[Betsy the Quilter]

Just saw this referenced by a friend and KBoards member on Facebook:


$1.99 or free in KU.

It's a Kindle in Motion book. This is what it says on the product page:

Rediscover the heartwarming story of a lonely girl's transformation within a secret English garden-presented for the first time with stunning custom animations and illustrations.

Read this story on any device, just like any other Kindle book. You can view art, animation, or video on any compatible device.

Kindle in Motion books include art, animation, or video features that can be viewed on certain Fire tablets and the free Kindle app for iOS and Android. You can switch features on or off at any time.

See more books like this. (Looks like there are only two books so far...)

So, I'm gathering that on an eInk device, it just looks like a normal Kindle book--but that there is animation or video on tablets and phones.

Betsy

 

[Ann in Arlington]

Here's another -- it's Poe so it could be very creepy.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Yeah, those seem to be the only two so far...

Here's what the cover looks like on Secret Garden:

There's not a lot of animation/video so far in the book. Not so much as to be distracting.

Betsy

 

[barryem]

There are those who want to do this crazy stuff to our books and I think it's kind of awful.  Not that some of these might not be fun and charming and even delightful, but if they catch on in a big way we might just be starting down the path away from books as we know them and I hate to see that happen.

A good example of what I'm talking about happened in audiobooks where they began experimenting with multiple narrators, sometimes swapping narrators at chapter breaks and sometimes having someone read each part, which makes dialog incredibly clumsy.  I tried a few of these.  I liked the first couple but then the new wore off and I began to realize it just wasn't the book anymore.  I stopped listening to them.  The problem is that a lot of books I wanted to listen to were only available in that way.

I would hate to see that happen with books.  Audiobooks don't matter to me.  They're sometimes fun and they're a decent way to read a book if done well.  But with multiple narrators they're something new and not the book at all.

I'm fairly sure that'll be true with books with animation.  With a Poe story who cares!  But with a novel it can be pretty distracting and I doubt it will be reading.

By the way my comments about multiple narrators in audiobooks don't apply to audiodrama, an entirely seperate medium just as movies are a different medium than books.

Barry

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Well, it doesn't work on eInk Kindles, and you can turn it off on tablets.

I didn't find it distracting--it was very limited.  I don't think it added much either, but I did think the cover was kind of cool.

Betsy

 

[Amiedoll]

That does look awesome 

 

[Ann in Arlington]

Well, it doesn't work on eInk Kindles, and you can turn it off on tablets.

I didn't find it distracting--it was very limited. I don't think it added much either, but I did think the cover was kind of cool.

Betsy

I thought it looked cool too . . . and I think I forget sometimes that some people ONLY read on tablets since I vastly prefer my eInk. And, to clarify, the books are completely readable on eInk, but the fancy-schmancy moving stuff doesn't work. Amazon has had books before that did something like this -- had extra embedded videos or something -- but they didn't work on eInk devices at all; they were ONLY for tablets. This is definitely an improvement.

I can see this being pretty cool for tablet readers. Maybe a good way to help kids transition from almost pure picture books to 'chapter books' and more grown up reading. I might have to try one just to see -- they're in KU so I probably will eventually.

 

[kansaskyle]

I thought the cover looked neat. 

I've read several Dickens' novels, and many of them included illustrations.  I guess the 'in motion' thing is a 21st Century progression.

 

[Rasputina]

Here's another -- it's Poe so it could be very creepy.

Oh thanks for the link, I'm ordering it! I love the concept.

 

[Rasputina]

I flipped through it and I really love this concept. I had it sent to my iphone 6+ and ended up playing Nox Arcana's Darklore Manor on the music app while I read the book. Nice spooky instrumental background and the animations inside the book are great including red fingerprints. I searched but only the two titles posted in this thread showed up as "kindle in Motion" items.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

Yeah . . . . my guess is they're rolling them out slowly . . . see how they do. Though they haven't advertised 'em much . . . I've not seen 'em on the main page or announced on FB or anywhere . . . maybe waiting until they do have more titles.

 

[Linjeakel]

Both those titles are available on Amazon UK, but I had to search for them. As you say, they're not yet making a big thing out of it while there're so few titles.

As they're both on KU I've sent them to my Fire, but I'll have to wait till I get home to take a look at them. Interesting idea!

 

[Rasputina]

I saw two more new books added a week or so ago, but I can't remember the titles now.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

Looks like there are 6 titles right now:

https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dbs_P_R_oz_land_page?_encoding=UTF8&node=14530743011

 

[tsemple]

Given Amazon's practice of charging publishers for Delivery Costs (e.g., https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A29FL26OKE7R7B), I do not see a trend developing, at least with self-publishers.These ebooks are huge (when delivered to devices that support them)!

 

[barryem]

I'm all for experimenting with new forms but I'd like to see it be done without influencing the old forms. It seems like this is the sort of thing that would be better as a new medium; something different; something other than books.

Kind of in the same way that audio drama and audiobooks and movies are different than books. If they try to make this something new in books it risks turning books into something other. It threatens books as we know them. I find this pretty scary.

Again, I'm certainly not against trying this sort of thing as long as it's tried as something new; it's own medium. If they did that I might find I like it. As it is it's just a threat I want to avoid.

[edit] I just realized that a good example of what I'm talking about took place when automobiles replaced horses. The book "The Magnificent Ambersons" focused on the changes that made in our society. I doubt Books in Motion will have that profound an effect but I worry that it'll have a bad effect at least on reading as we know it. By the way, if anyone is interested that's one hell of a book. And it was the second book to be given a Pulitzer Prize.[/edit]

Barry

 

[tsemple]

I actually like KIM, at least in the contexts I've seen it used so far. Though I think animated SVG might be far more practical in terms of managing file size and sticking with web standards (SVG 2.0 spec was just published, it is becoming a preferred Flash replacement). I don't see it becoming ubiquitous, but I think it is good to have more design options available to digital publishers. These have been relatively sparse when compared to print.

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I think 'scary' is a bit extreme . . . . . the 'in motion' part works if you're using a tablet/phone and doesn't on an eInk device. Plus, you can turn it off. Seems sort of like the best of both to me.

 

[Rasputina]

I'm not sure what's scary about authors having the choice to add animation to their books. You don't even see it on eink devices.

 

[barryem]

What's scary is that it might catch on and become the way books are.  To me books are simple and quiet and they hold still while I read.

One of the advantages often cited for e-ink ereaders over tablets is that they're distraction free.  Adding animation is adding distraction.  It could also lead to adding ads.

That it doesn't work on e-ink devices means nothing since, if they catch on, the next generation of e-ink devices might play the animations and if it catches on a lot it might be attractive to writers.

I remember what happened to science fiction when it got popular after Star Wars.  I used to read a lot of SF and it was good stuff, mostly written by writers who loved doing it because most could make more doing other kinds of writing.  Most SF was about science extended.  Then it got popular and that meant it paid well and more and more writers jumped on the band wagon and turned SF into fantasy and into distopean visions of the future and into sociology and added elves and dragons and did all sorts of other nasty things to SF.  I quit reading SF, except for reading an occasional older book.

Reading, to me, is words on a page.  Add animation to that and it's not reading.  It might be fun and enjoyable and artistic but it's not reading as I know it and want to continue to know it.

Barry