Tuesday, November 29, 2011

NZ invention may transform the reading experience


“Booktrack will transform reading, the way sound transformed silent film” 
What is Booktrack?
·        Booktrack is creating the standard and platform for a new genre of entertainment content that provides synchronized movie-style soundtracks to eBooks.
·        Sound effects, music audio and ambient sounds are automatically paced to an individual's reading speed to match the storyline.  The result is a totally immersive experience that pulls the reader into the author’s world.
·        Created by New Zealand brothers Mark & Paul Cameron, and with financial backing of PayPal founder Peter Thiel, The Hyperfactory's Derek Handley, and Facebook's director of global creative solutions Mark D'Arcy, Booktrack was launched in New York in August 2011.
·        Booktrack brings together paradigm-shifting innovation at the intersection of two rapidly growing markets: eBooks and tablet devices.
·        Booktrack Website: www.booktrack.com
·        About Booktrack Video:http://www.youtube.com/user/BookTrack#p/u/4/EJAOOPdw3h8
·        Booktrack Apps in iTunes: http://goo.gl/YC6YL
Booktrack Press
·        "Bells and Whistles for ... E-Books"--New York Times
·        "Could transform your reading experience forever."--Business Insider
"The Future of Reading? ... A thrilling prospect"--The Atlantic
·        "A big step forward ... It reads your mind"--Smithsonian Magazine
·        “The big buzz around e-books are devices, like Amazon's upcoming tablet, and apps such as Booktrack that take interacting with stories to a new level.”—Los Angeles Times
·        “10 Hot Companies to Watch Over the Next Year… Not only do I think these guys will still be around in a year, I would expect major growth and expansion..” - Huffington Post
Booktrack Achievements
·        Top 3 Sales Ranking Apple App Store Book Category
·        Selected as both “New & Noteworthy” and “What’s Hot” in the Apple App Store
·      280 worldwide media articles including BBC Breakfast TV appearance
·   150 positive app reviews in Apple iTunes
Booktrack Partners
·        Sony/ATV Music Publishing
·        Park Road Post Production
·        New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
·        Salman Rushdie – “In the South”upcoming release
·        James Frey – “The Power of Six”Booktrack released
Research
Research conducted by Professor of Communications Liel Leibovitz at New York University concluded that Booktrack's innovative technology provides “a significant benefit in terms of increased, clarity, focus and retention of information over traditional e-reading”.
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” H. M. Warner, co-founder Warner Brothers, 1927.


And a PS:

Quote from Time Magazine Article: “The Talkies” 1928 on The Talkies - “…the effect is startling, but often annoying...”

Quote from The Literary Digest Article: “A Brittish Jab at our talkies” July 1929 “…it makes a double assault on the nerves…

disruptive technology . Adj. 1 innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network, 2 is polarizing: paradigm-shifting, anger-inducing, and light bulb-busting.  Love it or hate it. Very little middle ground.   It’s a disruptive idea when people trying to protect the status quo hate it

2 comments:

AnneE said...

This is a ghastly idea! The whole point of "silent reading" is that it IS silent!!! This is the absolutely last thing I would want to have. The "talkies" comparison isn't valid at all.

Keri Hulme said...

Reading a good book induces a kind of trance-like awareness, that is entirely individual. I cant think of anything more superfluous to reading pleasure than somebody else's idea of what you should be *hearing*
while reading!

Hope this invention enters oblivion very soon.