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The Ipad has been available for over a year. In that short time, the device has come a long way. More content providers are embracing the Ipad as well as the new line of Android tablets, creating innovative ways for the user to view their content. (I will cover some of those ways in later posts.) Unfortunately, most providers are still stuck in the past, clinging to their old ways. Books are basically books in the traditional sense,. Magazines are mostly still just page flips. A few might add links or embed video. But this feeble attempt at enhancement is mostly designed to allow management to tell the shareholders that the company is providing Ipad specific content. In reality, the biggest advantage they provide is the ability to have all your magazines and books on one device without having to carry them around.
For the photographer, the Ipad provides amazing apps to show photo portfolios, manipulate and catalog images, or enhance the built-in camera (see previous post). However, when it comes to educational content on the best techniques for photo manipulation or capturing an image, the Ipad is seriously deficient. For such a content rich industry, those publishers are also stuck in the page flip mentality with only a handful of apps taking advantage of the tablet’s unique features.
Slowly, some publishers are coming around. (And I am sure 15 million Ipad’s sold might have something to do with it). One of these innovators is Push Pop Press. They have just released an Ipad version of Al Gore’s book, Our Choice. It is the perfect book to launch this type of initiative. The app allows the user to see top line information while drilling down to more specific information as needed. The content is both interactive and visually stunning, using photos, video, audio, infographics and maps to tell its story. It is still a book, but it does not take a linear approach. Instead, it allows the user to decide where to go and what to view. This is the future of publishing. Let’s hope publishers realize it so we don’t have to wait for the future to happen.
As Veruca Salt so eloquently stated: “I Want It Now!” See below for a video on this excellent app.
Al Gore’s Our Choice from Push Pop Press on Vimeo.
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At least Al Gore is right with regards to climate change, right? Or was he? He says it was man-made, not simply earth’s regular cycle over many thousands of years. You think?
I have actually read many scientific journals on this subject and my conclusion is that global climate change is man made or at least man accelerated, although it is not 100%. More like 85%. But that is enough to warrant action. As for Gore, I think his problem is that by pushing the doomsday scenario, he loses credibility. The facts are there, it will be a problem, but how deep is that problem? how long will it take? It will be bad, but will humans disappear or will New York become Venice, well that chance is much smaller. I think that attitude drives people away from the issue, as crazy conspiracy. Makes Gore look more like a person on the fringe, which ultimately hurts the debate. I have only perused this book, but I am hoping the data chosen is not the extreme data but the more likely scenarios.