Book 2.0 Is Well On Its way

Call me old school, but from time to time I enjoy picking up a paperback book and read it like we all used to just a few years ago. These days there are just too many alternatives to those good old books. Amazon Kindle and Nook give consumers the opportunity to pick the books they want to read and save some money in the process. The delivery happens in a matter of minutes, so the process is much more convenient. Paper books are going to be around for the foreseeable future, but the nature of books is changing quickly. We are quickly moving away from the old model and are on our way towards Book 2.0 era.

The good old books do not interact with readers. They do not adapt to readers’ needs.  Readers can still get value from those books, but is that the best way to consume content? Future books will be much more dynamic and interactive. So while you can still read them as you would a paper book, you’ll have access to additional tools and features to get the most out of your books. Alice In Wonderland for iPad is one such example:

This does not mean that the future of books belongs to Apple or HP. Amazon and B&N will get their chance to offer interactive, adaptive books in the future. It’s just the matter of getting publishers on board. Both companies have the potential to support these types of books on their e-readers. Amazon is already working on Kindle SDK. B&N’s Nook runs Android, so supporting interactive books should not be an issue. Hardware-wise, both companies have some ways to go. But why focus on hardware when companies can revolutionize the way people consume and interact with their books?