We have heard about the concept of book 2.0 for years now. The good old books that most of us have grown up with are anything but interactive. While that wouldn’t be a problem all by itself, there are certain situations where an interactive book can provide more value to its readers than a regular book. Take kids books for example. Wouldn’t it be nice if kids could interact with their books to have more fun and learn things more effectively? The future is all about book 2.0. We are talking about interactive, dynamic content and even videos getting packaged with e-books. It’s no secret that Amazon Kindle and other top e-Readers are currently incapable of handling such dynamic content. The focus of those devices is to provide a better reading experience to their users and not necessarily handle dynamic content. Apple plans to change all that with the iPad. The iBooks is going to be unlike any other e-book store on the market. As publishers have suggested in the past, many dynamic books are expected to make their way to the store, giving iPad owners plenty of titles to choose from.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how Amazon Kindle would level the playing field and allow more people to get their work published and reach a wider set of audience. At the same time, I concluded that we need to take the good with the bad. After all, if you allow everyone to bring their work to the Kindle platform, you are going to get a few very good books, lots of mediocre ones, and a few terrible ones. But shouldn’t Amazon at least check to see what’s being sold for the Kindle?

Take a look at the above book. The purpose of the book is to show you why you should buy a Kindle (instead of a Sony Reader). But here is the thing. Why would you want to buy such a book when you need a Kindle to read it? I am all for books that provide some value, but the above book should be a post on a blog and not a book in the Kindle store. It’s exciting to see Amazon allow everyone to get their work out in front of the community of Kindle owners. But Amazon has a responsibility to protect the interest of its customers. I am sure most Kindle owners are smart enough to ignore these books, but it’s very discouraging to see folks abuse the system and try to make quick bucks by selling junk for the Kindle platform (and if you think this is bad, wait till you see the support website for this book).

There is a good chance that Amazon will continue to allow folks to publish junk for the Kindle. And I am sure most Kindle owners will see through these works and won’t fall for them. But wouldn’t it be nice if Amazon took some time to clean up its Kindle store?

Your take: should Amazon take action and ban junk books and their authors?

One of the complaints that I get from people who either own Kindle or plan to buy one is their need to have real books in their hands as well. People tell me that they use their Kindles all the time but having the paper version of their favorite books allows them more flexibility to read them whenever, wherever. You can take your Kindle almost anywhere these days. Obviously it’s very portable and the battery lasts for a considerable amount of time. But sometimes you may be in the mood to read the real book. Maybe you just want to share your paper book with someone or you just want proudly display it in your library. Whatever the case, Amazon has a great opportunity to make more money by providing combo book deals to its customers.

Wouldn’t it be fun if you could add both paper and Kindle editions of a book to your shopping cart and save money on your combo deal? This is not for everyone. I am sure a few of you rather save money and just get the Kindle edition. I also know a lot of Kindle purists who refuse to touch a paper book ever again. In reality, the demand for combo deals will be there regardless of what you think of paper books. And if your Kindle purchase helps you qualify for free shipping over $25, that would be even better, wouldn’t it?

What do you think?

I had a very interesting discussion with a colleague of mine about the difference between experiencing a real book versus reading one on Kindle. Now, he is a late adopter. He bought his Kindle before it went out of stock. But he brought up a very interesting point. He told me that he uses Kindle for technical books but for novels he prefers to read the real thing. Now, I am not going into the details behind his reasoning but there is a good argument to be made here. A lot of people still connect better with a real book than an eBook. If you ask these folks, they talk about how they have more fun reading a paper book than a Kindle book.

I don’t necessarily agree with the above argument but here is my question for you. If  there was only one book that you wanted read, would you rather read it on a Kindle or would you prefer the real thing?

As a Kindle owner, I have enjoyed having the ability to buy books and have them delivered to my Kindle in less than 30 seconds. Unfortunately, Amazon has not yet released all paperback books to the Kindle, so I thought I’d create the top 5 books I want to see on Kindle. Here they are:

Great book for any start-up owner. Not yet released to the Kindle, but I am hopeful.

Now is gone is a must read marketing book. Unfortunately, it’s not released to Kindle store yet.

Must read social media book. Haven’t seen it in the Kindle store yet.

Classic businss book for companies which want to improve their processes and accelerate their growth.

This may sound corny. But I like Obama books. They are full of hope and inspirational messages. This guy can talk!

Your Take

What are your favorite books that are not on Kindle? I could’ve picked some classic books that I’d like to see on Kindle, but at the end of the day, I don’t read classic books too much these days. But which books would you like to see in the Kindle store?