William Gibson

The internet changed reading. It was always possible, with enough work, to track down the names and places in a piece of text or to understand the cultural references being made. But easy access to information has lowered the bar dramatically. In a 2008 interview, author William Gibson referred to the "Google novel aura," in which authors expect their work to be looked up online: "It's sort of like there's this nebulous extended text. Everything is hyperlinked now. Some of it you actually have to type it in to get it, but…"

I know that all we hear about in the mainstream press anymore is how print books are taking a beating and that in the future we'll all be reading digital texts projected through virtual reality goggles right out of some William Gibson fever dream.

And while that may or may not come to pass (and you may or may not be geeked on the idea), one of the most common lamentations of this vision of the future is the disappearance of the book shelf as a cultural touchpoint (and as a way to judge friends and acquaintances when we visit their homes).

Hachette Book Group today announced a new alliance with Bloomberg Businessweek to publish in e-book form select special projects from the magazine. This collaboration will launch with the e-book release "Steve Jobs 1955-2011 by Bloomberg Businessweek," which is drawn from Bloomberg Businessweek's October 10, 2011, issue capturing the complicated and remarkable life, work and achievements of Steve Jobs.