A few months ago, with the launch of the iPad, the question on everybody’s mind was whether Apple was going to decimate the Kindle with a device that had nerds everywhere salivating with gadget lust.
On that day, Fresh Consulting office was abuzz as everybody gathered in the main space (described as the War Room from a previous post). The lights were dim, and voices were muted. In hushed expectation everybody gathered around a laptop to watch Apple make history. Fresh had 3 computers stations tracking the event – 2 were livestreaming it via attendees that were holding up their iPhones and others were watching the bloggers real time comments and pictures. Even two clients came to hang out and join the party and enjoy drinks and snacks. This was serious.
And I, old fashioned book lover that I am, am as thrilled with the potential of the iPad as everybody else.
I say this even though let me make one thing clear: I love physical books. I love the weight of them in my hand, love the feel of turning pages with my fingers, love the dusty smell of standing in an independent bookstore looking for forgotten treasures.
But… even with all that, I also want to carry a library in my purse. Want the security of knowing that any time I’m standing in the DMV line, or on the airplane, or getting my prescription filled I have access to pretty much any book ever published in the Western World for the last 100 years. And I want it in 60 seconds. Or less.
So, if somebody like me wants a digital eReader… well can I just say–paper is pretty much toast. Going the way of vinyl records. (Yes, somebody will always want those, but it won’t be the majority. This is also true because publishing houses as they exist today simply can’t survive financially under the current model. I mean, when’s the last time you spent $25 on a hardback?)
But all the talk seems to be about which will win out–iPad or a Kindle? Sony Reader vs. Barnes and Noble’s nook? Potatoe or potato? But to me the reading revolution is really more about–do you want your reading experience to be interactive (as in vooks–a combination of video and books) or is the fun of reading seeing text and using your own imagination?
Soon you’ll be probably get an interactive book experience on all eReaders. Because even though Amazon has had a couple of P.R. um… (how shall I say this politely?)… missteps lately what with eliminating the book 1984, and holding publishers hostage to the $9.99 eBook price, Jeff Bezos is one sharp cookie. Most likely his own amazing version of vooks will be offered on the Kindle and announced shortly. (And IMHO–hopefully a sleeker design. That cheap white plastic has got to go!)
So I’m torn… already some of my favorite authors are happily putting together vooks to tell their story. They are doing this because ultimately people read books to feel emotions, or to gain knowledge, and using music and images is a great way to expand on that experience.
When our Fresh team adds videos to a website often they can do more for the message in that 1-2 minutes than pages of text and hundreds of still pictures could ever convey. I get that! I really do. But would my favorite books be the same if the images weren’t all created in my own head? On a rainy day am I going to curl up by the fire with Peppermint tea and …turn on the show?
Let us know what YOU think??
I like books. I will probably eventually buy an ebook just like now I only buy music online. But I will always love books, and still buy them as well.
there is no real fight. .. people who have never used a kindle always say they don’t know if they will ever switch.
Those who have know better. We don’t give up books, we just add a better way to read as an option.
I still love to hold and book.. but I read more on my Kindle
The technology will continue to get better. Moore’s law tells us that the screens till be so good in another generation or two that we’ll have better resolution and zero eye strain soon.
We’ll even have book/paper that can be reprinted. That’s a book AND a vbook.
Books will stick around. Want proof.. Watch James T Kirk in the admiral’s quarters. He’s reading Moby Dick
Why is it an either/or decision? Sometime I want to read, sometimees I want to watch a show and sometime I want to go to a movie. All could have been series from the same story. So how is it disruptive to add another format?
I read as many ebooks as pbooks and choose format based on which will present the data the best.
Paper books aren’t going anywhere. Sure there will be a decline. But book sales have been declining for years. I’m just not sure there is a war bewteen the formats. But maybe I’m missing something else.
I believe there will be a balance. I love to hold books and magazines. I even enjoy reading the Sunday newspaper. Guess I’m old fashioned.
I do forsee I will get an e-reader of some kind in the future. However, I am greatly concerned the power vendors like Amazon have at remotely erasing books from the Kindle. That’s a form of private censorship. (Look up the recent lawsuit against Amazon by a student who had his version of “1984″ erased with notes for a class project. Somewhat ironic…)
Cheers,
Brian Hansford
Zephyr 47
http://BrianHansford.com
In general, I like a book to be a book and a movie to be a movie.
For fiction, I’m not a fan of merging the two. I don’t need a 90 second movie implanted into my book for me to get a picture of what is happening. My imagination works just fine, thank you.
However, I can see the value of the vook’s movie implant in a how-to book. For example, a still photo showing me how to execute a complex knitting stitch is not as good as a movie showing me how to move the yarn and needles.
In my own book, Homebuyers Beware, if it had been a vook, I could have broken into the text with a “live explanation” of the new convoluted Good Faith Estimate form. I think readers would find that helpful.
Great post, as always, Kate. I love reading your blog!
Hi all,
Thanks for the great comments! In my opnion, there will be a decline in people reading plain text because of the new interactive technologies. And to me that is both a good and bad thing because while some books will be better (ie cook books or like Carolyn said–knitting books) But it’s bad news for stories where you are supposed to use your imagination and cognitive abilities.
For instance, when the Harry Potter books first came out they were credited with helping kids fall in love with reading again. They showed how fun it was to use your imagination…and would that have happened if
they were interactive on the iPad?
I believe that more and more people will buy ebooks, until those who still own the real deal will make money from selling the ancient books that were actually written on paper.
Seth Godin wrote some interesting suggestions about making the Kindle the only game in town. One was by almost giving it away with “X” number of books purchased and a book of the month club.
Clearly Vooks offers a great experience. Only read text or also view video as options make it much nicer for me than a simple PDF.Subject involved is key to which is better.
I prefer reference information as physical books for paging through is much faster than ereaders currently offer.
Some smarty pants geek needs to come of with a better way than the way ereaders now navigate to new pages.
What that is I have no idea for I am not a smarty pants geek
We could end up with a entirely different way than ereaders to consume information in the future.
The brain is still a mystery and maybe we will simply take a blue pill to “read” War and Peace or Gizmo straight from Men in Black.
The future keeps getting more interesting every day.