If to do E-books, it is not necessary to create clones of paper editions. Modern reading devices and Internet can add to the usual book charm of additional possibilities.

Reading a novel is a very different activity than watching a movie. If you start adding multimedia content then why stop short of making an honest movie?

When I read a book, if I want music, I will play my own music, either on my music system (ipod, computer or whatever) or in my head… if I need pictures, my imagination will provide them.

In a good novel, whether a literary masterpiece or a genre pulp, the text is not dry, it is an invitation for the reader to live a new life in their imagination. Nothing else is needed.

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Bill

Heck, multimedia books have existed for years… you can find them in the Children’s section of book stores. In my youth they came along with records, now a days they might even play themselves, and they are filled with pictures. You know what? After a certain age, we leave them behind — not only do we not need the extras, but we find them distracting.

When I want to read a book, I want to read a book. Ultimately I don’t want the extras that might distract me from the core activity of reading a book. I don’t want too many images (Thats what graphic novels are for.. which are a different), or music, or speech… those are details for my mind to fit. Its why I want to read a novel before I see a movie based on the novel… after I see the movie, its those images that dominate my imagination.

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Bill

very insightful.

But that being said, a novel is a novel… if you fundamentally change the format (by adding significant multimedia content to it that is integral to the story) then you might have art, but you no longer have a novel.

A novel is fundamentally a written work, ultimately meant to be read (Sorry to all you fans of audio books … You are certainly entitled to enjoy novels that way). It is in fact an interactive exercise with the author. The author provides the text, and using that text, the reader turns the novel into their own story, imagining what the characters look and sound like, how the events are portrayed. The more that is given to us, the less there is for the reader to do. Ultimately whether it is in the 21st century or in Star Trek’s 24th century, if their is no reason for the simple text novel, then our society, our culture will have lost something very special indeed.

Oh one final thought, the reason that plain print will remain a valuable resource well into the future is simple… for some things POP (Plain Old Print) is best. When I want to get news fast, I don’t want a video, I want a printed story… the video might take 2-3 minutes to watch, I can read the story (or at least skim it for the highlights) in 30 seconds. Likewise, if there is something I don’t understand, I can slow down the pace until I do understand it.

And I think anyone considering interactive content should be judicious about what content they throw in there, and how. I mean, we’re talking about literature… I don’t need to actually hear Georgio Moroder’s music to his movie remake of Metropolis to enjoy the original book. If you’ve got a link to it, by all means, include it in the Afterword. That allows optional access, but doesn’t overly stuff a small book file with additional media.

As for me, I rather like watching movie commentaries, documentaries, special features, and so on—but I do it after I’ve watched the movie. Likewise, I wouldn’t mind the ability to read a book with user annotations, such as by a wiki—after I’ve read the actual book itself. I wouldn’t want the annotations to get in the way prior to that, however.

I want to be able to read books, do research and do my homework all on the same device with a touch screen and stylus. So going to class I take one device.

I don’t understand how apple can cram all of the functionality into an iphone yet e-readers can barely get the touchscreen right.

Of course I could get a tablet pc but the form factor isn’t there yet.

Looks like I will have to wait a few generation for my needs to be fulfilled.