iPad Penguin unveils Ipad interactive reading experience

[Wetdogeared]

iPad Books Preview: Penguin Reveals New Interactive Books (Huffington Post)

Presentation by Penguin CEO John Makinson:

"The definition of the book itself is up for grabs," he said. The .ePub format, which is the format for most eBooks, does not support this kind of interactive book, so, Makinson said, "we'll be creating a lot of our content as applications, for sale on app stores and HTML, rather than in eBooks." He introduced a bold new plan for eBooks: "We will be embedding audio, video and streaming into everything we do."

Children and adult interactive ebooks are demoed.

[poshm]

I have to say that looks pretty neat! My daughter would love the Spot the dog interactive ebook but whether it's worth buying an ipad for is debatable but food for thought.

[cbone]

It's too bad that they waited around to slurp the ipad when they could have used AIR, Silverlight, or Java and got the exact same thing on any halfway decent device without losing profits to an app store.

[Tamara]

Originally Posted by cbone

It's too bad that they waited around to slurp the ipad when they could have used AIR, Silverlight, or Java and got the exact same thing on any halfway decent device without losing profits to an app store.

You're going to have to share profits with any venue that carries your product whether it is the iTunes App Store, Amazon, B&N, etc.

[LDBoblo]

Wow, gimmicky. Looks good for kid's books I guess.

Would be nice if they just had well-made ebooks with a navigation interface that takes advantage of the device's speed. Guess that's too radical an idea still.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by cbone

It's too bad that they waited around to slurp the ipad when they could have used AIR, Silverlight, or Java and got the exact same thing on any halfway decent device without losing profits to an app store.

If these are just proprietary apps working only on the iPad, it's kind of silly.

So, if you change devices, you lost all your purchased titles? Worse than DRM.

It also looks fairly primitive, like something done in Flash over a decade ago, albeit with touch capabilities.

[The Old Man]

Years ago Bill gates wrote a book "The Road Ahead". It came with an interactive CD that besides the book's text had links to pictures, biographies, etc. It never caught on. This looks like a similar and better implementation of the same idea. I can see the negative posts coming but an app that then reads a publisher's titles looks like a winner to me. The Washington Post just announced a $1.99 app for reading their news content with a years subscription. With newspapers in trouble and the younger generation wanting audio, video, etc. This looks like the future.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Sonist

If these are just proprietary apps working only on the iPad, it's kind of silly.

So, if you change devices, you lost all your purchased titles? Worse than DRM.

It also looks fairly primitive, like something done in Flash over a decade ago, albeit with touch capabilities.

Agreed. But I just can't bring myself to believe they wouldn't make a version that would work both on theiPad and on a mouse driven computer... That would mean marketing suicide, how many of those ebooks would they sell anyway if they made it only on the iPad?

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Years ago Bill gates wrote a book "The Road Ahead". It came with an interactive CD that besides the book's text had links to pictures, biographies, etc. It never caught on. This looks like a similar and better implementation of the same idea. I can see the negative posts coming but an app that then reads a publisher's titles looks like a winner to me. The Washington Post just announced a $1.99 app for reading their news content with a years subscription. With newspapers in trouble and the younger generation wanting audio, video, etc. This looks like the future.

I'm looking forward to magazines that would work this way. Imagine a woodworking magazine with plans, good articles and video how-tos.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by Sonist

If these are just proprietary apps working only on the iPad, it's kind of silly.

So, if you change devices, you lost all your purchased titles? Worse than DRM.

It also looks fairly primitive, like something done in Flash over a decade ago, albeit with touch capabilities.

Yeah, wouldn't be good for books.

I'd be fine with it for magazines and newspapers since those are disposable in paper or electronic format.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

... how many of those ebooks would they sell anyway if they made it only on the iPad?

Tens of thousands! perhaps millions!

I know there have been lots of posts declaring the failure of the iPad for one reason or another. My personal prediction is this device is a winner. It is your entertainment, educational, library and personal secretary that can be carried with ease and connects you to a world of information.

[cbone]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

Years ago Bill gates wrote a book "The Road Ahead". It came with an interactive CD that besides the book's text had links to pictures, biographies, etc. It never caught on. This looks like a similar and better implementation of the same idea.

That was an idea ahead of it's time. The technology available at the time screwed him. The same book now could come with QR codes to slick out extra information on cell phones or anything with internet access and a camera.

can see the negative posts coming but an app that then reads a publisher's titles looks like a winner to me. The Washington Post just announced a $1.99 app for reading their news content with a years subscription. With newspapers in trouble and the younger generation wanting audio, video, etc. This looks like the future.

Newspapers are in trouble because they can't compete by bringing yesterday's news. They compounded that by starting a stupid precedent of giving everything away on websites and then realizing that people weren't getting subscriptions. Now it's too late.

Regarding video, I think the younger generation didn't demand video, every media outlet started pimping video and audio streams/downloads when internet users increased in the AOL days as a way to differentiate themselves by their novelty/zazz factor.

I'm somewhat annoyed that everything has to be an app now. Why does it have to be an app? That immediately reduces your potential buyers and makes you beholden to another company on the hardware and software side. Why not make a broad-compatibility website and let everyone with internet access become a potential client?

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by cbone

I'm somewhat annoyed that everything has to be an app now. Why does it have to be an app? That immediately reduces your potential buyers and makes you beholden to another company on the hardware and software side. Why not make a broad-compatibility website and let everyone with internet access become a potential client?

I suppose, theoretically, that is possible. But hasn't Apple created a "broad-compatibility" website that lets everyone (with an Apple device) become a potential client? The thing that strikes me about the app store is how reasonable are the apps and the content they provide. As I mentioned above, The Washington Post is charging $1.99 for a years subscription. How much content is provided remains to me seen but compare that to a years subscription to the hard copy. Fluent News (another app) charges the same for a three month subscription for news from various sources and various web sites. Again, I believe this is the future.

[Sonist]

Originally Posted by The Old Man

I suppose, theoretically, that is possible. But hasn't Apple created a "broad-compatibility" website that lets everyone (with an Apple device) become a potential client? The thing that strikes me about the app store is how reasonable are the apps and the content they provide. As I mentioned above, The Washington Post is charging $1.99 for a years subscription. How much content is provided remains to me seen but compare that to a years subscription to the hard copy. Fluent News (another app) charges the same for a three month subscription for news from various sources and various web sites. Again, I believe this is the future.

Nope. A few million users "broad compatibility" do not make.

Plus, yeah, the apps on the iPhone would have to be cheap, because most users would not pay any significant amount to read a paper or a magazine on a 3" screen. I don't think publishers have the same thing in mind for the iPad.

If they wanted compatibility, they should have gone Air.

[The Old Man]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Nope. A few million users "broad compatibility" do not make.

Plus, yeah, the apps on the iPhone would have to be cheap, because most users would not pay any significant amount to read a paper or a magazine on a 3" screen. I don't think publishers have the same thing in mind for the iPad.

If they wanted compatibility, they should have gone Air.

You may be right about cost on the iPad. That remains to be seen.

I don't see what "Air" has to do with it. Not that you're wrong, I just don't get the significance.

What is broad compatibility? Major eBook marketers (publishers) now limit their compatibility to their device. What is the "broad compatibility" to the printed version of the NYT or WSJ or any other print publication? There is always going to be selective compatibility for every source. This is capitalism and the motive for profit.

A book publisher can make a version for Kindle and another for Sony. If that publisher develops an app for the iPad that provides another version of "compatibility." All of these eBook readers and "pads" will not survive and the ones that do will not necessarily be the "best" reader. It will be the one with the most market saleability or put bluntly, the most pizzaz.