read on

“Lovers of print are simply confusing the plate for the food.” 
― Douglas Adams

I've been long overdue for a post about digital books. I don't know why I haven't written about this hot topic yet. Digital books, e-books, i-books. Whatever you want to call them, they are now an integral part of my everyday life.

So why have I been avoiding the topic? Because I don't have any hard set opinions on which is better. 

Here is where I'm coming from (and what I'm debating).

1. I am completely undecided about digital books vs actual books. Because I read both. I know this may be hard to believe, but I currently have two hardcover books checked out from the public library, along with an audio book (which I refer to as a "cd on tape"), and at least a dozen e-books on my iPad (by way of the Kindle app). Yep, I've got books in all formats. So which is my preferred method? I still don't know. I read them all, with no major problems. +0

2. I do not believe there are any long range studies that conclude without a doubt anything about the use of e-books. How can there be? The internet/e-book world hasn't been around long. I'm not saying I don't see any studies posted. I do. It's just that every week a new study comes out, typically contradicting last week's study. How about we hold off on any e-book "conclusions" until significance has been taking into consideration? +0

3. The data does show, however, that reading online does not damage your eyes. I heard this rumor throughout college, as my classmates found themselves needing glasses more and more. This is not the fault of reading on computer screens. This is a result of aging and lots of reading in less than ideal circumstances (too close, not enough light). And I speak from experience: in the fifteen years that I have been reading 8+ hours a day on screens of all shapes and sizes, my eyesight has never gotten any worse. I will need "reading glasses" in a few years, but that's from the decrease in elasticity in the crystalline lens in my eyes, not from a lifetime of reading online. +1 digital reading.

4. I had a horrible first experience reading online. It was in the form of the GRE exam I took my senior year of college. I didn't know until I went to register for the test, but the only way the test could be taken was on a computer. Not a huge deal for the vocabulary section, but a horrific way to attempt to answer the questions about the passage. This was over a decade ago; reading online was not interactive at all. You couldn't touch the screen, let alone highlight a word, see the whole passage alongside the questions, or go back to the passage. You had no choice but to read the passage as it was printed on the screen, half at a time, and then answer the questions on a new page. No exceptions. No underlining, no going back, no fun. It turned me off to reading online for a long long time. +1 actual reading. 

5. The book writing and publishing industry seems to be doing okay with the mass switch to digital books/reading. Unlike the music industry, it's a lot harder to pirate copy a book than a song. I have yet to unlawfully obtain a digital book. It's not a battle I see being waged. If anything, we are seeing more books because of digital publishing. Case and point: Fifty Shades of Grey. Sigh. Not a selling point for digital books. +1 actual books.

Is this what the library is starting to look like?

In summary, the digital world has yet to win me over. But it's not because it's bad for me or my eyes. It's more a behavior change. I mean, eventually my computer went from my desktop, to my lap, to my hand. It appears books are following this same course. I have found that e-books travel well. Although computers/phones/tablets eventually run out of power. And they are hard to take to the beach. And I can't exactly read them in the bath. But they're portable. And they contain entire libraries of books in one single click. So, I'll give digital reading another go around. But for now, nothing beats turning the pages of an actual book.

Final count: 
Actual books/reading: 2 points
Digital books/reading: 1 point

Conclusion: Reading always wins

writing season

My first few weeks of unemployment didn't really feel like unemployment. Between travel, travel, and more travel, every day was filled with some sort of meeting, obligation, or deadline. For the past four weeks I have longed for a true unemployment day - nowhere to be, nowhere to go. A "holy shit, I'm unemployed" realization day. I took that day, and I'm bored already. Or rather, I'm ready to get back to work. 

I'm beginning to realize that unemployment = time. It is completely up to me how I spend my time. Right now, I spend it writing.

Because I have to write a business plan. Not just any business plan; the plan for my start-up company. There are a lot of firsts along with writing this plan. My first start-up. My first market testing. My first move into Venture Capital. My first investment. My first for profit company. But not my first partnership, not my first passion project, and not my first venture into the unknown. Just my first real business plan.

So, I sit at home and write. I sit in the coffee shop and write. I sit in the library and write. I sit outside (when my computer is charged) and write.

Writing something as long as a business plan requires stamina. There are no quick emails sent out, no quick feedback, and no quick phone calls. There is definitely no stopping by a co-worker's cubicle to ask her a quick question. 

Instead, I write and write. And then I look for something else to do. Most of my day is now spent alone, writing. And drinking coffee. And surfing the internet while thinking. And texting/sending instant messages to have some way to communicate with other people during the day.

Currently, business planning is enough for me. But I can tell that sometime soon I'll look forward to heading into a job, complete with meetings, deadlines, constant email communication, and even being judged by someone else's standards. But that's some day. 

For now, I've got to work on this all consuming business plan...

how to write an iBook - part 2

I went to the Yucatán with a mission; to write an iBook. Armed with Sue's secret iBook writing formula, I first needed to research the Maya. After I discovered the online history books were getting their facts wrong, I immersed myself in local Maya culture, people, and artifacts. After an in-depth trip to the Museum of the Mayan World, followed by a few trips to local Mayan ruins, I stopped by a few local villages to check facts with my new found Mayan friends. It was a lot of information. How was I ever going to remember it all?

