October 01, 2009

Vooks for all

Share: posted by Sara Haji at 08:59 AM

Simon and Schuster announced today that it will collaborate with California-based Vook, to make a combination book-video product. A press release calls the new technology "seamless" because it integrates text and video on the same screen at the same time. Among Vook's inaugural titles are Jude Deveraux's novella, Promises, and the informational "The 90-Second Fitness Solution." We see how an informational video could be a useful supplement to textual instruction, but to throw in fiction might be dangerous. It raises questions about the quality of these videos, and what they mean for the way that we'll read and, by extension, process information. Moreover, it raises questions about what the seven-dollar vook price will do to print publications. What do you think? 

And on a more upbeat note, Sarah Palin's book tops the bestseller list at B&N and Amazon over a month before its release. That's cheerful.

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