On The Literary Platform, Dean Johnson of appbook developer Brandwidth takes a look at four different appbook interpretations of a holiday classic, Clement C. Moore’s poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
While he finds a number of things to dislike about each of them (one rates 6/10, two 7/10, and one 8/10), he notes interesting contrasts in the approach each developer has taken. They have all interpreted the text and illustrations in different ways, with different capabilities.
I find this to be one of the better arguments in favor of a vibrant and widely-available public domain—the freedom to render “classics” into whatever new form the reinterpreter desires. Looking at different interpretations of the same text is like looking through a kaleidoscope—there’s always something new and fascinating to discover.
