Demibooks: Composer, books at a whole new level

He's just here to lure you in

So for my Interactive Media class (which I actually adore to death, readings and all) we're supposed to post up articles about new media and digital advances, mostly those relating to books and magazines and such, but other ones that might be interesting to. Yesterday, while trying to find something good to post, I ran across and article about the company Demibooks and a new app they have released for the iPad.

Basically, the digital publishing company Demibooks, has released an app specifically for the iPad (called Composer) which will allow authors to create interactive apps for their books without having to use or create complicated codes.

Don't get me wrong, I love print books and all their physical glory. My bookshelf is slowly overflowing with books, and that doesn't include all the books I have at my grandmother's house, or the books I've bought on my Kindle (love of physical books or not, there's no way I'm carrying 5 giant fantasy novels around while on vacation, sorry Jordan and Martin). But on the other hand, I also can't help but really love the idea of authors being able to add little interactive features, such as demonstrating gravity or layered audio, into their works (if they so chose). Interaction with books is a great way for children to learn and be engaged, and just as there are pop-up books, and books you can touch to feel textures, and books that have animal noises included, I feel like Demibook's Composer is just the natural and highly convenient next step when it comes to digital books. A step that will undoubtedly allow authors to expand their story and add a layer of creativity that a physical book by itself could never have contained.

For those of you who are interested in writing and creating interactive children's books (and have an iPad), the app is supposed to be free for a limited time, which is quite cool.