Booktrack – great idea, or unnecessary distraction?
“I don’t know how you can work like that,” my mum used to shout, above the noise. It was revision time, and I’d lie on my bed with a big boxy speaker positioned a foot from each ear, angled for maximum effect. The speakers were made of wood, and their leads snaked back to, ahem, a turntable. It was as close as you could get to an iPod in them there days.
The music was always Genesis. To this day I cannot listen to “A Trick of the Tail” without the term “basket of eggs topography” popping into my head.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the multi-media revision strategies of today’s teens. Recently my son was, as far as I could tell, studying practice physics and maths papers while simultaneously holding conversations on Facebook, listening to the Arctic Monkeys, and watching back-to-back episodes of Dr Who and Supernatural.
So when Booktrack came up with the idea of adding soundtracks to books, it seemed like a natural progression for people who like a bit of noise along with their reading. Feedback I’ve seen suggests that some people find that music and sound effects enhance the reading experience, while others find it a total distraction, and need absolute peace and quiet to be able to read properly.
Recently, Booktrack asked me to write about the experience of adding a Booktrack to my children’s ghost story The Ghosts of Young Nick’s Head, for a US children’s literature blog. You can read the piece here.
If you want to try it out for yourself, you can read and listen for free on Booktrack.com, but only on your desktop or laptop using Google Chrome. Paid-for titles for your iPad or e-reader should be available soon.
The music was always Genesis. To this day I cannot listen to “A Trick of the Tail” without the term “basket of eggs topography” popping into my head.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the multi-media revision strategies of today’s teens. Recently my son was, as far as I could tell, studying practice physics and maths papers while simultaneously holding conversations on Facebook, listening to the Arctic Monkeys, and watching back-to-back episodes of Dr Who and Supernatural.
So when Booktrack came up with the idea of adding soundtracks to books, it seemed like a natural progression for people who like a bit of noise along with their reading. Feedback I’ve seen suggests that some people find that music and sound effects enhance the reading experience, while others find it a total distraction, and need absolute peace and quiet to be able to read properly.
Recently, Booktrack asked me to write about the experience of adding a Booktrack to my children’s ghost story The Ghosts of Young Nick’s Head, for a US children’s literature blog. You can read the piece here.
If you want to try it out for yourself, you can read and listen for free on Booktrack.com, but only on your desktop or laptop using Google Chrome. Paid-for titles for your iPad or e-reader should be available soon.
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