The first of these new products is ASP3Wiki, and is best summarized by this post on Jim Mintel’s blog.

Wrox’s ASP3Wiki is the complete contents of one of the best-selling web programming books ever, Beginning Active Server Pages 3.0, free, online, in wiki format. Why? Well, we know from our traffic on p2p.wrox.com that ASP 3.0 is still a widely used web platform, even today 8 years after it debuted. Think about that: how many web programming tools are still in as widespread use as ASP 3 is 8 years after they launch? So, even though the sales of the paper book finally slowed to a tricked about 12 months ago, we know there’s still demand out there for this information and we’ve decided (along with the blessings of the lead authors thank you Dave Sussman, Jon Duckett, and Chris Ullman!) to make this freely available on this wiki.

This is just one of several e-content experiments we are working on in our Wrox brand.  If feedback is positive on ASP3Wiki, we plan to roll out additional wikis on current topics, perhaps consider bundles with printed books and wiki access and so forth.

If you feel this format works for you, let us know. We want to build product you want and want to hear from you.

1. It is one of only a very few from traditional print publishers
2. It is not just a branding play
3. They have built in some interesting sticky features
4. Good tie-in’s to their content

I believe items 3 and 4 are the most important for content providers. The Quiz is offered every weekday morning and the scoring system is probably motivational enough to keep many coming back for more.

In addition, they offer ample opportunities to click through to the content related to the quiz, and I thought the “study links” for the next day’s quiz feature was especially clever.

The scoring seems a bit off to me, but that’s likely because it was my first test on the first day. My particular ranking of 68% among Facebook users is strange as I got 100% on the first test. See how competitive I am already?

It is important to remember that we are in the very early days of Facebook apps. I am sure we will see many more from content providers as the platform matures and as companies figure out exactly what they want to accomplish with these applications. Still, it’s exciting to see traditional publishers playing here.

(Thanks Read/Write Web)

Yesterday I started writing a post outlining my reasoning for proclaiming the iPod touch as the ideal e-book platform, and as I prepared to finish the piece last night I see the very smart Kassia Krozser at the Booksquare blog has beaten me to the punch with a post entitled Apple Saves the Publishing Industry.

So, go ahead and read her thoughts on the matter.  Go ahead, I won’t be offended – she’s right after all.

When will we stop trying to create a dedicated e-book reader and simply adopt our content to devices consumers already want and use?  This may be a real opportunity for content creators to build products for a “for real” device.  Granted, the storage is on the small side, but its a first generation product and that is sure to improve.

What do you think?  Can adoption of a product like the new iPod touch create a new content channel?

From Andrea Laue:

He asked the audience if, upon encountering an obscure reference or foreign word on the page of a book, we would appreciate the option of touching the word on the page and being taken (on our PC) to an online resource that would identify or define the unfamiliar word. Then he made it happen. Standing O.

Yes, he had a printed and bound book which communicated with his laptop. He simply touched the page, and the laptop reacted. It brought up pictures of the Mona Lisa. It translated Chinese. It played a piece of music. Kelaidis suggested that a library of such books might cross-refer, i.e. touching a section in one book might change the colors of the spines of related books on your shelves. Imagine.

and from Andrew Savikas:

These debates (print is doomed! from my cold dead hand!) are so often reduced to a binary decision, when in reality they’re a fluid, flexible conversation that can sustain many perspectives — and we risk stifling the voices of innovators like Manolis if we forget to make allowances for our own ignorance of the future.

The e-content vs. books argument does not necessarily require an all or nothing solution.

Aside from the fact that its always insightful to get valuable feedback from programmers on tech books, there were a couple of comments that touched on some e-content issues that I was especially interested in.

I don’t really understand why anyone would even want to buy a programming book. No way to run the example code (without finding it online or on some attached CD/DVD), no way to copy and paste, no way to click a link to a different topic, the trusty web browser with Google bookmarked to look up terms or expressions you don’t know is far away. It’s like living in the dark ages again.

to which Jeff Atwood responded,

I totally agree– the idea that books are competing with other books is an illusion. Books are competing with the web. And the Adam Nathan book does a surprisingly good job of it.

Don’t we know it Jeff…

But the first point it begs the question, “What if books  could do those things?”  Ignore for the moment the state of e-book readers and maybe just think about using a programming book on a PC or Mac, alongside the programming tool of your choice.  What features would you want?  Seriously, the sky’s the limit.  Let’s design the ultimate e-content product for programmers – go ahead, pitch in.

Better yet, lets talk not just about programming books (because I am obviously interested in that) but lets talk about other books as well.  Whats the killer ebook app?

(photo courtesy jopemoro)