Books in the balance
Al Gore and interactive books! This blog post was made for me!
The interactions are super-slick—a trademark of the Push Pop Press platform. But if you ask me, it’s all a bit too textbook. For some reason everybody thinks non-fiction and educational stuff is the right content for this awesome new canvas, and I think it’s a mistake.
Here’s my prediction: the first truly meaningful (and truly popular) interactive book isn’t going to be about the environment or science or history. It’s going to be an absolutely jaw-dropping children’s book.
So, less Earth in the Balance and more Harry Potter and the Balance of Earth?
Cf Futurama, of course. (Wish I had a video.)
Yes! I exchanged tweets with my mom today about this very thing. She referenced the great Living Books software series from when I was young and my brothers’ interactive textbooks, and said “Kids’ media always ahead.”
And Tim, I’d wager it’d be more in the vein of Tintin and the Balance of the Earth.
“Sure, blame the wizards.”
Neal Stephenson’s “The Diamond Age” fleshes out Robin’s prediction.