New developments in digital technology have forever changed the way we receive and share information. Where we once relied solely on the printed page to disseminate knowledge, we now have a host of visual media designed to entertain and inform. We watch the news on our computer screens and send e-mails on our Blackberries and iPhones, the speed of our correspondence hampered only by how quickly we punch the keys. The recent advent of e-reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's upcoming Nook even allow us to download and enjoy digital books wirelessly. With such advanced digital reading and video technology at our fingertips, it was only a matter of time before someone decided to combine the two media into one. Enter the "vook."
Vook (rhymes with book) , a company founded in 2008 by entrepreneur Brad Inman, blends a book, high-quality video, and Internet connectivity into one product that can be viewed on either a computer screen or an iPhone. The user can read the book, watch videos to enhance the text, and connect with the book's author or with other users via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The video clips embedded in each vook visually emphasize and reinforce the book's most important themes, enriching the reader's overall understanding of the text. Readers can watch a chef instruct the most difficult part of a recipe, see a trainers instructions while they are at the gym, or learn more about their favorite classic book through interviews with experts — all from within the vook reader.
Movies adapted from books have long been a popular genre; in fiction vooks, the videos essentially function as short films, depicting key scenes and even advancing the plot. In nonfiction vooks, the videos generally feature the author elaborating on important points or demonstrating how to do something.
Vook has already released six of its namesake products, two of which are fiction titles published in conjunction with Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint: Promises, a romance novella by Jude Deveraux, and Embassy, a thriller by Richard Doetsch. There are also four nonfiction vooks: The 90-Second Fitness Solution, a diet and exercise title; Return to Beauty, a vook on how to make all-natural beauty products; The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen, a cookbook; and a vook of Gary Vaynerchuk's business bestseller, Crush It! from HarperStudio.
Vook's innovative feature set makes it a perfect tool for expanding the horizons of education as well. Vook recognizes that the future of reading is directly connected to the future of learning. By hyperlinking of key terms in books and its video content that can annotate a text with historical perspective and information, Vook is opening up a new way to engage with a narrative. Recognizing that, Vook launched its most recent title, The Sherlock Holmes Experience Vook, with an offer to provide every educator and library in the U.S. and U.K. with a free copy of the Vook. Librarians can access this free copy by visiting: http://www.vook.com/sherlock_holmes_education.php.
The vook, among other digital reading devices, is changing the way we read. But the basic principle behind products like the vook - that reading should be as enjoyable and accessible as possible for everyone — is one that book-lovers and libraries can stand behind, regardless of how tech-savvy they are. To find out more about vooks, visit the website at http://www.vook.com/.
