You start asking questions like “What makes a book, a book?” What if the curation of a book is handled through algorithms (like Flipboard) rather than written by one single person? Does that still qualify as a book? What if your “book” is able to see what you’ve done and reshape itself and it’s content based on what you do? Is that still a book? What if the main way people engage with the content is through search (like WolframAlpha) Is it still a book?

As Creative Director of Inking, a company focused on reinventing the textbook and the way people learn, Peter addressed the opportunities and problems they face when translating physical books to the digital space. Digital books can engage readers’ senses, there are more modes of discovery available and readers can engage with other readers. Digital books have the capacity to not just tell a story, but also present a slideshow, or even include game elements. In addition, context and table of contents are just as important, if not more so than in a physical book. Readers need to know where they are and how to navigate the book.

A discovery Peter and his team made while creating Inking was that adding social experience to reading works [only] in controlled situations. In the first version of Inking, students were allowed to see each others notes. Inkling decided to go even more social in the second version and readers were allowed to attach responses to someone else’s notes.

However, the team soon found that students weren’t really using notes unless their instructor required it. They found that when a student is reading for a class, they need to get into a deep reading mode, a mode they don’t engage in while scanning blogs or spending time on Facebook. Students were actually distracted by the notes that were intended to be helpful.

As physical books continue to migrate to the digital space and the line between books, apps, and games continues to blur, it’s certain that innovations will continue to happen. And as a self-proclaimed font-nerd and child of the desktop publishing revolution, Peter Cho is a guy you’ll want to watch.

— posted by Brooke Francesi