"Making Literature Social: Readmill Networks Lonely Bookworms"

From Spiegel Online:

Traditionally, reading has been a solitary activity. But two Berlin-based Swedes hope to change this. They’re close to launching new software called Readmill, which promises to create a social network for bookworms to share their reading habits, margin notes and recommendations.
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The pool table in the living room is covered by a wooden slab, a second room is full of boxes, and David Kjelkerud still has no idea how the coffee machine in the kitchen works. There’s simply no time for such trivialities. He is, after all, feverishly building a start-up. Two months ago he moved from Stockholm to Berlin with his co-partner Henrik Berggren to catapult book reading into the Internet age.
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The goal is to transform book reading into a social activity, bringing together readers via their e-readers, and to grab a share of the booming E-book market. Other companies have their eye on social reading as well, such as the platform LovelyBooks. But Readmill, set to go live soon, wants to take the idea even further.
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Readmill, an intelligent bookmark for e-books, is their answer. The program looks over the reader’s shoulder, keeping a protocol of their progress and showing sections that have been highlighted and commented upon by other readers. This way Readmill members create a semi-public reference list for their books, giving them the possibility of alerting friends to interesting passages for discussion.

Read the Complete Article
Note: The German-Language Version of the Story (via Spiegel Online) Includes a Two Minute Video
See Also: Direct to Readmill Web Site & Readmill Blog
See Also: Henrik Berggren from Readmill Spoke at Books in Browsers: Ignite on October 26, 2011
Video of His Presentation (via YouTube) & Presentation Slides (via SlideShare)

Filed under: Publishing, Video Recordings