Would you buy a book as an app?

[daffy4u]

Is this a new (worse) form of DRM?

From the New York Observer:

The journal Electric Literature has started a service that will allow authors to transmit their work directly to customers' iPads and iPhones by selling the book as an app rather than as an ebook sold through the iBooks or Kindle programs.

The apps come with variety of features, such as commenting tools or audio and video clips. "People want to talk about the books they are reading with other people," said Stephen Elliott, whose The Adderall Diaries will be Electric Publisher's first app. "Why, with everything we know, wouldn't you include a chat room with your e-book?" Also, in Mr. Elliott's case, the iPad apps cost about five dollars more than the ebook versions.

I don't know what I think about this. It seems, especially for new or unknown authors to be very limiting. At least Kindle books can be read on a variety of platforms (same with nook and Kobo) and ePub can be read on a large number of devices. I'm not sure how this new "format" is helpful (aside from the whiz bang audio/video features).

Would you buy a book as an app?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Heck no. Too many bells and whistles for my tastes.

[phenomshel]

Nope no apps for me.

[meromana]

Unless the book lends itself to special features, like a graphic novel or a "make your own story" type book, it just seems silly, when there are lots of perfectly good avenues already, like epub, mobi, etc. There may be some novelty value in it initially, but for the average author and average reader, what's the point?

[wodin]

Nope, portability between devices is a MUST.

[emellaich]

1) I buy books to read, not to watch videos.

2) I have many hundreds of books. The 'file/app system' on both the ipad and the android system aren't designed for this volume. I need to load them into a book reader where they can be sorted by title, by author, by "new" versus existing, etcetera. Lumping them in with all apps would make it very difficult to find an actual app, or a specific book.

[shanghaichica]

It would become too messy to have a sizeable collection of books on a phone.

[Madam Broshkina]

Sure, why not. I am not afraid to try new things.

[hgwlackey]

It would have to offer something reeeeeally enticing to get me to buy a "book" that would sit outside of the library all my other books are in and clutter up my app screens. I can't imagine what would get me to even consider it. I mean, we're talking about reading--I don't need many geegaws for that.

[ficbot]

No way. I have enough apps cluttering up my iPod to add every book I own as one.

[simplyparticular]

Originally Posted by ficbot

No way. I have enough apps cluttering up my iPod to add every book I own as one.

Ditto.

I can't even imagine what features an app would have that would warrant it. I'm annoyed enough looking at iPad reading apps in the iTunes store and its cluttered with PD books as apps.

I've delved into the Children's Books/apps area of iTunes, and not only is it a mess, but most of the "apps" are really just ads for print books.

[GraceKrispy]

That just seems wrong! I don't even like pbooks that have a CD attached (you're supposed to listen at certain times to enhance the book??). So I'm a big "no thank you" to that one.

[yakuzaboss]

Nope. I wouldn't.

[Sweetpea]

Only one word:

No

[avantman42]

When I told a friend that I was buying a Kindle, he was rather sceptical of e-books. He showed me this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gew68Qj5kxw

His opinion is that this is where e-books could be good - having that sort of extra content. My response was that it's not a book - it's an app based on a book. I'd have no interest in it, but then I've never read Alice in Wonderland. I dare say fans of the book would love it.

"People want to talk about the books they are reading with other people," said Stephen Elliott, whose The Adderall Diaries will be Electric Publisher's first app. "Why, with everything we know, wouldn't you include a chat room with your e-book?"

Why not use any of the many communication options we already have to talk about the book? Phones (land-line and mobile), instant messaging, IRC, Skype, e-mail, forums. I already have all of these, I don't see any reason to add a book-specific one.