Digital Books: From “The Kiss” To “Avatar”

Anyone who saw this:

The May-Irwin Kiss (Edison, 1896)

Would have never been able to imagine it would — or ever could — someday become this:

Avatar: The Movie (New Extended HD Trailer) (2009)

With digital books — Vook, Enhanced Editions, et al — we are at the stage of The Kiss.

But it will take us faster to get to the Avatar stage because we have more prior knowledge — and technology — than Edison’s crew did at the beginning of moving pictures.

Mac OS X To Get Major Facelift In 2010

Apple to launch 22-inch touch-enabled all-in-one PC in 2010, says paper

That’s what that item really means.

You can expect OS X to look much more like iPhone OS beginning later this year. The current face of it isn’t fingertip-friendly nor amenable to the grammar of touch.

Apple’s learned lots from the iPhone OS. They’ll incorporate that as well as add many new features not possible on a smaller display. Some of the new interface on the upcoming iSlate will provide hints of that.

And you can bet the shiny new OS X will include gesture macros.

Vook digital books will look incredible on it.

This will be the year that Apple really pulls away from the legacy model of desktop computing we’ve all been trapped in.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Save some screensnaps of the current Internet. It won’t look anything like this by the end of 2011. The screwball and brain-dead scrolling down to read that’s been a torment to us all will be dead.

Catch up to what’s coming by reading the prior posts.

Previously here:

Will The iSlate Include Gesture Macros?
The INEVITABLE Changes The iSlate Will Create
Apple’s iSlate: Digital Waveguide Touch?
The Ugliest Fight Ever: Apple Versus Google
The 7 Principles Of Apple
How To Do Touch Right And Wrong
The iPod Decade And The Steve Jobs Effect
Touch Will Change Everything
What One Big Change Would An Apple iTablet Bring?

Asus Provides Peek Of Its Atomic Bomb eBook Reader

Get ready for the newsstand in your hand

Asus, the Taiwanese manufacturer that pioneered the netbook concept, has given InGear exclusive details of its DR-570 reader, to be released by the end of the year. Asus says it has developed a 6in, high-brightness, OLED colour screen that should run for a whopping 122 hours on one battery charge — and that’s not just when displaying text but under real-world conditions, such as running Flash video over its built-in wi-fi or 3G. If that claim stands up, it would make this game-changing device nearly as energy-efficient as today’s monochrome readers.

OK, now this is exactly what I meant about Asus upping the ante.

If that is true — including the bit about running Flash — this would be very, very interesting.

Why?

The Vook web versions of their digital books are powered by Flash and cannot be seen on a Flash-less iSlate (something I hope they will be able to fix by ditching Flash and going all-JavaScript and HTML5).

There are many other magazine sites that are powered by Flash too.

Also, since this is color and will allegedly run Flash, it puts yet another nail into the coffin of the eCrap Axis of E: eInk, ePub, eBook — in favor of digital books.

And that Elle magazine? Currently the digital edition uses Zinio Reader. Which is also available as an iPhone app.

So, has Asus signed a deal with Zinio for content?

— via Twitter from mobileread

Previously here:

CES, The Death Of eInk, And The Asus Factor
Enough eInk/ePaper/eCrap eBook Devices!
Barnes & Noble’s Incompatible Non-Universal ePub
Multi eInk eBook Device Fondle Report
IDPF Screws Up ePub eBook Covers For Everyone!
How Book Publishing Will Lose: eBooks Vs. Smart Digital Books
ePub For Seniors
Apple Will Break Open The Digital Book Floodgates
eBook Trademarks: Asus, Warner Brothers, And ViewSonic
The eBook Bubble: Save Your Money!
Moriah Jovan’s Asus eReading Flirtation
Why Digital Books Will Win
Smart Digital Books Vs. The ePub FAIL Model
How The Axis Of E Is Killing Publishing
Asus Atomic Bomb eBook Reader?
The Axis Of E Book Holocaust
Why eInk, ePub, And eBooks Will Fail
Dumb eBooks Must Die, Smart eBooks Must Live

2010 In Review

Everyone has already told you what 2009 was like.

And some think they’re telling you what 2010 will be.

