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News & ArtsFriday, July 17, 2009
Books Book Utopia
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM
The ever-delightful Maud Newton linked to this (very slow-loading) French video that conceives how an ideal e-book would function.
First, the book itself would be slender (and non-branded) and allow the actual act of page-turning, which I think is important in an ideal reading experience. (It's unclear how the book would enable page-turning, as the special effects in this video are pretty janky.) The only thing I'd suggest to modify this e-book would be the option to display the cover of what you're reading.
Further, the book allows for the reader to go to a bookstore and "buy" e-books from a bookseller, allowing for the browsing and recommendation experiences. The process would probably have to be a lot more complex than this video makes it out to be, but this is a great concept of an e-book that's light years ahead of any e-book that currently exists.
2
Yes, that is the book I have been dreaming about since high school and e-books were first entering the market.
And as for turning the page, considering the iphone touch tech, it should be easy to make a section at the edge of the pages to swipe your finger like you're picking up a page to trigger a turning effect.
And as for turning the page, considering the iphone touch tech, it should be easy to make a section at the edge of the pages to swipe your finger like you're picking up a page to trigger a turning effect.
3
this is how i've been imagining the e-book ever since reading Neal Stephenson's
look forward to something like this.
- A Diamond Age
look forward to something like this.
4
You're all fucking retarded especially Paul.
I don't want to "pretend" to turn a page. Let me swipe or push a button, like the Kindle or iPhone.
And "visiting" a bookstore to buy books is about as important as going to a music store to fill my iPod.
You're clinging to the past, it's sort of sad to witness.
I don't want to "pretend" to turn a page. Let me swipe or push a button, like the Kindle or iPhone.
And "visiting" a bookstore to buy books is about as important as going to a music store to fill my iPod.
You're clinging to the past, it's sort of sad to witness.
5
If I can't throw the eBook at another library patron, it just isn't the same thing.
(grin)
Seriously, though, I can see using it for textbooks that are heavy but it's not even in color.
(grin)
Seriously, though, I can see using it for textbooks that are heavy but it's not even in color.
6
I really don't get what all the fuss is about e-books being "unnatural." I've been a Kindle user for a year and a half and have switched to reading books on my iPhone recently - except for when I am in the sun where the Kindle's screen is just spectacular. I don't miss lugging heavy books around, killing trees, having to recycle the books when I am done or spending more money than I have to (e-books are cheaper). Time to step into the 21st century folks!
7
Here's one of the main features I want from an e-book:
The ability to view the titles of books being read by those nearby (if they choose to transit that data). This could be displayed on either an in-device area or via a display elsewhere.
Often it's nice on the bus to see what others are reading and then you can (annoy?) them by getting into a conversation about the book. Or you might just mentally make a note to read the book yourself someday. Or you might just like watching someone finish the last few pages of a book you love. But all those experiences are mostly gone with the Kindle. Instead you just see people staring at their beige colored devices.
(I'd like the same thing for music devices too.)
The ability to view the titles of books being read by those nearby (if they choose to transit that data). This could be displayed on either an in-device area or via a display elsewhere.
Often it's nice on the bus to see what others are reading and then you can (annoy?) them by getting into a conversation about the book. Or you might just mentally make a note to read the book yourself someday. Or you might just like watching someone finish the last few pages of a book you love. But all those experiences are mostly gone with the Kindle. Instead you just see people staring at their beige colored devices.
(I'd like the same thing for music devices too.)
9
Hey Paul, does this fantasy ebook let you steal from big bookstore chains, as you've famously recommended in the past?
10
Because the best way to make use of new technologies is to force them to act exactly like the old ones. Apple should add accelerometers to iPods to make them skip if you shake them, slowly adding encoding errors in the song when this happens. It's the warmth of vinyl!!!
11
@9 I believe Paul advocates stealing from "corporate" bookstores.
As in,
"Why don't you steal from a fucking corporate bookstore, you asshole?"
- Paul Constant, book thief advocate
As in,
"Why don't you steal from a fucking corporate bookstore, you asshole?"
- Paul Constant, book thief advocate
12
The Kindle is awesome.
The Kindle is "light years" ahead of this dumb French pretend toy because The Kindle, actually, EXISTS.
And how is page turning on this different from page turning on the Kindle? That's not anything physical happening, you idiot. It's a bit of animation! There's no "act of page-turning" beyond a simple swipe.
You anti-tech types make complete fools of yourselves sometimes.
The Kindle is "light years" ahead of this dumb French pretend toy because The Kindle, actually, EXISTS.
And how is page turning on this different from page turning on the Kindle? That's not anything physical happening, you idiot. It's a bit of animation! There's no "act of page-turning" beyond a simple swipe.
