e-Book Reader Idea

This is one which struck me earlier today. I doubt if I am the frst to think of it, but having not heard of it yet, I want to throw it out there just to make sure. If it is original, this will be my record, August 15, 2010.

Nowadays, you can buy e-book readers like the Kindle, from Amazon.com, or the iPad. There are others, but for the sake of discussion, I want to focus on these two. You can buy an electronic version of a book, which is basically a text file containing the actual words and punctuation along with some of the formatting data that goes along with it. The pages of the e-book look just like the actual paper pages. They are really cool. That is not my idea, although I really wish it had been.

In addition to buying books from Amazon, you can buy the actual content of the book in audio format, which you can listen to on an iPad or and iPod. Much of the time, you can get the audio form on CD or in MP3 format, recorded by the actual author of the book. I listen to Books on Disc with my wife, whenever we go on a long trip somewhere. There are good books, and there are sucky books which I can't even see publishing, let alone listening to or reading. I marvel at the ability of people to listen to some really boring stuff. But, people have different tastes.

But here is my newest idea: wouldn't it be coo if you could go online, buy a book in e-Book format, and get the audio version of the same book? You already can, buy buying both formats at one time. But here is the cool part: What if the audio were indexed to the text? You could read part of the book at the beach or on a bus, without plugging your ears with headphones. Then, you could put a marker on the text where you left off, and have your Kindle or iPad play the audio version for you starting at the place where you left off reading. You could listen as long as you want, then when you stopped, the device woud mark the text so that you could resume your reading at the point where you stopped listening.

Amazon, are you listening? All I want is 10 percent!