The biggest threat to publishing isn’t Amazon; it’s Angry Birds

[wizwor]

No. At least not for PBS. There's no interest at all. They value that time too much.

As for Amazon or the publishing industry sponsoring paid programming, I haven't looked into it. With the proliferation of new stations since the digital transition, this may be worth looking in to. I can imagine celebrities recording the spots for free.

[sun surfer]

That article headline is atrocious!

[QuantumIguana]

If people aren't reading, it's not because of Angry Birds. There has always been something to do instead of reading.

[asciibaron]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

If people aren't reading, it's not because of Angry Birds. There has always been something to do instead of reading.

the issue raised in the article gets to the heart of why i bought the Kindle 4 NT e-readers. it seems more and more the secondary use of the Touch et al is reading with the primary use being some distraction based app. my wife brought her work iPad home - within 10 minutes it had a dozen games loaded on it and the kids were taking turns playing some car driving game.

i have witnessed it plenty at Boy Scout events, youth sporting events, whatever, when kids and teens have a tablet type device they opt to play Subway Surfer or Angry Birds or whatever else is hot over reading - every time.

this forum can't see the trees because of the forest - it's filled with readers.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by wizwor

No. At least not for PBS. There's no interest at all. They value that time too much.

To be fair, it's a very niche market. I'm a parent with an interest in promoting reading in my children--and I wouldn't watch the show. My kids are old enough to read on their own without prompting, and neither they nor I have any interest in celebrities. Unless the reading were from a book we were strongly interested in, we wouldn't watch. And if it were geared toward "bedtime stories for beginning readers," that wouldn't be likely.

And it'd have no interest at all to teens, college students, and older adult non-parents.

However, a Kickstarter project of "celebrities reading bedtime stories" and sold on DVD or as streaming/downloadable files has promise.

As for Amazon or the publishing industry sponsoring paid programming, I haven't looked into it. With the proliferation of new stations since the digital transition, this may be worth looking in to. I can imagine celebrities recording the spots for free.

Some of them, yes. Especially if you could pitch it as "Celebrities read a chapter from one of their favorite childhood books."

You'd just need to get access to a recording studio and whatever media touch-up skills are necessary. (And, of course, copyright licensing permission. Which may mean starting with public domain books and a handful of creative commons releases.)

[morantis]

As long as there is a balance between one thing and another.

[Djedefre]

Originally Posted by wizwor

I've lobbied PBS to set aside time from 7:00pm to 9:00pm to have celebrities read to children with animated captioning. Bedtime stories for kids without literate parents would help overcome one of the major onstacles to early reading. I think this would be a good way to grow the market for literature. Maybe publishers would be willing to sponsor paid programming that does this.

I like this idea. My love of reading came from my mom reading to me when I was young, but there are so many kids in the US whose parents either can't read, don't understand English, or are too busy working two jobs in order to pay the bills. So then many of these kids don't develop the same interest in reading.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by asciibaron

the issue raised in the article gets to the heart of why i bought the Kindle 4 NT e-readers. it seems more and more the secondary use of the Touch et al is reading with the primary use being some distraction based app. my wife brought her work iPad home - within 10 minutes it had a dozen games loaded on it and the kids were taking turns playing some car driving game.

i have witnessed it plenty at Boy Scout events, youth sporting events, whatever, when kids and teens have a tablet type device they opt to play Subway Surfer or Angry Birds or whatever else is hot over reading - every time.

this forum can't see the trees because of the forest - it's filled with readers.

We can see just fine. I'm not so sure you're seeing what you think you're seeing. Are they playing Angry Birds because they have a tablet, or do they have a tablet because they want to play Angry Birds? One generation might complain that kids are spending all their time playing baseball, and another might complain that kids aren't playing baseball. There's always some sort of scapegoat, people imagine that if it weren't for that, people would do things like they did in the old days. Maybe without tablets, these kids at camp would be eagerly participating in all sorts of camp activities, or maybe they might just sit around complaining how bored they were. I don't think there has ever been a time when everyone at camp was eager to be there.

[QuantumIguana]

With digital TV, stations can create sub-channels. My local PBS station has the main station; a channel with local content; the arts, cooking and travel channel; and the weather radar channel. PBS Kids is available, but my local station doesn't carry it as a channel. They could, I suppose, add a sub-channel for reading bedtime stories. However, I think this would be better suited to delivery via internet. Then you could start the story when you wished.

I don't think it would be necessary to have celebrities, the kids wouldn't care who these people were. There are any number of people who could read to children.

I have a couple books on DVD. They show the pictures from the book while someone reads the text. They cost me 50 cents each, my daughter liked them, but since they were selling at that price, it doesn't appear that they were all that commercially viable.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by crossi

Well in some ways. I'm both a reader and a gamer and gaming can seriously cut into my reading time (I'm not talking about the Angry Birds type of game but those like Civilization and Oblivion where a single game can take months to finish even playing hours a day).

