Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
From the inception of the ebook, there were bellows from both sides about it being at once the next step forward in the evolution of storytelling and in the same moment the absolute demise of a cherished world of dusty tomes and public libraries. A few years have gone by now and the fears of demise for the physical book partially came to pass. Entire chains of brick and mortar stores like Borders close down, while the digital book market continues to climb. Yet that alone don’t necessarily represent the death of physical books, at least for the time being, as much as it shows what happens when businesses don’t prepare for opening up Pandora’s box.
No matter what happens to the physical book in the long run, the ebook will never destroy good storytelling and good authors. What it does is open the door to more immersive experiences and completely re-energizes the platform for teaching and learning. A well thought out ebook is a treasure to read and something that can, and will, be shared as much as any classic.
Putting that in-depth planning on display is the new ebook, Meet the Press: 65 Years of History in the Making. Before the advent of the ebook, this would have been a straightforward nonfiction encyclopedia trying desperately to come up with colorful adjectives and fancy word choices in order to capture the emotional tone of these priceless moments in political history. Instead, we get an impressive mixture of text, audio and video, walking us through the history of this legendary new program, from the earliest available radio broadcasts to some of the most recent Sunday morning bombshells thrown by today’s politicians.
You also get to watch clip after clip showing the passion and dedication of the hosts and panelists who strived to ask the questions that needed to be asked, ones no one else at the time seemed to be able to.
There are some videos that especially stand out, even amongst the deluge of influential moments: Joe McCarthy still trying to defend his radical “red scare” tactics, Martin Luther King, Jr. making his first appearance, Fidel Castro showing up (even after he was told he couldn’t light up one of his famous cigars), and Robert F. Kennedy criticizing the Johnson administration about the escalation in Vietnam.
Having those moments right there at your fingertips to watch while you read about the context in which they took place, truly brings out some of the best in what an ebook can be. For history buffs and political junkies alike, Meet the Press is a must read. For those itching to start the download, you’ll need to head to the iBookstore because it is currently only available on the iPad.
