

Books in the Age of the iPad - bensummers
http://craigmod.com/journal/ipad_and_books/

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greyman
I think the author could have gone further with his imagination. Yes, iPad
will allow to display the formless content into different layouts, but that's
hardly impressive...any e-book reader should be able to do that soon.

Actually, the iPad, or tablet computers in that matter, could open completely
new ways of "reading entertainment", since the book could contain not only
text and static images, but also other pieces of multimedia or even pieces of
software! I am now making up a quick list of what could be possible:

1\. iPad books can have video illustrations or sounds embedded.

2\. Books can have some taxonomy data. For example, I could see a list of main
characters which were presented in the book until the page I have read. I can
see their short description, their relationship, or even where are they
currently.

3\. The text can be "location aware" - for example I am reading some scene,
and there can exist an interactive map for that scene, so I will look around
myself how it looks like there.

4\. There can be some elements of gaming incorporated, like some puzzle or
whatever, etc. etc. etc.

The possibilities are really endless here and I am excited to see what the
content providers will be able to come up with.

~~~
cmod
Absolutely agree. But the goal of this essay was to lay a foundation for
designers and writers to start thinking about content, form and context. I
tried my hardest to keep it concise while still touching on all fundamental
points. Which was tough because this is such a fun topic. The original piece
was almost double the current length.

> Yes, iPad will allow to display the formless content into different layouts,
> but that's hardly impressive...any e-book reader should be able to do that
> soon.

Sure, however the important point is that this is the first device to do this
and be of a form factor we will want to spend intimate reading time with. None
of the individual technologies in the iPad are unique, but the combination in
this form factor, wrapped in Apple's well-considered OS/interface is. This is
most definitely not trivial. I'm sure (and very much hope) that Amazon, et al
follow up with similarly great devices. The more competition the better our
experience (one hopes) as readers.

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mortenjorck
I think the general prediction that print will contract to the production of
only high-quality "permanent" documents is spot-on. I'm not so sure, however,
that pagination will go away, at least not without the invention of a new UI
element to replace it (other than scrollbars).

Pagination is useful to our mental models of progress through a document. I'd
go so far as to say it's one of the reasons scrolls died out while we're still
using the bound book format many centuries after it was invented. A hundred
pages is a lot easier to parse than an infinite number of positions on a
scroll, while recall and addressing is vastly easier citing a page number than
counting out a distance to scroll.

~~~
SamAtt
You know, I agreed with you (and even upvoted you) but as I think about it I
think you might be wrong. I think the meta point to the article is that our
entire idea of what the written word should be is about to change now that the
last vestiges of print are reaching the end of their life.

In other words you don't see pagination going away because it's part of our
mental model of what a document should be like. I think the article is saying
that mental model itself is becoming obsolete and we won't have documents as
much as we'll have formless information. That's not going to happen overnight
(and the article points out there will probably be a hybrid period where print
exists beside electronic). But eventually I think it's probably inevitable.

~~~
protomyth
I get the feeling "pages" will be around for a while because we currently use
them as a deep link into the material. When a new model for documents emerges,
we will still need that index/deep link for citations (I don't think a keyword
search with the book title will do for academics).

------
jacoplane
I've basically stopped reading books, and have gone 100% audio books. I listen
in my car, in bed, while going jogging. I love it, although I imagine it's not
for everyone.

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stcredzero
"The true value of an object lies in what it says, not its mere _existance
[sic]_."

Ironic that his post harps on the increased importance of _editors_ in the new
age of rich digital textual content.

~~~
cmod
lol - thanks, fixed.

But this illustrates, of course, one of the greatest (and most dangerous?)
qualities of digital -- trivial updates / iterations.

------
MrRage
Haven't books have been dying since the invention of the radio? How's this
talk about the iPad killing books any different?

~~~
ugh
Oh the joys of predicting media innovations. There are plenty precedents, so
anyone with any view can find more than enough examples to support his view. I
think we are looking more at a iPad:Book::CD:LP or iPad:Book::MP3:CD than a
iPad:Book::Radio:Book scenario (where iPad includes all other current and
future similar devices). But that’s just me.

(Note to all fuming LP fans: I know fully well that you can still buy LPs. You
will still be able to buy printed books in one hundred years. That’s not the
point.)

~~~
emeryc
Actually that is the point.

LPs are for collectors and very special music, you don't buy crappy pop on an
LP, you buy a classic, something where the LP means something in and of
itself.

Books will be the same, special, something beyond the ordinary, where as your
pop books become something digital, because the book isn't part of the
experience.

