My must read of the day is "Beguiling Books On Steroids Make Interactive Reading A Pleasure," by Malcolm Jones, in the Daily Beast:
The e-book fuses Kunzru’s immigrant tale with Moondog’s music and the sounds of the city, and it’s the total package, not any one element, that beguiles. Indeed, text and sound not only complement but enhance one another. After describing how Moondog was blinded by a blasting cap that exploded in his face, Kunzru writes (and the page goes black while the type goes white), "My brother is blind. This is one of the major dynamics in my life. His blindness, my sight. I can only imagine how it would feel to negotiate this city as a blind person. The open delivery hatches in the sidewalk, the fierce commuters. With so much uncertainty, so much to go wrong, there’s a need to make your own certainty, to find a system. The blind develop an appreciation for precision, repetition, knowability." While you’re reading this, Moondog’s music—bells, drums—is playing, intermingled with the sounds of the street—traffic, a ship’s foghorn. It seems louder suddenly, the city presses in. [...]
The only thing not included in this magnificent package is an audience. I hope it finds a big one.
I cannot understand the appeal of these types of "books," despite Jones’ eloquent portrayal of them.
If you want sounds and sights to help tell a story, go see a play, an opera, or a movie.
Reading a book is a solitary endeavor. No one definitively tells you how to imagine or interpret the words—that responsibility is given to the reader. It's what makes reading delightful, but with this kind of book you're surrendering that power and for what? Manufactured car horns and flashing light to emphasize the nuances of a city.
That's quite sad, and it seems to presuppose that readers are lazy and want, or worse need, to be told what the text describes.
If we embrace so called "interactive reading" we make reading a little bit lazier and much less fun ... so I'll be boycotting these and reading plain old words like a normal human.