Vook.com - Where Books and Video Combine
So What is a “Vook”?
A vook? It sounds like a creature from a Lewis Carroll book. In fact, it may one day be a creature from the adventures on the other side of the looking glass, but for now, it’s something else entirely.
A “vook” is what Simon and Schuster is calling their newest creation, the bizarre half-video, half-book creation, the first of which were just released on Thursday, (October the first). The four titles are, “The Ninety Second Fitness Solution,” “Promises, A Romance Novella,” “Embassy, a Thriller,” and “Return to Beauty”, a book about beauty tips.
Surely for a non-fiction book, video could add quite a bit — images of distant locations for example, or an illustration of instructions — that could really take off for beginner’s cookbooks. But for novels?
In the novels thus far released, video even takes the place of text at parts of the tale, carrying along the storyline. Reading purists are not impressed. After all, wasn’t what people loved about books the freedom that they were given to imagine characters and locations?
Others, some of them writers, disagree, insisting that video can be used to enrich and build upon the text.
They can be purchased straight from Simon and Schuster or from the “Vook.com” site for 6.99, or purchased via the iPhone applications store for a discounted price of 4.99.
“Read and Watch it,” the ad proclaims.
Apparently, it’s set up so that users can read the text, watch associated videos, say of an explicatory nature, or of exciting parts of the book, and even contact the author or other readers from within the book.
It can be watched online or on your iPhone or iPod Touch, with no special software required, according to the ads, although it must require a pretty sturdy internet connection to be watched online. And wait —what does that small print say? Ah yes, of course. There are still system requirements, such as supported browsers and operating systems, and the latest version of Flash.
Also, Note that their requirement for video support eliminates electronic reading devices like Amazon’s Kindle or the Sony Reader. Up until now, these digital book reading devices haven’t really done much to change the experience, other than allowing one to carrying the equivalent of many books in one small device.
The publishing business has been concerned for some time that they’re losing their audience to other entertainment media such as movies and video games. Attention span research say that readers’ attention spans are shrinking.
Some have gone so far as to say that the novel is becoming a dead art, likening it to opera, and stating that in the future, as with opera, only a self-selected few will enjoy it. What are the poor publishing magnates to do?
Previous attempts at incorporating a written story with video appeared in Fourth Story Media’s website, “The Amanda Project,” and in CSI creator, Anthony E. Zuiker’s website for his novel. Clearly, there is a move underway towards incorporating the two.
But will the move ultimately be successful? Only time will tell.
