Video Book? Is That Like A Horseless Carriage?

from the change-your-perspective dept

It's no secret that when new technologies and innovations come along, we tend to look at them through the prism of what we already have. We look at them as a minor improvement on what was done before -- this technology lets us do something faster or better -- rather than at ways that it enables us to do something totally new. Because of that, you often get amusing attempts at reinventing the old with the new that don't seem to take any advantage of what the new innovation really allows. It's simply a weak attempt to take the old and move it into the new. This comes to mind as PaidContent last week discussed the Harper Collins attempt to offer a $10 "video book," which was really just author Jeff Jarvis talking about his book for 23 minutes against a white backdrop. For $10. As Tim O'Reilly noted, the concept of the "video book" sounds like "moving pictures" or the "horseless carriage."

That's not to knock Harper Collins for at least trying something new -- but to note that when you're jumping into a new medium it's important not to identify it by the constraints of the old medium. A video presentation that complements a book by engaging people in a conversation could be quite interesting -- but not at $10 a pop. That's not engaging people in a conversation at all. In fact, it's the same traditional publisher mindset of "let's release something and get people to pay $10 - $30 for this unit of content." It doesn't take into account what the internet and video actually allows you to do that's different. This seems especially ironic, since Jarvis' book is called What Would Google Do, and it's all about making business decisions a la Google. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't think Google would be offering video books for $10 a pop.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: jeff jarvis, video book
Companies: harper collins


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Feb 2009 @ 3:59pm

    Those who can't do, teach.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Jason Buberel (profile), 12 Feb 2009 @ 4:59pm

      Re: Those who care

      Those who can, do.
      Those who care, teach.
      Those who cannot, post anonymously.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 12 Feb 2009 @ 5:01pm

        Re: Re: Those who care

        And those who don't care make fun of the morons who post drivel like this.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Fred Mulligan, 12 Feb 2009 @ 6:00pm

        Re: Re: Those who care

        Well sparky, if those who can, do, and teachers inherently do not, as they apparently care, and therefore teach, then one can safely assume that those who teach cannot do, as the three must be mutually exclusive.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    DV Henkel-Wallace, 12 Feb 2009 @ 4:04pm

    The name is almost right

    It's not a "video book" but a "book video". Makes perfect sense.

    Still I wouldn't pay $10 for it, but that's another matter.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    GJ, 12 Feb 2009 @ 4:24pm

    watching a video book

    I'd like to pay with a picture of a $10 note.

    Value for value.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    r0cksinp0ckets, 12 Feb 2009 @ 6:49pm

    Re: Re: Those who care

    by Anonymous Coward - Feb 12th, 2009 @ 5:01pm

    And those who don't care make fun of the morons who post drivel like this.

    Those who "don't care" are indifferent.

    So why do you waste your energy/time
    "making fun of the morons"

    if you don't care? or do you?

    truly an Anonymous Coward.. well done

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      YouStillDoNotKnowWhoIAmDoYou, 12 Feb 2009 @ 6:58pm

      Re: Re: Re: Those who care

      I never have understood the aversion to posting anon.
      What is it that infuriates some to such degrees ?
      It really makes no difference.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Feb 2009 @ 7:18pm

      Re: Re: Re: Those who care

      jeez guys, you all need to calm down or you're gonna have heart attacks at an early age... there's really no need for anyone to get so snippy... I would say about 70% of the comments on this site are misdirected aggression.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 12 Feb 2009 @ 7:56pm

      Re: Re: Re: Those who care

      Or is it that they are making fun of the morons, such as yourself, because they don't care. Because you know, they're indifferent.. to well... everything and have nothing better to do that make fun of you for being a self absorbed assclown who thinks he's some how smarter than the asshat next to him. Good going jackhole, now I care.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 12 Feb 2009 @ 7:22pm

    NO YOU CALM DOWN, YOU DON't CARE..to...um, TEACH! THOSE WHO CAN'T!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    William, 12 Feb 2009 @ 8:15pm

    i think

    I think the Anonymous Coward yelling at everyone is Angry Dude for some reason...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Steve Weissman, 13 Feb 2009 @ 7:02am

    A WOULD-BE "VIDEO BOOK" AUTHOR ISO OF A VIDEO BOOK PUBLISHER

    Like you, I was intrigued by the Harper Collins idea of a video book. In the course of creating a website to promote my traditional (print) biography of Charlie Chaplin....CHAPLIN A LIFE (ARCADE,2008) I created a multi-media website which is both packed with wonderful photographs (too expensive to include in the print book) AND also containing fascinating film clips.

    While I originally designed (and copyrighted) the website to promote my print-book, I realized--in the course of working on it-- that the format of www.chapinalife.com could also serve as a potential model or template for a multi-media "E-book" or "Video Book" of the future.

    Unfortunately, neither the KINDLE nor the SONY readers currently have the multi-media display capability for such an electronic book-of-the-future.

    AND my traditional print-book publisher (ARCADE, NYC) is neither equipped nor interested in pursuing this idea. And my literary agent (the Levine Greenburg Literary Agency,NYC) doesn't have the time or inclination to pursue the possibility of transforming my website into a Video Book.

    To get an idea of what I am talking about, look at the film clips in photo-essays #1,10,12,13,14,19,22,23 & 33 on my website.

    While it's obvious that a film clip & photo-rich video book for a movie-maker like Charlie Chaplin is a natural subject, the video book possibilities are infinite:

    Picture a Martin Luther King VIDEO BOOK biography where the reader flips/clicks effortlessly between printed text describing the Selma march or the I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH and is then able to view the actual newsreel footage of those events before returning back to the text itself. And the same applies to history books and instructional books.

    So if there's any willing and knowledgeable established publisher out there in the blogosphere and cyberspace please check this out.

    Right now I feel like a visionary whose short-sighted (and deaf) agent and publisher cant see/hear what their daffy author is talking about.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.