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What do graphical e-readers mean for comics and art books?

This video shows the theoretical Mag+ graphical e-reader in action. I think the designers are still too sentimental about print media (the big glossy covers on magazines were designed to attract your eye while you’re looking at a crowded newsstand – so what purpose does a “cover” serve if there is no news-stand?) but it still looks pretty cool. And there are some compelling user interface ideas.

And while we may never stop loving a handsomely bound graphic novel – this might offers a glimpse into the future of comics and art books.

  • http://petehindle.com/ Pete Hindle

    Uh-oh – it looks like somebody failed their saving through against shiny!

    http://benhammersley.com/2009/12/e-books-the-bigger-problem-part-two-of-three/ is one of the more sober approaches to eBooks and worth a read by anybody interested in this technology. At the minute, how much of the drive towards eReading technology is driven by fear of what happened in the music business happening in the publishing industry? Quite a lot, I’d wager.

    Fortunately, illustrators are probably one of the best groups to take advantage of the new technologies available from these technologies, but the question is more how the world of eBook publishing will be defined by those investing in it. If the distribution channels and approaches to technology stay as closed down as the current approaches to eBooks, then the internet will remain a much better distribution network for anybody who isn’t operating on a major level, such as Dan Brown.

  • http://petehindle.com Pete Hindle

    Uh-oh – it looks like somebody failed their saving through against shiny!

    http://benhammersley.com/2009/12/e-books-the-bigger-problem-part-two-of-three/ is one of the more sober approaches to eBooks and worth a read by anybody interested in this technology. At the minute, how much of the drive towards eReading technology is driven by fear of what happened in the music business happening in the publishing industry? Quite a lot, I’d wager.

    Fortunately, illustrators are probably one of the best groups to take advantage of the new technologies available from these technologies, but the question is more how the world of eBook publishing will be defined by those investing in it. If the distribution channels and approaches to technology stay as closed down as the current approaches to eBooks, then the internet will remain a much better distribution network for anybody who isn’t operating on a major level, such as Dan Brown.

  • http://www.multiplexcomic.com/ gmcalpin

    “What purpose does a ‘cover’ serve if there is no news-stand”?!

    You’re kidding me! It serves the same purpose as an album cover for a bunch of MP3s, or any other eBook. A giant splashy image to whet a reader’s appetite for goodness contained within ALWAYS serves a purpose, whether that content is physical or digital.

  • http://www.multiplexcomic.com gmcalpin

    “What purpose does a ‘cover’ serve if there is no news-stand”?!

    You’re kidding me! It serves the same purpose as an album cover for a bunch of MP3s, or any other eBook. A giant splashy image to whet a reader’s appetite for goodness contained within ALWAYS serves a purpose, whether that content is physical or digital.

  • http://www.dbclemons.com/ dbclemons

    However, you wouldn’t see the “cover” until you opened the file. It’s not like you can have a bunch of them on your coffee table or the dentist’s office. Covers do illustrate the contents of the book or mag in a single image. Often the cover is the best part.

    Are there any color reader devices on the market? All I’ve seen are black & white.

    As for art books, it might be interesting to have high-res images that I could scroll across, which I can already do on cheap laptop.

  • http://www.dbclemons.com/ dbclemons

    However, you wouldn’t see the “cover” until you opened the file. It’s not like you can have a bunch of them on your coffee table or the dentist’s office. Covers do illustrate the contents of the book or mag in a single image. Often the cover is the best part.

    Are there any color reader devices on the market? All I’ve seen are black & white.

    As for art books, it might be interesting to have high-res images that I could scroll across, which I can already do on cheap laptop.

  • http://www.brianbarber.com/ brian

    That was really well-done. I wonder if there will be templates available for smaller publications to make their content fit this kind of reader. It would be great if local newspapers could get their content on something like that, but very few would have the resources to program and develop something like that from scratch.

    Pair this up with the hype surrounding Apple’s upcoming tablet announcement, and it could be an interesting year.

  • http://www.brianbarber.com brian

    That was really well-done. I wonder if there will be templates available for smaller publications to make their content fit this kind of reader. It would be great if local newspapers could get their content on something like that, but very few would have the resources to program and develop something like that from scratch.

    Pair this up with the hype surrounding Apple’s upcoming tablet announcement, and it could be an interesting year.

  • http://drawn.ca/contributors/matt-forsythe Matt Forsythe

    @dbclemons Looking like the Apple Tablet will be the first colour e-reader on the market…

  • http://drawn.ca/contributors/matt-forsythe Matt Forsythe

    @dbclemons Looking like the Apple Tablet will be the first colour e-reader on the market…

  • rofu

    Matt you’re right. The whole handling of this thing would infringe Apple patents, so it can only be an Apple Tablet. But since Apple will not work properly with Flash Apps (like iPhone), it will be a failure.

  • http://www.robyn.de;www.robyn-fuhrmeister.de rofu

    Matt you’re right. The whole handling of this thing would infringe Apple patents, so it can only be an Apple Tablet. But since Apple will not work properly with Flash Apps (like iPhone), it will be a failure.