The mad scientists at Simon & Schuster have rolled out a hybrid book/video combination, which they've named the vook. The digital combo, available on computers, iPhone and iPod Touch, allows you to read a book interspersed with videos that are explanatory or move the story along.

I'm a purist when it comes to the reading experience, but I think S&S is moving in the right direction. Just as the Internet opened up sound and video for newspapers, vooks (or whatever else they get called) can broaden the dimensions of the printed page. One of the first vooks is "The 90 Second Fitness Solution," with videos that demonstrate exercises. That's a perfect fit for the technology (just as textbook publishers have used video disks for years). In the same way, when reading a biography of a film director or musician, it would be great to see and hear their work. I'm reading the memoir "Tide, Feather, Snow," and if I hadn't been to Alaska, the book wouldn't be as meaningful; a vook could solve that for other readers.

I'm less convinced that the vook has a place in fiction. That could seem gimmicky, and might curtail a reader's ability to imagine characters and scenes -- one of the beauties of fiction. But this is just the start or the book's evolution, so let's see where the technology can take us.

 Here's a more detailed look at the vook in today's New York Times.