[darryl]

Originally Posted by skb

More here on The Conversation.

I particularly enjoyed the passing reference to one commenter apparently saying that they "were not interested in enhanced features or "gamified dancing baloney"" (my emphasis). I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for the link. +1 on the enhanced features rubbish. These "enhanced" ebooks are what Nourry would regard as "smart", which is of course what he meant when referring to current ebooks as "stupid". It is like calling a non-smartphone a stupid phone. But it is hardly better than the wider meaning many have taken from it. It's almost as if he is mystified why anyone would buy an ebook which is just an electronic embodiment of the paper book, without multimedia enhancement. Why is there even room for such a product? And how can it have had such a disruptive effect on the cozy, settled business model? He shows a remarkable blindness to the many very real advantages that these "stupid" ebooks have for readers, which have been pointed out endlessly since the interview. Today's "stupid" ebooks are what I believe most readers want. There may be a market niche for enhanced ebooks with interactive and multimedia features. Many seem to be trying this at the moment, some quiet, some with excessive hype about the new revolutionary way to read. But to me they are indeed closer to games and movies than books. If I was tempted to buy one it would not be as a book, but as either a new hybrid media or perhaps a game, and I would enjoy it as such. Though likely I would pass in favour of a book in any event.

I suspect Nourry and perhaps other Big 5 executives are somewhat mystified at the success of these "stupid" ebooks, having expected any challenge to come only from enhanced "smart" ebooks. At last years Frankfurt book fair Caroline Reidy, CEO of S&S, said:

I do think there will be a new version of the book based on digital delivery that people have not thought of yet,” she said. “There is some person who is young and has grown up with the screen who will come up with a new form. I don’t think we have found it, but when we do, that will be an exciting day.

But of course had "stupid" ebooks not existed but only "smart" ones, it would have been far less a threat. Since most readers probably don't want those "smart" books, such readers would have stuck to paper. And self-publishing would never have taken off, since the barriers to producing enhanced ebooks are far more prohibitive. Little wonder the Big 5 were so surprised and ill-prepared to deal with the reality.