Not Readers, Not Viewers, but...

Warren Ellis had a post on his website today regarding his Sony Walkman and how his daughter relates to it and other technology. Here's the relevant bit:

I found Lili crosslegged on her bed earlier, her guitar in her hands, earbuds in, watching something on her open laptop. I suspect it was either a guitar lesson, some tabs she’s been looking for, or listening to Theory Of A Dead Man and trying to detune her guitar to C-sharp to capture their tone. That’s how she treats the laptop — what else does it do? And the very conjuring of all those elements in the first line illustrates that her generation do not live with their heads in a laptop or a DS Lite or whatever. Less so, even, than the previous generation. It’s a fully integrated part of their lives, a Swiss army knife for the world. What else does it do?

If I tell her I have a YouTube app on the Sony Walkman I’ll never get the bloody thing back.

But here's how it relates back to us..."What else does it do?" applies not only to the technology but to the media. We have a generation that's going to read books, but they will be books with built-in links to other media. They will be videos with built in blog pages that take them in new story directions (background, alternatives, expansions), or webcomics with soundtracks. Toys with built in wifi.

You want to appeal to today's readers with your media? Then understand you aren't appealing to just readers or viewers...

You have to create something that appeals to users. That dear fiends (not a misprint) is a whole new ball game.

More on this tomorrow.