In my opinion, we need another generation or two of software and hardware before non-linear navigation becomes as easy as flipping through a book. It’s possible that when Plastic Logic’s e-reader comes out early next year, the system you describe would be perfect. That screen will be touch-sensitive, so accessing hyperlinks won’t be as clunky as “tabbing” through links using the device’s buttons like we have to do today.

I know that when I’m flipping through a book looking for something, I’m not just remember about where in the book the thing is, I’m scanning the pages I open randomly to and associating where the plot on that page is in relation to where the in the plot my thing is that I’m looking for, then flipping the page either forward or back to narrow it down.

With a plot outline included as an index or glossary, could this be more easily accomplished?

The iPhone, in particular, seems to hold a lot of promise for ebooks. The free Stanza reader has been downloaded more than 200,000 times on the iPhone. It’s a pretty good app and the reading experience isn’t bad, but I’m not interested in running down my phone battery by using it to read a book. I like my Sony eReader just fine.

That being said, I’m frustrated with the state of e-books too. Ebooks are great for reading, but not so great for using. By that, I mean it’s a pretty satisfactory experience to sit down and read an ebook from beginning to end. It is a much more frustrating experience to try to “flip” through a book to find just the page you need. Most formats are fine for straight prose, but navigation and use is still a problem for technical, non-linear information. Not so ironically, the whipping boy of the ebook world–PDF–is still the best format for that kind of presentation. It’s easy to add bookmarks as a user, and publishers can present complex information in a more meaningful manner.

Things like the Kindle and iPhone open up all sorts of possibilities for electronic media to grow beyond home computers. The downside is the actual number of people who make use of the technology. Especially in RPG circles, where PDFs are a mainstay, I’m continually baffled by those who believe an RPG product is not “real” unless it’s in print.

I guess the best we can do is get our product out by as many different avenues as possible and hope for the best.