i think there's good and bad in this article.
i agree that the "books and beyond" proposals seem like a step backwards. however, one day we will have devices with multi-media capabilities, which won't require you to view these types of books on your pc. for a novel, i'm not sure many people will be interested, but think of the possiblities for textbooks and reference books : you could have a biography of a musician with music embedded in the book to play, or science books with films showing various scientific phenomena, or books about filmmakers with clips from their films... i wouldn't mind having a book talking about the golden age of film from the 30's with short clips of all the great films of the time to illustrate the text...
and this part seems particularly encouraging, with some solid numbers as well.
Quote:
Last Christmas was the turning point for e-publishing. More Sony Readers, Kindles, iPods and iPhones were sold than even the optimists anticipated: sales of e-books rocketed on Boxing Day as a result. Up to 1,300 a day in the UK are being sold currently. In America, there were 2.5m such legal downloads last year and more than 500,000 e-book readers sold. And with electronic readers being enthusiastically taken up by Britain’s schools and FE colleges, the e-book experience may, at last, be about to have its moment.
The man who developed Book and Beyond for Random House is a former marketing executive for Sony BMG Records, Jonathan Davis. He wanted to ensure the giant publisher was ready for the digital tsunami. “I lived through it once, and I like to think we’ve learnt from the mistakes made by the record industry. It was freefall. Big mistakes were made early on. The download was demonised, and all they really succeeded in doing was to stifle a new market for a year or two. Publishers need to listen and look at what people are actually doing and respond with the kind of books and reading experience they want for the way they are living.”
Most significant of all for Random House is the launch, today, of its own app. Download it to your iPhone or iPod and any book from the Random House e-book list can be yours. The app allows you to customise the size of the text and the colour of the text, the font, the look, the feel of the electronic page. It’s reading all right, but not as we know it. With 2,500 Random House titles available by the end of the year, many with “rich” content, these steroidal “super-books” are making a serious play for literary attention and our cash.
Publishers are eager to do with books what iTunes has done for music downloads. Hundreds of thousands of titles, all searchable by author, subject or title, are being digitised in an attempt to beat the likes of Google and Yahoo to the online punch. Even big-selling authors are hauling themselves onto the e-bandwagon with their own apps. The Grisham Widget, for example, pops up on your iPhone or laptop, offering thoughtfully selected chunks of the legal thriller writer’s latest book, interviews with the author and the chance to link straight through to Amazon.
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whether we think the book and beyond offer is misguided or not, the guy behind it does seem at least to have the right attitude. and random house launching their own reading app is also en encouraging announcement, although since they are
apparently partnering with stanza (and therefore amazon...) i do wonder where that will go.