Voyage of the Dawn Treader

[davem]

So, not Tolkien, but this looks interesting: Voyage of the Dawn Treader enhanced e-book http://www.marketwatch.com/story/step-through-the-wardrobe-and-into-the-future-of-digital-reading-2010-11-11?reflink=MW_news_stmp THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER Enhanced eBook will be available on a number of handheld multimedia readers and touchscreen devices. Interactive features include:

Embedded Video: An Animated Journey of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader--an exclusive video offering readers a journey along the animated time line of the ship and crew's voyage, with original Pauline Baynes artwork, music, and narration

Integrated read-along audio excerpts: abridged text read by Derek Jacobi

Interactive trivia: flip the cards to test your Narnian knowledge

Full-color images: just double tap to enlarge

In addition, THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER Enhanced eBook features:

Map of Narnia: the original Pauline Baynes map of Aslan's kingdom, as well as a Map of the Great Eastern Ocean, where the adventures of the Dawn Treader take place

Blueprint of the Dawn Treader

Guide to 'The Creatures of Narnia' and 'The People of Narnia'

I wonder if we might see something similar done with The Hobbit?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I wonder if we might see something similar done with The Hobbit?

Hm, possibly with animated scripted map with glowing letters appearing only when your computer clock determines full moon?

[Inziladun]

I'm well aware that I'm an anachronism in this day and age, but to me all those "enhancements" only serve to distract from the book itself. Do people really want that stuff, or is it just an excuse to knock the price upwards?

[Bêthberry]

Integrated read-along audio excerpts: abridged text read by Derek Jacobi

I don't know about this. I remember Derek Jacobi being outstanding in [i]I, Claudius[/b], and I'm having trouble seeing Claudius in Narnia. ;)

I wonder if we might see something similar done with The Hobbit?

I wouldn't think it would happen soon, now that it appears the movie will go ahead, but if there's a profit to be made in the foreseeable future, it wouldn't surprise me. Although JRRT might be rolling in the grave.

Obviously, I'm with Inzil on this one. :D

I don't think my computer is set up to determine full moon.

[Formendacil]

Do people really want that stuff, or is it just an excuse to knock the price upwards?

Got to do something to justify that $20.00 pricetag for a book now that there's no longer any paper involved, but all that pure profit to be soaked in....

...and you definitely can't go giving the author a bigger share either--they might quit their day jobs!

[Nerwen]

Do people really want that stuff, or is it just an excuse to knock the price upwards?
Perhaps both– I mean, children might like some of these "special features", but at the same time it sounds like it's been mostly thrown together out of a combination of material they had already, plus rather run-of-the mill additions, like "interactive trivia". (I should have thought we were long past the days when interactive = magic!)

[Folwren]

I know Derek Jacobi is a great actor who plays in some Shakespearian movies, but I don't know if that would be enough to induce me to get this, for myself or my kids, if I ever have any.

That's kind of odd, really. I think part of books being so wonderful is the fact that in reading them, people must rely so much on their own imagination to hear and see what is going on. It is sad that people want to take that away from the experience.

[Mithalwen]

While usually I am a Luddite I can see some useful add ons but I would like having the maps - I don't have a strong sense of direction naturally and am always referring to maps esp the Journeys of Frodo to get a sense of things so that would be good.

[Pitchwife]

I remember Derek Jacobi being outstanding in [i]I, Claudius[/b], and I'm having trouble seeing Claudius in Narnia.
Yes, he was unforgettable as C-c-claudius, but he's also played a very nice Brother Cadfael, among other things, so I have great confidence in his ability to handle the nuances of pretty much any material he gets thrown at him.
Personally, I'm a sucker for maps, blueprints and such (preferably on good paper), but I can certainly do without such merchandizing chaff as 'interactive trivia' and embedded animations. But then, I've never bought an e-Book anyway and I'm not very likely to buy one in the foreseeable future.

[Leyrana Silumiel]

While I'm a BIG proponent of eBooks (for assorted reasons, including the usefulness of them when it comes to visual disabilities), I don't see myself buying this one or any other "interactive" eBook. My nook (the original one, not that color nook they're coming out with) suits me just fine, because all I'm in it for is to read the book. I don't need any fancy graphics or read-alongs or whatever else these publishers feel the urge to cram into eBooks nowadays. (Though I DO really like the clickable notes that take you to the footnotes / endnotes in question; those are always really useful when reading nonfiction AND even fiction -- such as Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell book.) It just hits a point where there's just TOO much, and it detracts well away from the book. Whatever happened to just reading?

[Mithalwen]

Yes, he was unforgettable as C-c-claudius, but he's also played a very nice Brother Cadfael, among other things, so I have great confidence in his ability to handle the nuances of pretty much any material he gets thrown at him..

Oh he was great as Cadfael. I must admit that that although I haven't yet tried an ebook myself I have dipped a toe in the water for the Gutenberg project and Iwhen travelling - my young cousin in the navy allowed about a shoebox full of personal possessions at sea is certainly aprreciating being able to take a load of books on his iphone, and hte read quality is much better than I anticipated.

[Pitchwife]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I didn't intend to diss e-books in general - I'm grateful to the people at Project Gutenberg and others like them for making books available online that are hard to get elsewhere; it's just when I actually spend money for a book I prefer something more tangible.
Anyway, reading about this edition with its load of gimmicks somehow reminds me of Theodor W Adorno's words way back in the 1950s:
It is striking how these books seem to be ashamed of still being books at all, rather than animated movies or neon-lit shop-windows.
He was complaining about garishly illustrated book covers; little did he know what the future held in store...