A closer look at Apple's iPad and iBooks
Ever since Apple showed off its iPad and the iBooks feature, I've been intrigued by the potential for enhancing our reading experience. The iPad seems to be the first e-reader that can take digital books to the next level -- beyond simple electronic text. This week, Penguin Books’ CEO John Makinson offered a sampling of the future at a conference in London (thanks to PaidContent for capturing the presentation on video). These examples begin to stretch the idea of a "book," though the kid-oriented examples mimic learning software that has been around for years. I was more impressed by the potential shown in a GPS-enhanced Paris travel guide, and the star chart.
Some other suggestions: Give me an enhanced version of James S. Hirsch's new bio "Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend" that includes video of his over-the-shoulder catch and his sweet swing. For "The Politician," I'd love to see a video sequence of John Edwards squirming under the questioning of reporters -- and his outright lies. And for "Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong," how about letting author Terry Teachout and a group of musicians deconstruct some of Satchmo's most famous songs.
Comments
I don't find the thought of interactive books appealing. In fact, the very opposite. I think I would find them intrusive and annoying. I love the solitude and quiet of books, either print books or ebooks. For me, reading is the experience of creating MY OWN images about the story, background, and ideas presented by the author. I don't want that to be "interfered" with.
I'm very interested in seeing whether there are enough readers interested in interactive books to make this a big hit. From reading the Amazon Kindle forums, it's obvious that lots of people agree with me on this. But then again, that's a very biased sample, because, for the most part, we are Kindle lovers who feel compelled to defend our Kindles and protect them from anything that may infringe on their turf. LOL!
Posted by: Gail Farrelly | March 5, 2010 3:42 PM
Interactivity really woks with some of these books. 'Spot' has always been interactive, and text books are a clear candidate for interactive content.
I don't think that I would want an interactive version of 'Lord of the Rings' though...
Posted by: Steve | March 5, 2010 10:00 PM
A GPS enhanced guide is different how from what is available on a netbook. Everything else that he presents could be subsumed as "Illustrations". And it seems that nothing ages a classic more than illustrations. Look at most popular reprints fifty years old of classics.
A great illustrator's work is still of interest, independent of the text. Otherwise the illustrations reduce the text.
Posted by: j a guttman | March 6, 2010 9:32 AM
I don't think you can lump all books one way or the other into "this would be great!" or "I'd never use this." Obviously fiction relies on your own perceptions to create internal imagery. But for nonfiction, I can see a lot of great applications.
Posted by: Diane Bronson | March 8, 2010 10:24 AM
apple ipad future is bright.
Posted by: arslan@techgale | March 12, 2010 2:43 AM
I agree that the things that the iPad will bring to ebook reading, as well as other forms of publication, is going to be very interesting.
Posted by: Allan | May 23, 2010 2:30 PM
If we can get school district to us them in school will be a big step toward main stream use. Have you send how many books these kids have to carry around. The cost of the book alone could give every kid a iPad.
Also the book companies could alway have up to date book and just have to download them to school. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Posted by: Steve the Ipadman | July 29, 2010 3:26 PM