info NeoGnostic: Is this how we'll read soon?

Recently, I noted that I thought some of the social e-books sites (such as The Institute for the Future of the Book's 'Gamer Theory' e-book site) are more about the writing process than the reading of a published book.

Now I have discovered (thanks to an if:book post, unbound reader) that another organisation has been working on an e-book model which is both ALL about reading and about reading socially. The Book Glutton blog, Frontmatters, has announced the beta version of Book Glutton with a short 'How it Works' YouTube video. And very impressive it looks too... at a glance, I would suggest that they have got at least some of the visual semiotics right.

The Unbound Reader... has a web-based format where users can read and discuss the book right inside the text... It also has shared annotations, so people can leave a comment on any paragraph and other readers can respond.

Centre-screen is a facsimile book page with simple and straightforward tools for navigation from book section to section or from page to page; to left and right of the page are slide-out bars which transform into a discussion tool linked to the page being read (left) and a note taker (right). You can share your notes or have your discussion with anyone and everyone reading or with friends or groups. A group could consist of your class mates; a reading group; or strangers brought together by th ebook and a particular interest. Book Glutton note that they are:

working to facilitate adoption of on-line reading. Book design is an important aspect of the reader, and it incorporates design elements, like dynamic dropcaps. Moreover, the works presented in the catalog are standards-based (BookGlutton is an early adopter of the International Digital Publishing Forum's .epub format for ebooks), and allows users to download a copy of anything they upload in this format for use elsewhere.

I think we might be getting there! Watch the video! This is - assuming that it makes it out of beta - certainly something to watch. It seems to be easy to use and rich in user tools that match the way the Google-/Facebook-generation work on the web. My only adverse comment so far is the need to scroll within each page.

>>Technorati tags: ebooks; reading; communities; Book Glutton