A relic from the Mayan World Museum

A few years ago I discovered a helpful traveler's trick; to take photos of writing. Have you ever taken a photo of an amazing place, only to forget later what was in the photo? A quick helpful trick, thanks to the unlimited photo taking digital cameras allow, is to snap a quick photo of the item's description or marker. In the end, it's a very helpful way to remember. But in the meantime, it leaves me overwhelmed with the sheer number of photos I have to sort through.

The actual description of the relic pictured above!

Armed with photos, interviews, background and hard fact information, I was ready to sit down and write my iBook. But I was still missing one of the most important iBook parts; the community contributed artwork. This is an integral aspect of our interactive art iBooks. But my time in the Yucatán was running out.

I showed up at Dona Vero's Monday night Proyecto Itzaes group armed with an activity for the kids; draw your interpretation of the word "pyramid." Dona Vero repeated the assignment to anyone who arrived at the Proyecto, and I know she understood the gist of the assignment. We all have ideas of what pyramids look like. But instead of drawing a pyramid we've seen before, what would each person imagine? I thought this was a pretty simple assignment to start. And it would help me with my iBook.

I am thrilled to be able to add Chixculub Pueblo contributed artwork as I work on my final iBook product. But what you will see in the final product is not a crazy idea of a pyramid. Or even a different shaped pyramid. Every person (child and adult alike) who contributed artwork to the iBook all drew me the same pyramid: Chichen Itza. Some drew it from memory from books seen/read (no one had actually seen Chichen Itza up close), while others opened a Maya culture book and copied the pyramid exactly. I was astonished; where was the imagination?

Three versions of the same pyramid: Chichen Itza

The imagination was nowhere to be found. But this is not all that uncommon. The Mexican educational system is a very exacting one. Questions are asked, answers are written in black and white, and it's a very clear cut system. What I was asking for did not have a correct answer. But that was what I was given; a response that your interpretation of a pyramid must be Chichen Itza to be correct. And yes, their drawings were correct and I will use them in the iBook. But I was looking for anything but the ordinary. I was looking for a place where imagination took over and there are no wrong answers. Where was the inquiry? Where was the imagination? Where was the ability to let go of the belief in one right answer?

I guess I have my work cut out for me.

how to write an iBook - part 1

A few months ago, I met a professional colleague. We were comparing tablets/digital book reading apps, when she showed me her iBooks. She had created them by writing the code herself. They were fun, beautifully laid out, and, most importantly, interactive. There were pictures and stories narrated by her daughter. There were student drawings and activities and a page inside an iBook where you can practice writing your signature directly on the pad. I was sold. Actually, I was more than sold - I joined the company. And that is how my partnership with Sue was born. I knew a good (actually, a great) idea when I saw it. This is where my allegiance with StoryRobin, Inc comes from.

What do I do for StoryRobin? Well, aside from editing content and writing our business plan, I am going to write an iBook. The iBooks (StoryRobin is up to about 10 at last count) are Sue's lifeline. Trained as an Art Docent for her daughter's school district, Sue works with fellow docents to create the best, most educational, most accurate iBooks about different artists. From Georgia O'Keeffe to Leonardo da Vinci, Sue is passionate about her final products. 

Yesterday, Sue shared her "secret sauce" with me. 

I'm heading to Mexico (the Yucatan) next week. Why not ask the Yucatecos to help me write an iBook about Mayans? I can't wait! I have big plans for this project. Write the iBook, visit the ruins, learn more than what's in the Encyclopedia, take pictures, and ask the children of the Yucatan to add their content; original drawings and stories. Oh, and translate it all back and forth (English to Spanish then back to English).

But first, Sue has to tell me "how to write a StoryRobin iBook." While I don't want to give away our secret formula (we are selling these iBooks for profit after all), I do want to keep my audience in the loop as I go through the new process of writing my own iBook. It's not that frequently any more that I have access to students interested in drawing and art.

Plus, Mayans are cool. The whole lunar calendar, codexes (sounds cool), and human sacrifices (Sue told me NOT to mention anything in the book about cannibalism/sacrifice). Easy enough.

I spent the day creating an "Outline" for the iBook - what will we cover, what do students already know (or assume) about Mayans, where should be focus (the Yucatec Mayans, of course). What I ended up with was a perfectly cited research paper. In a word, boring. No wonder I need to Sue.

Take out the words, and add in the pictures (example below).

So, how to write an iBook - part 1 is under way. Stay tuned for parts 2 - infinity. I have a feeling this is no small undertaking.

Sue's comments:

• Add stories.
• Add something related to today’s life.
• Add pictures.
• Include more fun facts.

My response:

Ceramic cacao vessel lid from Tonina.
Cacao beans guarded by monkey

Photo courtesy of Maya Exhibition, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau