by Derek Morrison, 24 May 2009
It’s not hard to imagine a light robust e-book type device that can also display enhanced content. so The future of books and electronic reading (Sunday Times, 24 May 2009) caught my eye and merited further investigation.
But the Random House Book and Beyond Project web site states:
“The extra content cannot be used on the Sony Reader or other hand held devices, as they do not have the capability to display the material”..
There are, however, hints about future work for portable devices like the iPhone.
At the moment the “enhanced e-books” are computer dependent and rely on Adobe’s Digital Editions. Adding more confusion, however, the Digital Editions site, highlights support for the Sony Reader.
“Enhanced” books running on a computer? Some enhancement! Some book!
I think that the key to success in this area has to be maximum convenience and reasonable cost. Too many steps or too many technical constraints involving multiple inconvenient devices spells doom.
At the moment Book and Beyond seems to be attempting to treat the book as though it was the “extras” associated with a DVD or movie release rather than offering a fully integrated experience. Such an integrated experience, however, may have to wait until a future development of something like the PlasticLogic device can download and display multiple media. Until then Book and Beyond may be no more than a interesting, but minor, cul-de-sac along the way.
