In thinking about this assignment, I considered what I think makes a book a book. I like e-books, but when I think of a book that's not what I think of. I like paper and ink and binding, in a physical object that takes up space on my shelf. There's something about a book that is special, something to reading a book that is different than reading the exact same content on an iPad or a Kindle. It's more than the difference between listening to music on mp3s vs. vinyl (which I also do quite a bit). Reading a physical book engages the senses more, and the tiny, subtle details really define the experience.
That being said, I really like the interactiveness of e-books. The ability to embed hyperlinks into a novel, or copy and paste text at will, is perhaps the most interesting thing to have happened to literature in decades. Therefore, I figured that I would make a mock book that combines the two - a physical book with some of the augmented features of an e-book.
(Note: Please ignore and/or forgive my somewhat poor Photoshop skills. I'm an audio/video producer, and not very good with Photoshop, but this was the best way I could get my idea across.)
As you can see, this a real book, with ink and pages and other such wonderful high-tech features.
However, you can use it like an e-book. Certain things would contain hyperlinks. For instance, selecting the "soon to be a major motion picture" icon would bring up the film's trailer, right on the cover of the book.
Also, text could be selectable. This would make for easy quotations and such.
These are just a couple of things that would be possible with this interactive physical book. Is it possible? I don't know. But would I buy it if it existed? Absolutely.
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