eBay takes off, and suddenly you’ve got sites to handle posting photos, other sites to handle creating an eBay store, and then even meatspace facilities that will take your item, hold it, post about it, sell it, and ship it off. The iPod has launched more white plastic crap than we can truly conceive of. And here’s an example where it didn’t work, or at least this guy’s example didn’t work. It raises the question, though, where are the MySpace accessories?