The arrival of Apple's iPad at the end of last month sent shock waves through Japan's publishing industry. In the ensuing 2 1/2 weeks, dozens of publishers have announced plans to digitize magazine and other content, while others have set up think tanks to ponder their changed marketplace. Even the National Diet Library succumbed to iPad-mania: Its director announced last week that he wanted to start collecting digital books from 2011.
Of course, the revolution in the publishing industry is about much more than Apple's sleek new device. It's about rethinking the way that we fund, produce and consume digital content. It's about sharing content across multiple platforms, about Twitter and blogs. And, most importantly, it's about social networks and how they can be monetized.
Which is to say, of course, that the revolution is about everything that has long been discussed by bright, young, tech-savvy designers and software developers in international publishing hubs such as San Francisco and New York. What's surprising is that one of the more respected voices in that ongoing debate emanates from this side of the Pacific. It's the voice of a 29-year-old Tokyo-based American expatriate named Craig Mod.