Skip to main content

So, What's a Book?

I just finished reading and listening to Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson. It is an epic book. No questions about that. It also gives you a glimpse inside a genius who we know as Steve Jobs.

But I am not writing about the review of the book or Steve Jobs for that matter. I am talking about the "Book" as an object or the medium through which we gain the information.


Just last week, there was an interesting announcement by Amazon that the future kindle book reader will be HTML5 based and so will be the books. It's an amazing announcement and that too coming from Amazon who never recognized a standard ePUB format. 


So what does this announcement means for the books? As I was reading the book, I could see what a "Book" would be in future with HTML5 at the core of it. As I was reading the book, there were so many real world characters which made such a huge impact in digital world. I wanted to know about those people. I ended up searching for them on Wikipedia and Google through a different device. The product demonstration from 1980s could be an embedded video from YouTube right where it makes the announcement. The songs of Bob Dylan that were once forgotten by me, could be listened right away and/or be bought right from the book. This was juts one book. My mind was racing as to how the kids books can be developed. A HTML5 video and animation included all along with text will make it that much more compelling for kids to enjoy the books again! The "How-To" books can include a video of each steps on your tablet device. A programming book or any software book  that includes sample programs, can be executed right from the book itself to help a student better understand about the technology. A house re-modelling magazine or book can even include videos of how to organize house. The mind did go once to how a "Playboy" magazine will look like and then I stopped my imagination.


But seriously. What is a Book? Is it a digital medium where you can get information at your fingertips? Can Book go viral like a video goes right now on Twitter or Facebook? I am excited of the prospects. Lets see where we see Books in the next 5 years.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walmart retail in India -- A tough choice to pick

Walmart name and it's existence in my life took shape in 1996-1997 when my brother in law landed in United States. I still remember when my Brother-In-Law gifted us a book of America and it's beautiful images, which was bought from Walmart. Till then, I had no idea what Walmart was and what Sam Walton did to revolutionize the retail experience in United States. The real grasp of what Walmart does on a day to day basis to an average american and in general the United States economy, did not impact me till I landed in this country almost a decade back.  Almost a decade later, we have Walmart knocking doors at India's footstep. India too is looking to revamp and open up it's entire retail model at the same time. The decision of Indian government to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail is the most radical reform it has undertaken since 1992. What is so different about the proposed revamping of the retail space is how a FDI can directly buy from the local fa...
6 comments
Read more

Microsoft Windows 8 consumer preview and its dilemma

Today was a day I was so looking forward too! I wanted to see what Microsoft had up it's sleeve and I was quite amazed to see what Microsoft has done with it's consumer preview version. According to Microsoft they have more than 100,000 changes from Window7 and I am sure they are right. It looks and feels a lot polished since the last time I played with it. When I installed my Windows 8 developer edition version last September on my main laptop, to say that I was upset was an understatement. I did get the point that it was a buggy product and they wanted to get it out for developers to start building apps on but it was really confusing. After today's consumer preview release I do see a huge improvement over the developer release. Everything is Metro UI. Everything! I am not looking at this release or this product from a tablet perspective. Microsoft has a 0% market share in tablet segment. I am still looking at this product from a Truck perspective. i.e. look...
1 comment
Read more

Apple and Google - Tale of 2 photos from Tim Cook

I was watching the Apple event from this morning. It was nicely done by Tim Cook. He definitely has it's own personality for sure. There is a section in the video when Tim starts talking about iPad. There were two striking pictures that he presented to the whole world. I won't consider it a low blow, but it definitely showcased the real problem with Android tablets.  1. Twitter app on Samsung  + Android  tablet and how the Twitter app looks on iPad  2. Yelp app - Compared on how they looked on Samsung tablet and on iPad   There was also another reason of selecting Samsung tablet -- just to tell the world how they two look alike! But besides the point - Tim laid out the biggest problem for Android and why +Google is loosing on Tablets. It's the Apps  + Google   + Android   + Andy Rubin  !!!!! Just look at the apps, compare them and see why Android tablets are not selling like hot cakes even when they are cheap and t...
1 comment
Read more