[sophie: a new way to read and write on the screen]
The Institute for the Future of the Book will soon be releasing Sophie: "a project that will transform the way we go about reading and writing in screen-based environments." Sophie is meant to bridge the gap that exists between either pdf-based or html-based applications. As the creators say,"both [pdfs and html] betray a paucity of imagination." Enter Sophie. Since books are not just about text, it creates a "reading environment" where all the usual "hypertext" attributes like adding notes, citations, using images, text, sound etc...will all be present. "Sophie aims to level the disparities between text and other media along with the disparities between the individual voice and the corporate. With Sophie, authors won’t need specialized training to assemble complex multimedia books. With Sophie, an average user should be able to make something like this document – or something more exciting." To me, this sounds promising in a democratising sort of way.
posted by Jess @ 09:13
4 comments
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jess @ jesslaccetti.co.uk
4 Comments:
hrm. I'm not entirely sure this isn't redundant software.
.pdfs can do nearly everything that sophie is supposed to be able to do, including citations, edits, images, and highlighting. The only exception is embedded media.
But most people these days have access to computers and the internet (at least a computer is a prerequisite for any kind of electronic media, obviously). The target demographic could do just fine with .pdfs that have links to external media. That way, one isn't distracted from the text, an the media serves its purpose as supplemental, rather than the central focus.
hmm, I forgot to add that .pdfs are consistent regardless of operating system. Furthermore, there are publishing programs other than .pdfs which make it incredibly easy to create ebooks, an example being adobe indesign.
Hi Pip,
Hrm. I take your point about Sophie seeming to do what pdfs already do; the Sophie creators have addressed that in their publication (which I've linked to in the main post). I do feel I must point out that you deem media other than text "supplemental." Considering different kinds of readers or different authorial strategies etc...; other representational modes become part of the narrative.
And there's my mistake - I was thinking Sophie would be used primarily for ebooks, as in a replacement/different version(?) of print media.
I disagree with the author's statement that only 'advanced' users can give a .pdf audio/video. I'm of the mind that if you truly want to create something (as I do, and am), then you will take the time to learn how. It doesn't take much effort, I've mastered it in a day and a half, and I'm not exactly known for picking things up quickly.
Also, the statement that you would have to remake the document to edit it is false: there are tools available to edit the document post "printing".
The only downside to books via electronic media I've found from my own polls, is that sitting and staring at a 500 page novel displayed on screen is quite annoying, and gives you a headache after a while. The benefit to pdfs, is that you can download and print them without messy reformatting.
Furthermore: the comment that Sophie will continue to run on a yet to be invented OS seems to lack substance. It's like saying "in twenty years, oranges will be purple". The little clause at teh end "provided that a squeak virtual machine can be built for it" amuses me. .pdf files more so even than .html files are platform independant, provided adobe reader, or any .pdf reader can be installed...and it can be installed on every version of linux, freebsd, windows, mac, etc I have ever encountered.
The concept that the ability to mark up margins is unavailable in .pdf format (which I believe to be superior to .html) is faulty. I would be happy to give anyone a lesson in the wonderful "comments" feature in adobe reader.
It's fairly easy to attach your own subtitles to a film as well, provided you have the right tools. .srt files are quite easy to make.
Microsoft Word as well as .pdfs have the ability to allow many people to add their own notes to a document. Microsoft word even has the option to save things in .rtf format, which is readable with various different programs.
In terms of education however, I'm afraid to say that I believe many of the programs created for educational purposes (blackboard learning etc) seem to be overpriced. I strongly doubt most Toronto schools will be able to afford this. Videos and DVDs and overheads and powerpoint work just as well, and will not increase costs to the schoolboard. I remember handing in many assignments via CD or email or on video or dvd in school, and I also remember many instances when we were required to do so, and given the tools.
While I can understand the problems the author illustrates with powerpoint, I think he is wrong in blaming the program. If a student really wants to write the report properly, he or she will write it properly, and most teachers don't much care for flashy things, choosing substance over glam. Powerpoint, from my experiences in high school, was always used as a supplement to an oral report, not the report itself.
The fact that it is Open Source doesn't help it too much either. Open source software is a wonderful thing, except for the lack of documentation. If you were to take a look at most linux platforms (open source!) you'd realise that the absence of documentation and howtos and walkthroughs makes them incredibly difficult to navigate for the average user. The exception to this is RedHat, which of course costs around the $3000 range.
Of course, all this should be taken with a grain of salt, as I'm somewhat of a Luddite in terms of technology and the literary world. I'll take print books over fancy ebooks anyday, and I'm of the mind that simplicity is elegance. I don't really see the need for a new program that does what you already can do.
(and I *am* starting my own publishing company, working on ebooks as well as print zines)
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