OBS in World Media
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Go2: The Guardian OnLine online, September 18, 1996
"Keep death off the codes: Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, says Gregory Rawlins"

"Did you hear the one about the computer industry's progress?" one programmer says to another.

"No, how does it go?"

"If the car industry was anything like the computer industry," the first programmer says, "a Rolls-Royce would cost a penny, would get a million kilometres per gallon . . ." ". . . and would crash once a week, killing all passengers," the other programmer finishes.

When dealing with sensitive systems, the most terrifying word in the world is "Oops". As computers control more and more things, system reliability becomes a problem.

"This extract is taken from Moths to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology, by Gregory JE Rawlins, published last week by the MIT Press..."


Reuters, Friday September 6, 1996
Frankfurt Book Fair Plans First Net Rights Auction

"Literary agents plan to sell the rights of Circle of Friends, a best-selling novel by popular Irish fiction writer Maeve Binchy, to Internet providers during the week-long fair which last year attracted about 9,000 publishers from 97 countries.

"Rights to the non-fiction Moths to the Flame: Seductions of Computer Technology, by U.S. Internet expert Gregory Rawlins, will also be offered.

"'The aim here is to establish a model for co-operation between traditional publishers and people publishing on the Net,' he said...."


Inn Marketing, May 1996
"News at a Glance"

"Interactive Bed & Breakfast in New England allows travelers to book accomodations using the Internet. This guidebook by Bernice Chesler is located at Open Book Systems, veteran Net publishers and online marketers since 1992. Chesler was the first B&B author to go online, starting with OBS in 1994.

"She has now released her latest edition on the Internet prior to its publication this month by Chronicle Books.

"This is the first "formsearchable" site OBS has released."


Small Business Success, Volume IX, 1996
"Unusual Bookstore Provides a Glimpse of the Future of Publishing"

"Anyone interested in Nelson Mandela's autobiography can get a copy free at the Online Bookstore (OBS),...

"We create something that's a complement to the printed book," Fillmore explains.

"Fillmore says free access to titles and the interactive links that make it possible for the reader to learn more about a subject at the click of a mouse generate interest that translates into additional sales of printed books.

"I originally thought I was in the business of selling files," Fillmore concludes. "Actually, it's access to ideas."


Sarasota Herald Tribune, April 14, 1996
"Chronicle of youth culture is wired to Web"

"But Laura Fillmore, whose Rockport, Mass, company Open Book Systems, develops Web sites for new books, said she had watched many authors push their publishers into cyberspace ventures. Putting books on the Web, she insisted, will not stop readers from buying them, but understandably, the idea still makes publishers queasy.

"They are moving slowly, Fillmore said. It's their whole product that is at stake here."


Computerworld, February 12, 1996
Tempers flare over Web censorship

"Miramax Films Corp. in Los Angeles, offers two versions of its site to promote the movie From Dusk Till Dawn. One version contains graphic material and language, while a tamer version illustrates the effects of the law.

"Miramax officials said they don't intend to bring down the raunchier version of the site after the law takes effect. 'We're not sure what will really take place and how vigilant the government will be in pursuing violators,' said David Glickman, manager, of interactive media at Miramax Films."


Magellan, February 7, 1996
Reviewed by The McKinley Group in the Entertainment & Pop Culture and Arts categories:

"The From Dusk Till Dawn site offers a unique slant...it presents children's and adults' versions, and lots of thought provoking rhetoric on the lasing effects of censorship....There's also a nifty contest you can enter..."


Advertising Age, January 22, 1996
Tarantino: Web-censored?

"Quentin Tarantino fans can try their hand at creating their own promo Web sites for his latest film "From Dusk Till Dawn"....Fans can post their work in the uncensored under-18 area called the Kiddy Twister, or tell it like it is in the over-18 Titty Twister. If the Decency Act passes, this may become tomorrow's Web model."


Interactive PR, January 22, 1996
Website Promo For New Tarantino Film Tests Impact of Censorship On The Net

"To help promote upcoming gangster-vampire film From Dusk Till Dawn,...Net marketer and publisher Open Book Systems (OBS) came up with a timely angle for the film's website: create a contest for Web users that would examine the implications of censoring the Net, a hot issue since early December..."


Magellan, January 20, 1996
Selected by The McKinley Group as a "4-Star" site, the highest rating an Internet site can achieve in their comprehensive Internet directory.

"Open Book Systems (OBS) is the first online publisher to transcend this myopia, capitalizing on the unique properties of hypertext in order to offer a dynamic, ever-varying reading experience that can only be found online...."

"The innovative design and ease-of-use make this an interesting and fun site to visit."


Point Survey, January 10, 1996
Rates Open Book Systems, Restoration, and Cry, the Beloved Country in the Top 5% of all sites on the Internet

[on Restoration:] "This provocative, creative and educational Open Book Systems-created site for the Miramax film Restoration uses material culled from the Net to parallel the goings-on in the film...." Point rates this site's content at #2 out of 146 movie and video sites.


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Updated September 19, 1996.
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