Same here. I go on binges... for the past week I've been spending every spare moment I have buried in an RPG. As soon as I beat that game, I'll probably spend all my time buried in books for a week or so.

Originally Posted by crossi

I also agree that encouraging early reading is in the interest of publishers. Reading is a skill that the more you do it the easier it becomes and the easier it becomes the more enjoyable you will find it so you'll do it even more. It is also in their interest if children develop a habit of daily reading. A child that reads will become an adult who reads and buys books.

And perhaps more importantly from a parent's point of view, a child that reads and becomes very good at reading is a child that is a lot more likely to do well in school. Even more when school is college.

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

I used to be a very avid gamer. The best CRPGs were books* back in the day, great storytelling, interesting characters, situations that challenged you to think. Think Planescape Torment, Baldurs Gate series, Fallout 1 and 2, etc...

Now its just blow stuff up and pump up yer stats. Which is fun once in a while but nowhere near as engrossing. Maybe I is just getting old.

You need to play the Witcher games. Haven't seen a developer flaunt their M-rating that way since Fallout 2...

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

You need to play the Witcher games. Haven't seen a developer flaunt their M-rating that way since Fallout 2...

I'm not much of a gamer, but I did enjoy the English translations of the first two books in the Witcher series. Can you say if the game is faithful to the feel of the books (tongue-in-cheek monster/fantasy)?

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I'm not much of a gamer, but I did enjoy the English translations of the first two books in the Witcher series. Can you say if the game is faithful to the feel of the books (tongue-in-cheek monster/fantasy)?

I think it is. The story in the game is separate from the books, so reading them is not a requirement to understanding game or the setting, though several of the characters from the books show up in the game (Triss, Shani, the witchers, Dandelion, etc), and most of it takes place in or around Vizima. REmember that it's vital to play them in order, as the plot of the first game directly influences the plot of the second, by allowing you to import your save files from the first game, so it can apply your decisions and their consequences to the sequel.

Intro to the first game. If you've read the books you'll probably recognize this 8-minute intro.

BEWARE spoilers in the related videos to the right! I didn't see any major ones in the titles and thumbnails, but I'd strongly advise against actually viewing any of them. The Witcher games are deeply story driven, and the spoilers in the videos would ruin a large part of the enjoyment of playing the games.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by wizwor

I've lobbied PBS to set aside time from 7:00pm to 9:00pm to have celebrities read to children with animated captioning. Bedtime stories for kids without literate parents would help overcome one of the major onstacles to early reading. I think this would be a good way to grow the market for literature. Maybe publishers would be willing to sponsor paid programming that does this.

I think that is a wonderful idea. Kudos, kudos, kudos!
It is highly likely that there will be an audiobook of it anyway, so why not record that in a PBS studio, and let them broadcast it once. Put the audiobook on sale after that "as heard on PBS". That would lend another layer of authority to the sales. Win-win.win. I bet you could get Al Pacione, Robert deNiro, Hale Berry, Demi Moore and others to donate their time for something like this.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

I think it is. The story in the game is separate from the books, so reading them is not a requirement to understanding game or the setting, though several of the characters from the books show up in the game (Triss, Shani, the witchers, Dandelion, etc), and most of it takes place in or around Vizima. REmember that it's vital to play them in order, as the plot of the first game directly influences the plot of the second, by allowing you to import your save files from the first game, so it can apply your decisions and their consequences to the sequel.

Intro to the first game. If you've read the books you'll probably recognize this 8-minute intro.

BEWARE spoilers in the related videos to the right! I didn't see any major ones in the titles and thumbnails, but I'd strongly advise against actually viewing any of them. The Witcher games are deeply story driven, and the spoilers in the videos would ruin a large part of the enjoyment of playing the games.

I have seen only the playable demo of the 1st game but read all books.
what hit me was that there was put work into making all visual representations of the characters look exactly the way they were described in the books. - well done

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

With digital TV, stations can create sub-channels. My local PBS station has the main station; a channel with local content; the arts, cooking and travel channel; and the weather radar channel. PBS Kids is available, but my local station doesn't carry it as a channel. They could, I suppose, add a sub-channel for reading bedtime stories. However, I think this would be better suited to delivery via internet. Then you could start the story when you wished.

People who do not read do not generally fare well on the internet. Bedtime stories are best experienced from a couch or bed.

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I don't think it would be necessary to have celebrities, the kids wouldn't care who these people were. There are any number of people who could read to children.

agreed

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I have a couple books on DVD. They show the pictures from the book while someone reads the text. They cost me 50 cents each, my daughter liked them, but since they were selling at that price, it doesn't appear that they were all that commercially viable.

We enjoyed Living Books and the others. Great way for kids to get used to reading and computers.