Life In 19x19

Kiseido has some information and a link to SmartGo Books on its website now. Of particular interest is the "Titles in preparation" section near the bottom of the page…

http://www.kiseido.com/app.htm

Slate and Shell announced their SmartBooks in a newsletter today also. They added that "While not available yet, we look forward to seeing the same sort of app for Android devices."

I wonder if there ever will be a windows app so that desktop users or subnotebook users can read those books too.

I wonder whether it is worth pointing out that it is sometimes possible to combine paper books with computers more than you might expect. For at least one of my books, and possibly those of others, Bill Cobb of Slate & Shell produced an sgf file of not just the basic game record but all the variations (i.e.no text) He offers the file(s) via his website, I think.

Even without the variations, it is useful to play a game over on a computer and click the extra variations moves yourself. That is how I work myself. I don't think I've played a game over on a wooden board for at least a decade now. Of course it means you ideally have to have the basic game record in sgf form to start with, but with GoGoD that is very rarely a problem.

John Fairbairn wrote:Even without the variations, it is useful to play a game over on a computer and click the extra variations moves yourself. That is how I work myself. I don't think I've played a game over on a wooden board for at least a decade now.

The value of an e-book to me, especially in the form that the SmartBooks seem to offer (no new iPad2s in Germany until after Easter), is the mobility combined with the compactness. I spend most of my day in front of a desktop PC, so in my recreation time I enjoy reading (flaunting) on the couch or on the patio. Books like "How to Play Go" (with commented high dan amateur games) are perfect for this because each diagram only shows one or two moves. Most other books have many more moves per diagram and are more "troublesome" to follow. I first tried a couple different travel magnet boards, which didn't work out very well. Eventually I picked up a netbook, which was an improvement, but it still means a device plus the book. SmartBooks address this "problem" elegantly, since you get the book and the "board" bundled together and only need one light and highly mobile device.

I saw the comment in your latest book (The Meijin's Retirement Game, which is quite excellent so far!) that the SGF is available from S&S. I thought this was a good idea.

smartgo wrote:I'm very happy to announce that the free SmartGo Books app is now available on the App Store. Unlike books in PDF, you can replay moves directly within diagrams, and zoom diagrams to see the context. With comments and long figures broken into logical sequences, this is the way Go books were meant to be read.

This looks great!

I've spent many hours converting four pages here, six pages there of some of my Go books into regular sgf format. I love the positiveness of being able to play through a movable diagram rather than trying to "read" it all in my head. But it takes a long time to do it, and since it is only for personal use it's not a very efficient use of time. And the product is nowhere near as pretty as you have made it!

The illustrations look great for an iPad, but apparently not too practical for the 4th gen iPod Touch I got recently with its far smaller screen*. I'm thinking about getting an iPad 3, but it depends on the specs when it comes out.

If you have any plans for a regular Windows SmartGo Books app, similar to how there's a Kindle app for a PC as well as a Kindle, I would definitely be interested in that.

Paul

*EDIT: I downloaded the app and am playing with it on the iPod Touch. It's actually better than I imagined, just looking at the free sample chapters from the books that are provided. I'll comment further after more exploration, maybe even buying a book or two.

I've been using SmartGo Books on my iPad for a couple of weeks.
Having a great time.
A solid investment that enhances my enjoyment of go and makes me appreciate my iPad even more.

Thanks for getting it to market, hope you add more titles for beginning players, may your profits accumulate appropriately.

david boise ID

SmartGo Books is much better on the iPhone than I first thought it would be. I find myself using the move replay feature even when the diagram has just a single move.

A suggestion: at the end of a reviewed game, it would be nice to have the whole game to replay - to put the pieces together.

They got 2 new books

How not to play go
$3.99

& one I never heard of called

The patterns of sanrensei
By Michael Redmond
$14.99

I got how not to play go I already loved understanding pro games so i grabbed it instantly

Just in case ya didn't know
See ya

This is like drug addiction...
"how not to play go" looks like is not for me, but good for weaker players.
But "Patterns of the Sanrensei"... arghh, I...need...to...resist...the need...
Touch "buy". Done.

Is there a way to buy and read smartgo books on Windows ? (or Linux)

Tryphon wrote:Is there a way to buy and read smartgo books on Windows ? (or Linux)

Not as far as I know. Unless someone has developed a iOs emulator for Windows (or Linux), which should be technically possible, but almost certainly illegal.

And I suppose Smartgo data format is closed ?

Seems that it's not closed, but it's a work in progress: viewtopic.php?p=59279#p59279.

Given that, there's a question of whether the authors/publishers have any kind of exclusivity arrangement with Anders. If not, nothing would prevent a developer from creating their own Android app and distributing books. Of course with a format that's in progress, that creates a lot of complications.

hyperpape wrote:Given that, there's a question of whether the authors/publishers have any kind of exclusivity arrangement with Anders. If not, nothing would prevent a developer from creating their own Android app and distributing books. Of course with a format that's in progress, that creates a lot of complications.

The agreement I have with publishers and authors is non-exclusive.