Cascade

[This post continues the post of 08 June 2011 titled How Jacques Pepin will change ebooks.]

Cookbooks present a profitable venue for embedded explanatory video. What other type of books present such venues?

1.  Carpentry books;
2.  Plumbing books;
3.  Electrical wiring books;
4.  Car mantenance and car repair books;
5.  Owners' manuals;
6.  Some children's books (I think there will always be a place for DTBs in children's books, but I think interactive first readers comprise a profitable venue.);
7.  Language instruction books;
8.  History books;
9.  Interactive mathematics textbooks; and
10.  Any 'How-to' books.

I can see this happening. And here's the way it'll happen:

Once upon a time, there were no automatic washing machines. And the people were sad. Then Maytag said, "Let there be automatic washing machines at affordable prices." And the people were happy. But the automatic washing machines did not clean as well as the old by-hand washing. And the people were sad. Then Procter and Gamble said, "Fret not, for the problem lies not with the machine but with the soap." And the people asked, "How shall we wash our clothes without soap?" And Procter and Gamble said, "Here, use this." And the people asked, "What is it?" And Procter and Gamble said, "We call it 'detergent'. And, lo, it worketh better in the machine than doeth soap. And its name shall be called 'Tide' because it foameth like the sea waves." And the people asked, "How much?" And Procter and Gamble named a price. And the people said, "That's pretty steep. How 'bout you throw in a manufacturer's coupon or something?" And Procter and Gamble said, "Okayeth."

And the moral of the story?

Tide was the first washing machine detergent. Nearly a hundred years later, its formula is unchanged, and it still has a 24% market share. The next most popular brand has an 18% market share. (And it's a Procter and Gamble product, too.)

The author who gets there first with a book on 'how to' do something that Mister John Q wants to do will own a dominant market share.

Don't believe me? Look at Microsoft and Amazon.

Right now Apple's iPad is the hands-down best platform for presenting embedded video. If Apple exploit this advantage timely, they will dominate the market for decades.
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Buy the book at Amazon Kindle Books.