TechCrunch has a three-minute video demo from a startup called Rethink Books who is looking to build a social network interface around e-books. From the video, this seems to revolve around integrating Twitter into an e-reader app and then using tweets as shared annotations linked to particular parts of a given e-book.
The Kindle already allows some integrated social network sharing, but does not seem to go as fully into the networking aspect as Rethink’s application. Certainly, social networking is one of the major drivers of Internet use nowadays, especially on mobile devices—and lack of it has been called out repeatedly as one of the major weaknesses of iPad magazine applications, while apps such as Flipboard effectively turn social networking into e-magazines.
It remains to be seen whether this technology will gain wider adoption, however. As TechCrunch notes, for it to work cross-platform, e-book companies such as Amazon or Apple would have to open their e-book marketplaces, which it does not appear any of them want to do.
Rethink Books is offering access to a limited beta of its iPad app via GetSocialBooks.com.
