If Books Become Apps, What about Regular Reading?
April 13, 2010
My view is that the era of text is drawing to a close. Words won’t go away, but the future is video and interactivity. Even InDesign CS5 allows moving stuff to be inserted into text. Text is becoming a sidebar. The real action is jiggly wiggly content. You can get a glimpse of the future in “The Amazing Media Habits Of 8-18 Year Olds.” The article is based on a study funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation and you can view the PowerPoint highlights on the Business Insider Web site. For me, the most interesting item in the Kaiser study is summarized in the screenshot below:
If books become multimedia, then book consumption may go up. The reason is that books will be more like games or TV, two popular pastimes for the sub 18 year old set. The problem facing any traditional publisher is shown in the slide below:
Looks like the sub 18 crowd is moving beyond text. Apple may be better positioned that either Amazon or Google in this sector. Which horse will win the rich media derby? A favorite or a contender off the radar at the moment?
Stephen E Arnold, April 13, 2010
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