Book Tracks

I recently stumbled upon a site, can’t really remember how, maybe Reddit, called Book Tracks. It’s an interesting new way to look at reading. One that, as an artist, I’ve thought much about myself. Thought I would imagine getting it to be just right could be very challenging.

 Book Tracks, for those of you who don’t know, is way to add audio to books. This audio can range from music to simple sounds; such as the creaking of a door or the thumping of boas against the docks. It’s a way to add extra depth to a novel. An extra sense to really pull you in. 

Though i’m all for this, as almost everyone walks around with a Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their pockets, I could see it causing a ripple in throughout the writing/reading community. Will a Book Track book be considered a book? Novels are works of words and the readers imagination. A novel doesn’t have sounds.

Book Tracks bridges the gap between reading and listening. How will a Book Track book be categorized? Is half way to a radio show isn’t it? Can it be considered a novel among your typical everyday non audio version? Or will it end up being flagged like a picture book. 

We’ll have to wait and see. But I for one am exciting to finally see technology used. It’s part of what makes advancement great.

-Your Procrastinating Sometimes Blogger 

JAMS – Yes, I still listen to this everyday since watching Guardians.

Books and the Future

Authors are creative people, if a bit what Kanye West would call cray cray. But I think the two come hand in hand, and so we must all put up with the ridiculous things they invent while we benefit from the ingenious things the invent. Yes, I said invent because in a way the create things that are unfathomable and in some cases some geek somewhere goes, that would be so cool to actually have, or I wonder if that can really be done?

 

Stories that we love give us inspiration. For some people this is the inspiration to go out and change your life.  Others sit back and decide they need to have better relationships with their mothers or fathers. Some people read a book and are like, “you know what? I could be a pirate.”. And luckily for all of us there are those scientists that read a book and see the future. I’m talking about the people that see Ironman and attempt to make a working Mark IV.  Which by the way, I really hope someone achieves someday, because being Ironman would rock.

 

Now, you might be sitting there thinking this is all cool and would be fun but hardly possible. A working Ironman suit could never possibly work, right? Well that’s what they said about going to the moon  or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But they both do now thanks to advance in technology. Of course, I don’t mean an actual Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but a concept of the device.  If you haven’t read the series, do so. Or at least the first book, because I’ll admit I didn’t make it through the 3^rd for some reason or another.  But for those of you who don’t know, or need a little reminder,  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  at its core is a book all in an electronic device. No pages, no bindings, just an electronic box that you can pull up any page to look at. Amazing right? Also pretty common now a days isn’t it, in many different forms too!  Nook, Kindle, there’s even ones out there that can do far more than what The Hitchhiker’s Guide could do.

 

What I’m getting at is that books inspire the future. What someone creates in their craft can very likely become common place down the line because somebody smart that it would be really cool. In this way you could argue that authors are inventors. And because of this, a fully functional Ironman suit could be on the way. At least, that’s what I hope.

 

-Your Inventor of Things That are As Physically Impossible as Possible in Order to Generate a Fantastic Future