Is this the end of the book?

boxcorner · 02-13-2011, 04:40 PM

Is this the end of the book?
BBC News UK - 28 January 2011

"... e-book "softens people up" for a future in which the book becomes a much richer experience ..."

BenBanned · 02-13-2011, 04:47 PM

"We could soon be opening an e-book and encountering not just text and pictures, he thinks, but audio and video clips, perhaps even games. You could even see films from within books."

Picture books for the masses?

Lemurion · 02-13-2011, 06:33 PM

The idea of adding a multi-media dimension to books comes up often, and usually gets shot down just as quickly as it comes up. The problem is that reading and viewing are totally different experiences - and people who are looking for one may not be looking for the other.

When I'm reading the last thing I want is multi-media - just as when my stepson is watching something, the last thing he wants is to have to read.

It reminds me of so-called "motion comics." For the most part they're just bad animation rather than comics with an extra dimension.

taustin · 02-13-2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenBanned

"We could soon be opening an e-book and encountering not just text and pictures, he thinks, but audio and video clips, perhaps even games. You could even see films from within books."

Picture books for the masses?

We have that. It's called "television," and it's been around for half a century and more, without destroying books as a medium.

BenBanned · 02-13-2011, 07:00 PM

Yeah but no one claims to read television.

J. Strnad · 02-13-2011, 09:26 PM

I read TV. I often turn on captioning, especially when it's a British show. And often they mix the soundtrack of movies with so much dynamic range that the loud parts scare the dogs and rattle the walls and when I turn it down, I can't hear the dialogue, so again...captioning to the rescue. And foreign films really need to be viewed with subtitles rather than dubbed!

But for the most part, I really don't want imbedded video and all kinds of crap cluttering up my reading experience!

natasha_fawn · 02-13-2011, 09:55 PM

I think this could actually enhance the experience if done right, with the right books. As an example, I used to read fantasy books by an author who liked to make musical allusions in the story, something a character played or wrote usually. One book even had some of the pieces a character wrote written out in the back of the book. This is the kind of thing I could see benefiting from embedded audio clips or the like. I can't think of anything I've read that would benefit from video in a similar way, but I wouldn't be surprised if it existed. (Just to note, if this existed I would argue that it should be entirely optional, perhaps with "traditional" versions and "enhanced" versions.)

Now, what I could really see taking off is a smellobook or a tastybook.

Namekuseijin · 02-13-2011, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taustin

We have that. It's called "television," and it's been around for half a century and more, without destroying books as a medium.

but now TV is about as large as your hand and also makes calls, reads ebooks, browses the web and makes you coffee -- or at least may order some for you.

BTW, cross-over multimedia stuff rarely work out. Someone pointed this out to me recently:

http://vook.com/what-is-a-vook.html

the horror, the horror... someone packaging the concept of a web page in proprietary format and calling it the future of books... so lame...

Turns out people do still enjoy books because they are the essentially recorded oral narratives. And oral narratives mess with our imaginations more than images flashing in your face precisely because of that: it's much more mysterious and fantasious to imagine the described events than simply watching it flow...

Agreed on "motion comics". Can't believe someone at DC dared work out that even for Watchmen! lameness for fragile minds...

elcreative · 02-13-2011, 10:49 PM

It's the same as audio drama... I enjoy a lot of radio plays and other audio dramas because the pictures are better than TV/film/video and the same applies to books whether paper or eBooks... If I want to watch the TV (getting rarer

) or video then I want a decent size screen or a cinema for a film but none of them are books...

OverTwo · 02-13-2011, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I read TV. I often turn on captioning, especially when it's a British show. And often they mix the soundtrack of movies with so much dynamic range that the loud parts scare the dogs and rattle the walls and when I turn it down, I can't hear the dialogue, so again...captioning to the rescue. And foreign films really need to be viewed with subtitles rather than dubbed!

But for the most part, I really don't want imbedded video and all kinds of crap cluttering up my reading experience!

You can't understand British people?

elcreative · 02-13-2011, 11:45 PM

Probably an American... they don't speak English...

Quote:

Originally Posted by OverTwo

You can't understand British people?

vxf · 02-14-2011, 12:14 AM

Personally... I hope books stay books... but I recently had a very pleasant experience with a new National Geographic subscription on the iPad. The magazine is all there, but the articles often have links to multimedia content - videos, additional pics, interactive charts and maps. Truly, it makes for a great 'reading' experience.

taustin · 02-14-2011, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

but now TV is about as large as your hand and also makes calls, reads ebooks, browses the web and makes you coffee -- or at least may order some for you.

