Testing Enhanced E-Books

[DMcCunney]

Publishers Gauge Whether Readers Will Pay More for Augmented Versions of Digital Tomes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...146880096.html
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Dennis

[M0zza]

Yuk. No thanks.

They also used the word 'Re-imagine'. + 1 on the bullsh*t bingo.

[Ken Irving]

And after a novel ends up as a movie we can just add video from that, and then maybe we can take video from Danny Kaye's Hans Christian Andersen to a book of his fairy tales, and then and then and then....

Well, I'm sure there's a market for this, but multimedia stuck in a book full of words makes reading it like having the television on way too loud when you're reading a regular book. I remember the first time I saw a multimedia CD encyclopedia, which was "hosted" by Patrick Stewart, who would pop up unasked at odd moments to explain to me what I was reading or how to use some aspect of the encyclopedia. I think that in the Richard Nixon entry there was a brief video of him giving his farewell to his staff, which frankly gave undue weight to that moment over the sordid facts behind it. The words "toy information" kept running through my head. Video properly used can enhance knowledge, but when you are looking for factual information it is counter-productive. And if you are reading fiction, well, you might just as well watch the movie.

[Logseman]

Video properly used can enhance knowledge, but when you are looking for factual information it is counter-productive.

I would say the contrary: the place where enhanced content is most useful would be when you're looking for factual information. It simplifies making cross-references and accessing data.

[Hatgirl]

I'm in favour of them (if they work well). They would be fantastic for biology texts. Back in the days before YouTube, one of my college text books came with a CDROM which had various videos on it. Actually being able watch a bee dance was marvelous. My mother found me watching it, brought it into the creche were she works, and the kids did bee dances all day. Majorly cute!

[jbcohen]

Way over my price limit $8.

[J. Strnad]

When DVDs first came out, a lot was made of the extra material: director's narration, deleted scenes, mini-documentaries about the filmmaking, etc. You don't see as much of that anymore. Just for myself, I quit watching the bonus material pretty quickly. Mostly I just want to watch the movie.

It's the same for me with books, but even moreso. I'm not interested in too much enhancement.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Publishers Gauge Whether Readers Will Pay More for Augmented Versions of Digital Tomes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...146880096.html
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Dennis

Can't access that link.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Publishers Gauge Whether Readers Will Pay More for Augmented Versions of Digital Tomes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...146880096.html
______
Dennis

Actually, what I'm seeing here is "apps", not ebooks. These types of things are more appropriately targeted to the iPad/Android tablet or PC group, and they don't work well for the typical Kindle/Nook/Sony user. If that's what you want to do, go for it. But keep in mind your user base and hardware capability.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ken Irving

Video properly used can enhance knowledge, but when you are looking for factual information it is counter-productive.

I'd say exactly the opposite - "factual" books are where video or sound could really enhance the material. Consider, say, a travel guide which included video or audio clips about the places being described. That could really be a major benefit.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Actually, what I'm seeing here is "apps", not ebooks. These types of things are more appropriately targeted to the iPad/Android tablet or PC group, and they don't work well for the typical Kindle/Nook/Sony user. If that's what you want to do, go for it. But keep in mind your user base and hardware capability.

Agreed, but an awful lot of the reaction to something like this depends on what you normally read. If what you read is fiction, I see limited applicability for this sort of thing. Non-fiction might be another story.

Consider: ePub is a container. What it contains doesn't have to be text and static illustrations. It can be video, audio, and links to other things.

If you have a device capable of multimedia, which can display video, play audio, and follow links to other on-line resources, why not start creating enhanced ebooks that can make use of those abilities?

The question is what sort of books will benefit. Something like this might be just dandy for some textbooks, for example.

If what you normally read is fiction, and eInk based dedicated reader with non-enhanced ebooks is probably a better fit.
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Dennis

[SlowRain]

Publishers are looking for ways to increase margins. I think they're already pushing the limits with their current pricing for plain ol' text format (of course, they don't think they are). I doubt I'd cough up the coin to buy an enhanced e-book.

I think, like 3D movies, it will be poorly done initially. There will be difficulty getting the audience to accept something new, and there will be difficulty finding what enhancements work, and when and how to use them. In a few years, they will likely get the mix right.

However, Avatar hasn't motivated me to switch to seeing 3D movies when I go to the theater, mainly because of the increased price and the lack of improving upon the story. I'll reserve my judgement on enhanced e-books when I try one.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Publishers Gauge Whether Readers Will Pay More for Augmented Versions of Digital Tomes

If they can get away with it, more power to them.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

If they can get away with it, more power to them.

The question isn't "getting away with it" - it's creating an enhanced ebook that provides sufficient value that buyers will pay more for it.

I don't see much application for fiction, unless the book is a "Choose your own adventure" interactive work. Novels are straight linear narrative, with limited enhancement possibilities. Non-fiction is quite another matter.
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Dennis

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The question isn't "getting away with it" - it's creating an enhanced ebook that provides sufficient value that buyers will pay more for it.

That's the way I view it, since the pricing will be too high for my tastes.