O’Reilly Media’s Tools of Change conference kicked off this morning in New York with three keynote speeches (tutorial sessions were held yesterday). Longtime e-publishing publishing pioneer and visionary Bob Stein–now at the Institute for the Future of the Book) had a rough start, underscoring that even technical geniuses need to prepare (and practice) ahead of time. Stein’s payoff thought was that “the principle role of publishers in the future is to build and nurture vibrant communities for authors and their readers.” Arguing that “a book is a place where readers and authors sometimes congregate,” Stein predicted that future generations will […]