My Shifting Thoughts On Enhanced Ebooks
One strong selling point of ebooks has been they can be enhanced, meaning, authors can add links to related websites and even videos, audio, music and anything else you wouldn’t find in a print book.
I’ll admit, even I promoted this idea as a step forward in the reading experience. But as I’ve been reading more and more ebooks though, my thoughts have shifted on the subject.
Because I read most of my ebooks on my Kindle (and before that, my Sony eReader), the e-ink display is simply not compatible with any kind of videos. Audio might be an option. And pictures are only in black and white. Links to websites might work with a limited browser, but seeing underlined words or passages serves mostly as a distraction while reading.
Bottom line: When I see an ebook being marketed as “enhanced” I skip over it without giving much thought to buying it.
Enhanced Ebook Advantages?
This is not to say that enhanced ebooks don’t have their place. For non-fiction, academic use, they can be a tool to help students understand the material better. At school, I’ve always been a visual person, especially in subjects like math and science.
Also, enhanced ebooks can be good for children. Anything that helps bring the story alive and helps kids learn to read has my full support.
When reading fiction, however, I don’t like distractions. On my Kindle, there’s a little status bar at the bottom of the screen. I haven’t figured out how to make it go away. But I find even that distracting.
For me, reading is about becoming immersed in the story. Being distracted with videos, animation and such is just not my cup of tea.
