Things are getting a bit confusing in eBook land. While early pioneers like Vook made it clear that a video book was different from an electronic book there are a lot of new entrants (Penguin) that are confusing eBooks with Apps and games and video books.
Penguin is fooling no one by claiming their Apps are Books
Fast Company notices Penguin’s sleight of hand and they wonder whether Penguin’s ‘made for the iPad’ books are books at all -
But then, are these crazy game/video/audio hybrids really “books”? If Penguin’s amazing examples are a sign of things to come, we may be asking that question quite often.
That children’s book that opens the clip is really more a game than a book (kids, of course, will likely see that as a positive). The “coloring book” section is very clever, even if the idea of instantly coloring a section with a tap is likely far less fun for kids than frantic scribbling–but the point is, frantic scribbling is possible too.
It’s quite clear that Penguin isn’t making eBooks.
Penguin is basically making a variety of apps – games, picture books, community apps – and trying to pass them off as books.
Paid Content also point out that Penguin aren’t really making eBooks -
Many of Penguin’s iPad books seem hardly to resemble “books” at all, but rather very interactive learning experiences …
from its Dorling Kindersley and kids imprints – the Vampire Academy “book” is “an online community for vampire lovers” with live chat between readers, and the Paris travel guide switches to street map view when placed on a table.
All of Penguin’s actions bring up an important question.
Why would Penguin and other companies want to pass off their works as eBooks?
It’s for the exact same reason that lots of multi-purpose device manufacturers want to pass off their devices as eReaders – eReaders and eBooks are expanding faster than the universe.
With eReaders we see netbooks, cellphones, smartphones, and other multi-purpose devices being passed off as eReaders simply to try to get a piece of the exploding market. With eBooks we’ll see the same trend – everyone producing any form of mixed media content will claim they are making eBooks and attempt to steal a piece of the eBook market.
Shouldn’t Penguin recognize that eBooks should be electronic books and not apps?
Well, it is surprising. Perhaps in their excitement they’ve forgotten that the last thing they want to do is alienate their core customers and step away from their core competency.
- Readers choose to read books – they don’t want to play apps or games or have movies woven into their books. We are talking about dedicated readers here – those who’ve stuck with books despite Publishers’ attempts to cut their own foots off.
- Penguin (and other Publishers) specialize in publishing books. There are a lot of companies (GameLoft, Electronic Arts) that specialize in apps and games – Penguin are not going to be able to waltz in and beat the experts.
The only explanation is that Penguin think they can expand into other fields under the guise of creating ‘electronic books’. Surely, they can’t be so clueless as to think that they are the first ones (or for that matter qualified for) creating apps and games for an Apple device and that these are still eBooks.
The Need for a strict definition of what an eBook is
It’s not really about being traditional or being pedagogic. We need a good definition of what an eBook is because there are two possibilities -
- We keep a loose definition and Books start dying away – apps and games and video books eat up the market for books.
- We keep a loose definition and Books start prospering – books eat into the market share of games and apps.
The former is much likelier than the latter.
It’s not a surprise that multi-purpose device makers are targeting the market for eReaders. It is a surprise that Penguin are trying to claim books and apps are the same thing.
Trust Publishers to not only try to kill eBooks by raising prices but also to club eBooks together with apps and games – something that might hurt eBooks even more than unrealistically high prices.
A good definition for what an eBook is helps eBooks grow
Don’t know what a great, concise definition for an eBook is -
- A work that is 90% text.
- An electronic version of a physical book.
Whatever the great eBook definition is, it’s necessary as it ensures that we go from physical books to electronic books. Otherwise we’re going to end up with electronic things that are non-books and reading and books will both suffer tremendously.
Why are there so many attempts to pollute books and ebooks?
It’s mostly greed and stupidity.
Greedy companies look at $25 billion a year in US revenue and wonder how they can get a piece of that. Stupid companies attempt to blur the lines between books and other media without realizing the consequences.
Greedy companies think people who read books might as well consume their products instead – consumption for them is the same whether it’s books or movies. Stupid companies think they can expand books by catering to people who don’t read books.
It’s just overwhelmingly irrational that Penguin are doing everything possible to attack and hurt their real customers – raise ebook prices, delay releases, keep ebook quality low – and at the same time are trying to reach people who don’t read by releasing apps and games. You’d think their speciality lay not in publishing books but in creating apps.
Just when you think Publishers couldn’t come up with another way to hurt books and eBooks they spring a surprise.
Filed under: books | Tagged: future of books, the evolution of books