That's called an "iPhone," and, in fact, I believe I could do all that on my color Nook, as well. And it not only hasn't, and won't, kill the book, it may well have saved Barnes & Noble from going out of business.

People just aren't interested in multimedia books. That's the reason it's never taken off. There's nothing new here.

vbkun · 02-14-2011, 01:43 AM

is it me or BBC loves some sectionalism on "is 'insert anything here' going to end?"

A bit off topic but I really felt like commenting

Sweetpea · 02-14-2011, 02:41 AM

I probably wouldn't buy a book that combines the written word with multimedia experience. If I want somebody to read to me, I'll get an audio book. When I want to watch something (reading captioning doesn't count), I'll watch TV.

The only location where I can see the advantage of multimedia + the written word is in encyclopedias and such. But you would have to be able to read those off-line (and thus require a lot of space!), because otherwise it wouldn't give an added experience above the wikipedias of the internet...

02-13-2011, 04:40 PM	#1
boxcorner »(°±°)« Posts: 826 Karma: 775629 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: divisive reader	Is this the end of the book? Is this the end of the book? BBC News UK - 28 January 2011 "... e-book "softens people up" for a future in which the book becomes a much richer experience ..."

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02-13-2011, 04:47 PM	#2
BenBanned Groupie Posts: 169 Karma: 1326166 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NJ Device: Paper	"We could soon be opening an e-book and encountering not just text and pictures, he thinks, but audio and video clips, perhaps even games. You could even see films from within books." Picture books for the masses?

02-13-2011, 06:33 PM	#3
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	The idea of adding a multi-media dimension to books comes up often, and usually gets shot down just as quickly as it comes up. The problem is that reading and viewing are totally different experiences - and people who are looking for one may not be looking for the other. When I'm reading the last thing I want is multi-media - just as when my stepson is watching something, the last thing he wants is to have to read. It reminds me of so-called "motion comics." For the most part they're just bad animation rather than comics with an extra dimension.

02-13-2011, 07:00 PM	#5
BenBanned Groupie Posts: 169 Karma: 1326166 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NJ Device: Paper	Yeah but no one claims to read television.

02-13-2011, 09:26 PM	#6
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	I read TV. I often turn on captioning, especially when it's a British show. And often they mix the soundtrack of movies with so much dynamic range that the loud parts scare the dogs and rattle the walls and when I turn it down, I can't hear the dialogue, so again...captioning to the rescue. And foreign films really need to be viewed with subtitles rather than dubbed! But for the most part, I really don't want imbedded video and all kinds of crap cluttering up my reading experience!

02-13-2011, 09:55 PM	#7
natasha_fawn Evangelist Posts: 414 Karma: 184633 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Sony PRS-950 (finally!)	I think this could actually enhance the experience if done right, with the right books. As an example, I used to read fantasy books by an author who liked to make musical allusions in the story, something a character played or wrote usually. One book even had some of the pieces a character wrote written out in the back of the book. This is the kind of thing I could see benefiting from embedded audio clips or the like. I can't think of anything I've read that would benefit from video in a similar way, but I wouldn't be surprised if it existed. (Just to note, if this existed I would argue that it should be entirely optional, perhaps with "traditional" versions and "enhanced" versions.) Now, what I could really see taking off is a smellobook or a tastybook.

02-13-2011, 10:49 PM	#9
elcreative Wizard Posts: 2,888 Karma: 5875940 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: PRS505, 600, 350, 650, Nexus 7, Note III, iPad 4 etc	It's the same as audio drama... I enjoy a lot of radio plays and other audio dramas because the pictures are better than TV/film/video and the same applies to books whether paper or eBooks... If I want to watch the TV (getting rarer ) or video then I want a decent size screen or a cinema for a film but none of them are books...

02-14-2011, 12:14 AM	#12
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Personally... I hope books stay books... but I recently had a very pleasant experience with a new National Geographic subscription on the iPad. The magazine is all there, but the articles often have links to multimedia content - videos, additional pics, interactive charts and maps. Truly, it makes for a great 'reading' experience.

02-14-2011, 01:43 AM	#14
vbkun Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 544634 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Maybe sony	is it me or BBC loves some sectionalism on "is 'insert anything here' going to end?" A bit off topic but I really felt like commenting

02-14-2011, 02:41 AM	#15
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I probably wouldn't buy a book that combines the written word with multimedia experience. If I want somebody to read to me, I'll get an audio book. When I want to watch something (reading captioning doesn't count), I'll watch TV. The only location where I can see the advantage of multimedia + the written word is in encyclopedias and such. But you would have to be able to read those off-line (and thus require a lot of space!), because otherwise it wouldn't give an added experience above the wikipedias of the internet...