You anti-tech types make complete fools of yourselves sometimes.
13
I love my Sony e-Reader, but the thing that drives me nuts is not being able to use it on airplanes during landing or takeoff. Not being able to use during that 30-45 min means I still have to carry a paperback! Agggh!
14
# 6 The 21st century coexists with the 20th, the 19th et al.... see C G Jung.
Part of the experience of reading comes from the pleasure of holding the book in one's hands: the smell of it, the traces left by other readers; cutting the pages ..... in short, the physicality of it. Perhaps e books have other pleasures I do not know or cannot imagine ....enlighten me. And I want to know if can one read a kindle or other e book in the tub....
Part of the experience of reading comes from the pleasure of holding the book in one's hands: the smell of it, the traces left by other readers; cutting the pages ..... in short, the physicality of it. Perhaps e books have other pleasures I do not know or cannot imagine ....enlighten me. And I want to know if can one read a kindle or other e book in the tub....
20
Reading on the iPhone is pretty great when I'm in transit -- I do it all the time -- but before I'd give up my print books at home I'd probably want a larger screen. I can't wait to see the (rumored) Apple tablet.
In the meantime, maybe this imaginary ebook is unduly influenced by the print model, but it's fun to look at. It reminds me a little bit of William Gibson's description of his own dream model: "Everyone will own *one* very nice book, eventually, with absolute look-and-feel bookiness... But it will be whatever book you desire it to be, when you open it." He was talking about how distribution could change if ebooks take hold. http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/bn/b…
In the meantime, maybe this imaginary ebook is unduly influenced by the print model, but it's fun to look at. It reminds me a little bit of William Gibson's description of his own dream model: "Everyone will own *one* very nice book, eventually, with absolute look-and-feel bookiness... But it will be whatever book you desire it to be, when you open it." He was talking about how distribution could change if ebooks take hold. http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/bn/b…
21
@7, @19 On the same topic, Wolcott's (highly satirical) "What's a Culture Snob to Do?" http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/featur…
22
@21 - it's a very insightful piece.
The future is now and the fate of the human race depends on it.
The future is now and the fate of the human race depends on it.
23
Turning pages is extremely overrated. Yeah, yeah, I thought I'd miss it too, but being able to hold your Kindle in one hand is awesome and feels completely natural after about 15 seconds of using it.
No more having to flip from side to side trying to get a book to balance properly when you're reading in bed? Yes please!
And for the record, you can steal books for the Kindle far easier than shoplifting them from a corporate bookstore. For those whose love of effecient technology conflicts with their desire to "fuck da' man."
No more having to flip from side to side trying to get a book to balance properly when you're reading in bed? Yes please!
And for the record, you can steal books for the Kindle far easier than shoplifting them from a corporate bookstore. For those whose love of effecient technology conflicts with their desire to "fuck da' man."
25
I too had assumed that I would miss the secondary attributes of paper books - the smell, the tactile feel of the pages, the weight and solid nature of them, the dust covers, the very bookiness of the experience. After about thirty minute with a Kindle, it became clear that all of that nonsense was really just my mind deciding to cherish the many things that are actually a hassle with books. A sort of Stockholm Syndrome as applied to cultural artifacts. It's far, far more convenient to read books on my Kindle. The ability to easily hold them in one hand and turn the page, the ability to never accidentally turn two pages, the lack of excessive weight for hardcovers, not having to flop around in bed trying to find comfortable reading positions, the fact that they always lay flat - it's fantastic. It allows me to consume the part of a book that is significant, the writing, and leaves aside things that either don't matter or make things worse. I now recognize that the fetish about the secondary characteristics of books is really the vinyl fetish redux, only even sillier, since at least you can say that the experience of listening to something on vinyl really is different (just not better).
Yes, there are plenty of things that make the Kindle much less than perfect. The DRM policies that Amazon currently holds are fairly obnoxious, and I certainly wouldn't hold it against anybody for having a different threshold where that is concerned than I do. But that doesn't invalidate the e-book experience, just Amazon's implementation of it. It'll get better, and even more convenient, and we'll eventually get to the point where just about everybody prefers to read books this way. It just makes more sense.
Yes, there are plenty of things that make the Kindle much less than perfect. The DRM policies that Amazon currently holds are fairly obnoxious, and I certainly wouldn't hold it against anybody for having a different threshold where that is concerned than I do. But that doesn't invalidate the e-book experience, just Amazon's implementation of it. It'll get better, and even more convenient, and we'll eventually get to the point where just about everybody prefers to read books this way. It just makes more sense.
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