I will instead tell you what 2010 was.

How Book Publishing Will Lose: eBooks Vs. Smart Digital Books

Two Major Publishers To Hold Back E-Books

“The right place for the e-book is after the hardcover but before the paperback,” said Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp. “We believe some people will be disappointed. But with new [electronic] readers coming and sales booming, we need to do this now, before the installed base of e-book reading devices gets to a size where doing it would be impossible.“

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

Carolyn Reidy, is it difficult to be this clueless?

Let’s see … not a single Harry Potter book has been released in electronic format.

Yet is every Harry Potter book available in every electronic format?

Yes.

All you’re doing with this delay is saying: “Hey, kids! Rev up your scanners and bleed our writers to death!”

Syntron Android Mini-Tablet: 3G, 8.9″ Screen

Companies are beginning to use YouTube to pimp their products.

I haven’t seen this make news anywhere else (according to a Google search), so you’re seeing it here first.

Its the Mirror from Syntron. It boasts an 8.9″ screen, 3G, WiFi, and a multi-windowing modification of the Android OS.

What interests me is they’ve thought about eBooks. CoverFlow:

And Vook-like thinking:

See a video after the break.

The Fine Print = Apple iTablet WIN!

In a prior post, I teased all of you with this:

What Vook’s running into here is precisely why the iTablet is going to be a monstrous hit — even beyond the monstrous hit of the iPhone. I won’t explain that statement right now. I’m saving that for a future post.

The post I did earlier today reminded me I should do this follow-up.

Buy A Vook For Less Than A Dollar!

If you’ve been curious about trying out one of the Vook digital books, now is the time to do so. They have a promotion going:

The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen

The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen vook is a revolutionary new way to follow the inspiring recipes of chef Eric Gower. You can now read Eric’s recipes, watch videos of Eric cooking the dishes or shopping for ingredients, and connect to Eric and the cooking community through social media.

Take the shot!

Previously here:

Jeff Jarvis Wanted To Vook
eBook Notes For Wednesday, November 4, 2009
eBook Notes For Monday, November 2, 2009
Reading Is NOT Sacrosanct!
eBook Notes For Tuesday October 13, 2009
eBook Notes For Monday, October 5, 2009
FTC Wants Bloggers To Disclose: My Disclosure
Why Digital Books Will Win
How To Properly Integrate Video Into Fiction Digital Books
Eveda: How NOT To Do A Digital Book
Vook Debuts Digital Books

Hybrid iPhone/Print Book Glimpse Of The Future

Thanks to the folks over at Vook who tweeted this to me:

What most people will fixate on is the paper.

Look beyond that.

With a 10″-screen tablet, there can be virtual pages bookending the interactivity in the center of the screen. In other words, imagine what you’re looking at above is a single screen.

I think Disney will be looking at this video keenly.

Jeff Jarvis Wanted To Vook

WWGD? – The videos

In addition to What Would Google Do? the book, the ebook, the Kindle book, the audio book, the video, and the PowerPoint, we were planning to release a so-called V-book with videos interspersed throughout the digital text. Never happened.

Jeff Jarvis is the author of the book What Would Google Do?

Who knew other writers wanted to do digital books?

It makes me wonder just how many of my fellow writers look at the current ePub paradigm and want to throw up.

If Vook is smart, they’ll jump at this chance.

Previously here:

Apple Will Break Open The Digital Book Floodgates
Reading Is NOT Sacrosanct!
ePub For Seniors
The eBook Bubble: Save Your Money!
Creating The Breakthrough Digital Novel
Electronic Arts Enters Digital Books
Digital Books: More About Video Use
The Essential Ingredient For Digital Book Video
Why Digital Books Will Win
How To Properly Integrate Video Into Fiction Digital Books
Eveda: How NOT To Do A Digital Book
Vook Debuts Digital Books
Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Apple + iTablet
Smart Digital Books Vs. The ePub FAIL Model
He Understands Something Is Missing
English-Subtitled Editis Smart Digital Book Video
Why eInk, ePub, And eBooks Will Fail
Dumb eBooks Must Die, Smart eBooks Must Live
ALL eInk Devices: BAD For eBooks!