Comments on: Book Publishing Meets the Net … Browse. http://gigaom.com/2005/05/07/open-source-book-publishing-browse/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:47:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Peter Redford http://gigaom.com/2005/05/07/open-source-book-publishing-browse/#comment-11347 Peter Redford Sun, 08 May 2005 16:14:06 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2005/05/07/open-source-book-publishing-browse/#comment-11347 <p>"<i>Open Source of Book Publishing"</i> -- I like the title that <a href="http://www.sramanamitra.com/" rel="nofollow">Sramana Mitra</a> gave to <a href="http://www.browse.net/" rel="nofollow">BROWSE's</a> experimental business model. The core of the company is a trading community web portal, similar to <a href="http://www.ebay.com/" rel="nofollow">EBAY</a>.</p> <ul> <li><p>The EBAY model is: Input(<i>Sellers</i>)-->Processing(<i>On-line Auction</i>)-->Output(<i>Bidders</i>).</p></li> <li><p>The BROWSE model is: Input(<i>Authors</i>)-->Processing(<i>On-line Book Production</i>)-->Output(<i>Bookstores</i>).</p></li> </ul> <p>The portal <b>IS</b> the company. For books to practically produce themselves anywhere in the world, the portal will have to be robust and far-reaching. And huge. And, to be profitable, it will have to collect a small cut from all transactions.</p> <p>Where <b>IS</b> the Open Source in this? It’s in the methodology of development and ownership of the portal and, by definition, in the methodology of development and ownership of the company. We know the Open Source rules for software development and can use them to develop the portal software. But what are the Open Source rules when the software <b>IS</b> the company?</p> “Open Source of Book Publishing” — I like the title that Sramana Mitra gave to BROWSE’s experimental business model. The core of the company is a trading community web portal, similar to EBAY.

  • The EBAY model is: Input(Sellers)–>Processing(On-line Auction)–>Output(Bidders).

  • The BROWSE model is: Input(Authors)–>Processing(On-line Book Production)–>Output(Bookstores).

The portal IS the company. For books to practically produce themselves anywhere in the world, the portal will have to be robust and far-reaching. And huge. And, to be profitable, it will have to collect a small cut from all transactions.

Where IS the Open Source in this? It’s in the methodology of development and ownership of the portal and, by definition, in the methodology of development and ownership of the company. We know the Open Source rules for software development and can use them to develop the portal software. But what are the Open Source rules when the software IS the company?

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