Apparently there was an online event held today called Publishing Business Virtual Conference & Expo.
Two really bizarre tweets came out of that and I can’t resist commenting.
The first one:
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Jane Friedman has been a significant person in print publishing. I mentioned her new venture in this post.
But, as the counter-argument contained in the above tweet shows (<$10 price), I wonder if she really knows what's she wading into. Does she have any idea whatsoever? Bueller?
What makes it all worse is this second pronouncement from her:
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Has Jane Friedman ever actually used the Internet?
The so-called “sanctity” of reading is violated every day!
Here’s a post that does it.
Here’s one of my own posts that does it.
Both posts have YouTube videos embedded in them. Both posts demand that you stop the “sanctity of reading” and watch video.
In fact, if you ignore the videos in both posts, vital information — the entire point of the posts — is eviscerated.
To think that digital books cannot integrate video as part of the work of art (or even as a work of entertainment) is simply an admission of having an imagination inadequate to the new realities surrounding us.
Such publishers will be scorned by artists who can do it.
And then, once they’ve been shown how it’s done, the pile-on of imitative crap will begin.
Maybe even Jane Friedman will publish some of that.
Because it sure sounds like she’s not going to be at the forefront of it!
And, um, Jane? If reading is so “sacrosanct” — if there should never, ever be any “distraction” from the words — why is the first school book I recall this one?
See Jane be silly!
Silly, Jane! Silly!
The eBook Test 
I agree with you. Hey, look at that!
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike Cane: NEW POST: Reading Is NOT Sacrosanct! http://tinyurl.com/yfc74hc @jafurtado @jane_l @glecharles @MoriahJovan @david_hewson…
Good gravy. The apocalypse is nigh.
Honestly? I’m not thrilled with the idea of a vook, but I *am* immensely interested in enhancements just short of that. Illustrations, links, glossaries, maps, etc.
As I’ve said before Mike I think there’s a strong case for a different kind of ebooks for titles such as kids books for the reasons you point out. I don’t think there’s a case for tarting up plain fiction with multimedia. Remember multimedia CD Roms. If people want to see the locations in my books they can go to my web site and see the research photos. I guess you could add that in to the ebook as an extra. But I certainly don’t want it inserted into the book itself. As Jane Friedman says it would disrupt the reading experience and I think most people would hate it.
Read here:
http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/Morphic/morphic1_paper.html
Search for “milk” and read that paragraph and the next two.
I wouldn’t want to deprive an e-book reader of a vook experience if that’s what they wanted.
I’d probably err on the side of providing the option of enhanced plus video and enhanced but video-less.
You’re still not understanding. The video and whatever is *part* of the digital book. It cannot exist outside of it, nor can the text without the other. When someone does it, then you’ll go, “Duh! So obvious!” And, of course, “Holy shit!! WOW!!!111one1”
I am understanding. I don’t want *my* reading experience interrupted by video. I *never* click play on videos embedded in posts because I don’t like it. I would *never* buy an e-book with embedded video in lieu of text.
That is not to say that I’m against OTHERS who want their experience that way, and I’m willing to provide it as long as I have the tech skills and money to do it (which I don’t yet).
Gah!! You’re thick! You will not be able to MAKE ANY FRIKKIN SENSE of what you’re reading WITHOUT the video or whatever!
I don’t like it either. So they’d be hybrid book-movies? Like Final Fantasy, but without bosses to fight?
I stopped playing console RPGs when they started talking out loud versus letting me read the dialog. I would imagine I’d have the same reaction to reading along in a book and suddenly hitting a media change. I don’t even like still photos in my fiction.
Go to your local library and find Jack Finney’s “Time and Again.” Half of the charm of that book are the illustrations and photos.
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