The "post-browser" era

[Joseph Esposito <espositoj@gmail.com>]

Apropos of a recent thread on this list, there is a very good 
article in the Atlantic (yes, the Atlantic:  Who would have thunk 
it?) on the "post-browser" era, in which the "free" economy of 
the Web yields to the app-based monetization strategies forged by 
Apple.  Here is the link:

http://j.mp/9ApwK1

So (the article suggests) information doesn't want to be free any 
more; now it wants to be expensive.

Putting Internet philosophizing aside, what is already clear to 
me is that there needs to be an app for the not-for-profit 
academic community that can be shared by all authorized members. 
If you don't know the world of iPad and iPhone apps, I suggest a 
tour of the Apple site--or for that matter, the emergent app 
store for the Android operating system.  Such an app or 
application would enable the content of scholarly publishers to 
be viewable on mobile devices.  This is a perfect area for 
collaboration among not-for-profit players, as app development is 
not technically trivial and the NFP universe has no need to "own" 
the app or its users.  If such a shared resource is not developed 
and supported, the NFP community will trail the better-resourced 
commercial world by a great distance.  Such a shared app could be 
used for library resources as well as formally published content.

Joe Esposito