Quote:
Originally Posted by maddz
Thinking back to my textbooks (I'm a biochemist) I frankly don't see anything that can be enhanced by interaction. About the only thing I can think of would be something like demonstrating protein folding or receptor modelling, but textbooks are expensive enough already that adding enhanced content would price the book out of the market.
|
I was just thinking about how yea, there's things to be added but we haven't gotten there technologically yet. For instance, I was thinking about g-code being embedded in books about CNC machining, I have a series of books from the 20s about engineering and it starts off with the axis of a screw and the different types of screws all the way to diesel locomotives. It would be awesome to have g-code embedded in an ebook so you could 3d print or CNC any or all examples found in the book.
To use your example, if we had desktop protein printers (not inconceivable!), that would be a handy meta-data type thing to include.
The issue would be having the technology to be able to do some of this stuff.
For instance, if I were reading a text about the Civil War, it would be very cool to fold the book open (like a centerfold) and have a recreation of the battle(s) there in front of you. I'm not talking videos or pictures, I mean like the 3d table in the Avengers, where the e-ink has 3D capabilities.
So, for now, e-books are perfectly fine, I mean, we have used it's predecessor for quite some time, we need to have several jumps in technology (hopefully in my lifetime) that would make doing much more cool things viable.
As for the expense, meh. Let the product come out and prices will fall and there would always be a secondary market.
Until, you know, they prove Stallman right yet again.