Next-gen software to fix your English: Possibilities for interactive e-books—and blogging?

So what happens when interactive e-books hit it big and come with features to let you talk back to the authors and also communicate with other readers? Will your English be ready?

Going far beyond existing grammar and spelling checkers, a new program called WhiteSmoke could be your salvation. From BusinessWeek:

…the software parses your documents—including e-mails, letters, and even legal contracts—against a vast database of commonly accepted usage patterns to ensure that the writing is as good as possible. “English is the lingua franca of globalization, and our vision is to give everyone a level playing field in making a good first impression,” says Hilla Ovil-Brenner, the 32-year-old chief executive and co-founder of WhiteSmoke.

The basic WhiteSmoke costs $79. Price for the deluxe version, with specialized vocabularies, for legal, medical and creative writing, is $250. You can choose between U.S. and U.K. English. Here’s a demo.

Is this program what it’s cracked up to be? Try it out and—in your best WhiteSmoke English—let us know. I think it would be cool to see your “before” version, too, if you don’t mind.

The blogging angle: Obviously this same program could be great for bloggers themselves, not merely commenters. What’s more, CNET reports: “85 percent of the customers are native English speakers who want writing help.”

(Thanks, Tamas.)