New iTunes format used for e-book

Jake Widman
Saturday, 12 September 2009 04:54

Your IT - Mobility

At the recent iPod- and iTunes-oriented Apple event, Steve Jobs introduced the new iTunes LP format. As it turns out, one of the first offerings to take advantage of the format is a multimedia comic book.

The iTunes LP format -- formerly called Cocktail -- was formally unveiled at the Apple "It's only rock and roll but we like it" event earlier this week.

The new format, an attempt to entice consumers to purchase entire albums of music rather than just individual tracks, lets artists include liner notes, videos, photos, and lyrics along with the music.

The initial offerings run toward classic rock and pop, with offerings from the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Norah Jones, Jay-Z, Dave Matthews, and Paramore.

Now R&B performer and actor Tyrese Gibson has used the capabilities of the format to include a comic book with his new single.

The US$1.99 Mayhem (link opens iTunes) packages the song with a digital comic book "with or without voiceover and great sound effects," storyboards, a making-of video, alternate covers, desktop wallpapers, and other content.

The release of the e-comic already has Mac observers parsing Steve Jobs's comments to New York Times interviewer David Pogue about Amazon's Kindle e-book reader: "I’m sure there will always be dedicated devices, and they may have a few advantages in doing just one thing. But I think the general-purpose devices will win the day."

The iPhone and iPod Touch are, of course, multipurpose (if not exactly general-purpose) devices, and any Apple tablet would be even more so.