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JoeD · 09-09-2011, 07:13 AM

eBooks 2.0 with audio isn't interesting, just wait til we hit 3.0, with moving pictures and then 4.0 where the audio and moving pictures are sync'd and the text is removed...

To be fair, for _some_ books I think the additions of embedded sound, pictures and movies would really add to it. Most likely reference and auto-biography/non-fiction books though.

For a fiction book, the only extra I'd want is the _option_ to download the audio book and or author notes/audio/video and perhaps design sketches of the world (where available) as an extra.

The only real way I can see it working (for fiction books) without annoying anyone is by default you buy the book, it's text only and delivered to your reader. Then there's an option within the reader app to download the additional interactive content for the book along with an option to toggle that content on/off.

That way those who want the text only, get the text only, no wasted download time/space. Those that want to read author notes, see world layout maps/scribbles that didn't make it into the book or listen to extra audio/music and videos about the book/world can also do so. Change your mind, you get to turn it off.

The above is more for optional content, some books it wouldn't make sense as by default having interactive maps and audio/video available would really add to the book. Think reference/history books, kids books, biographies, travel guides...

The bigger question with those books is whether you ship the extra content with it. Too many videos and you're looking at pretty big downloads or low quality vids. Stream it and you risk your book only been half a book when the content servers go offline or the company decides to stop doing interactive content for older books. Still it's not really anything new, when CDROM first came out, encyclopaedias went "interactive" with embedded videos and other content. If that can be standardised and adopted en-mass, it could be quite useful, I just hope when it comes to fiction books, that it's 100% optional with an quick way to enable/disable the lot.

I'd be surprised if the booktrack thing takes off outside of kids books.

Edit: "Achievement Unlocked - Finish chapter 4 in under 3 minutes"

09-09-2011, 07:13 AM	#6
JoeD Guru Posts: 895 Karma: 4383958 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: na	eBooks 2.0 with audio isn't interesting, just wait til we hit 3.0, with moving pictures and then 4.0 where the audio and moving pictures are sync'd and the text is removed... To be fair, for _some_ books I think the additions of embedded sound, pictures and movies would really add to it. Most likely reference and auto-biography/non-fiction books though. For a fiction book, the only extra I'd want is the _option_ to download the audio book and or author notes/audio/video and perhaps design sketches of the world (where available) as an extra. The only real way I can see it working (for fiction books) without annoying anyone is by default you buy the book, it's text only and delivered to your reader. Then there's an option within the reader app to download the additional interactive content for the book along with an option to toggle that content on/off. That way those who want the text only, get the text only, no wasted download time/space. Those that want to read author notes, see world layout maps/scribbles that didn't make it into the book or listen to extra audio/music and videos about the book/world can also do so. Change your mind, you get to turn it off. The above is more for optional content, some books it wouldn't make sense as by default having interactive maps and audio/video available would really add to the book. Think reference/history books, kids books, biographies, travel guides... The bigger question with those books is whether you ship the extra content with it. Too many videos and you're looking at pretty big downloads or low quality vids. Stream it and you risk your book only been half a book when the content servers go offline or the company decides to stop doing interactive content for older books. Still it's not really anything new, when CDROM first came out, encyclopaedias went "interactive" with embedded videos and other content. If that can be standardised and adopted en-mass, it could be quite useful, I just hope when it comes to fiction books, that it's 100% optional with an quick way to enable/disable the lot. I'd be surprised if the booktrack thing takes off outside of kids books. Edit: "Achievement Unlocked - Finish chapter 4 in under 3 minutes" Last edited by JoeD; 09-09-2011 at 07:30 AM.