Watched Any Good Books Lately? HarperCollins Tries 'Video Books'

Madam Broshkina · 02-03-2009, 09:23 PM

For those who don't have the time to listen to an audiobook, let alone read a hardback or e-Book, HarperCollins brings you: the video book. Perhaps fittingly, the first author to get the video treatment is BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis, whose book, What Would Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Do?, will be available in all the other formats as well, WSJ notes. News Corp.'s HarperCollins has been noted for its digital experiments the past few years, but it's still being cautious about the prospects for video books. It expects to produce about six titles for video in house, which will be available for download on iPods and iPhones. Authors will receive 25 percent of the sales, about the same for e-Books. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray didn't care to guess how many v-books the company will sell.

Read the rest at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020300060.html

lilac_jive · 02-03-2009, 10:08 PM

But....wouldn't that be a movie?

CleverClothe · 02-03-2009, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

But....wouldn't that be a movie?

Hey, Hollywood seems to be doing quite well just making books, comics and anime (and old movies) into movies. Why let them have all the fun?

Brings new meaning to the phrase, "strait to video!"

S.Canton · 02-03-2009, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

But....wouldn't that be a movie?

You took the words right out of my hands. It never fails to amaze me what some people come up with.

Alisa · 02-04-2009, 12:07 AM

Is this a video and text combination? I wouldn't mind that for some textbooks. Lectures and animations can really help with some subjects.

montsnmags · 02-04-2009, 12:19 AM

I think this may have some merit.

One of my most pleasant experiences was watching...I think it was Eileen Atkins, "perform" an adaption of Virginia Woolf's extended essay A Room of One's Own. Now, the essay in itself is certainly a pleasant read, but its performance (like an aural performance of a book) added another dimension to it, and, in my opinion, suitably enhanced and enlivened it. This "lecture-style" of performance is, to me, quite interesting (I similarly was rapt in the late Spalding Gray's Terrors of Pleasure) and I can see other such notions, such as it extending to the still-popular "storyteller" performance.

Cheers,
Marc

nohmi2 · 02-04-2009, 03:53 AM

Another great series was "Talking Heads" by Alan Bennett, which was produced by BBC2. Each episode was a thirty-minute monologue which had some terrific actors.
I have no idea how the loot is divided, but here's a link:

http://www.samepoint.com/?q=talking%20heads

Cheers.

Gideon · 02-04-2009, 04:28 AM

Oy. $10 for 23 minutes?

What the hell is wrong with book publishers? "here's an interesting idea... Let's kill it by pricing it ridiculously."

Welcome to eBooks a decade ago.

Bromoney · 02-04-2009, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

Is this a video and text combination? I wouldn't mind that for some textbooks. Lectures and animations can really help with some subjects.

and now, how the mitochondria works, starring jean claude vandame

montsnmags · 02-04-2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bromoney

and now, how the mitochondria works, starring jean claude vandame

for the visual (I want to watch Steven Seagal do chloroplasts).

Cheers,
Marc

HarryT · 02-04-2009, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alisa

Is this a video and text combination? I wouldn't mind that for some textbooks. Lectures and animations can really help with some subjects.

If you read the "Washington Post" article, it says that it's a person reading to a camera, but not reading text from the actual book - more presenting a spoken summary of what the book says.

I really can't see it catching on, but stranger things have happened!

Sparrow · 02-04-2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

If you read the "Washington Post" article...

I don't want to read it; I want to watch a video of someone summarising it!

pdurrant · 02-04-2009, 10:20 AM

How odd "Instead of reading directly from the book, [...] Jarvis runs through the basic concepts in the book"

I could see Jackanory-style video books catching on, but not summaries of the basic plot or themes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

For those who don't have the time to listen to an audiobook, let alone read a hardback or e-Book, HarperCollins brings you: the video book. Perhaps fittingly, the first author to get the video treatment is BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis, whose book, What Would Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Do?, will be available in all the other formats as well, WSJ notes. News Corp.'s HarperCollins has been noted for its digital experiments the past few years, but it's still being cautious about the prospects for video books. It expects to produce about six titles for video in house, which will be available for download on iPods and iPhones. Authors will receive 25 percent of the sales, about the same for e-Books. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray didn't care to guess how many v-books the company will sell.

Read the rest at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020300060.html

Nate the great · 02-04-2009, 10:22 AM

The only use I can see for this is as an alternative to cliff notes.

HarryT · 02-04-2009, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

The only use I can see for this is as an alternative to cliff notes.

Yes, that's what immediately occured to me too! A "Cliff's Notes for the iPod Generation", perhaps?

02-03-2009, 09:23 PM	#1
Madam Broshkina Manic Do Fuse Posts: 2,312 Karma: 3325462 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony 500, 505, 350, Kindle 3, DXG, nook, Irex DR800SG, iPad	Watched Any Good Books Lately? HarperCollins Tries 'Video Books' For those who don't have the time to listen to an audiobook, let alone read a hardback or e-Book, HarperCollins brings you: the video book. Perhaps fittingly, the first author to get the video treatment is BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis, whose book, What Would Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Do?, will be available in all the other formats as well, WSJ notes. News Corp.'s HarperCollins has been noted for its digital experiments the past few years, but it's still being cautious about the prospects for video books. It expects to produce about six titles for video in house, which will be available for download on iPods and iPhones. Authors will receive 25 percent of the sales, about the same for e-Books. HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray didn't care to guess how many v-books the company will sell. Read the rest at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020300060.html

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02-03-2009, 10:08 PM	#2
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	But....wouldn't that be a movie?

02-04-2009, 12:07 AM	#5
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	Is this a video and text combination? I wouldn't mind that for some textbooks. Lectures and animations can really help with some subjects.

02-04-2009, 12:19 AM	#6
montsnmags Grand Sorcerer Posts: 10,155 Karma: 4632658 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: none	I think this may have some merit. One of my most pleasant experiences was watching...I think it was Eileen Atkins, "perform" an adaption of Virginia Woolf's extended essay A Room of One's Own. Now, the essay in itself is certainly a pleasant read, but its performance (like an aural performance of a book) added another dimension to it, and, in my opinion, suitably enhanced and enlivened it. This "lecture-style" of performance is, to me, quite interesting (I similarly was rapt in the late Spalding Gray's Terrors of Pleasure) and I can see other such notions, such as it extending to the still-popular "storyteller" performance. Cheers, Marc

02-04-2009, 03:53 AM	#7
nohmi2 Pensively observing. Posts: 1,758 Karma: 12675456 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Varied.	Another great series was "Talking Heads" by Alan Bennett, which was produced by BBC2. Each episode was a thirty-minute monologue which had some terrific actors. I have no idea how the loot is divided, but here's a link: http://www.samepoint.com/?q=talking%20heads Cheers.

02-04-2009, 04:28 AM	#8
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Oy. $10 for 23 minutes? What the hell is wrong with book publishers? "here's an interesting idea... Let's kill it by pricing it ridiculously." Welcome to eBooks a decade ago.

02-04-2009, 10:22 AM	#14
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	The only use I can see for this is as an alternative to cliff notes.