[Summary]
Murray Suid is a writer of educational books and material living in
Palo Alto, Silicon Valley, California. He has also written books for
kids, multimedia scripts and screenplays. Murray was among the first
authors to add a website to his books -- an idea that many would soon
adopt. He explained in September 1998: "If a book can be web-extended
(living partly in cyberspace), then an author can easily update and
correct it, whereas otherwise the author would have to wait a long time
for the next edition, if indeed a next edition ever came out. (...) I
do not know if I will publish books on the web -- as opposed to
publishing paper books. Probably that will happen when books become
multimedia. (I currently am helping develop multimedia learning
materials, and it is a form of teaching that I like a lot -- blending
text, movies, audio, graphics, and -- when possible --
interactivity)."
***
Murray Suid, a writer of educational books and material based in Palo
Alto, California, was among the first authors to add a website to his
books -- an idea that many would soon adopt.
Murray has also written books for kids, multimedia scripts and
screenplays. He explained in September 1998: "The internet has become
my major research tool, largely -- but not entirely -- replacing the
traditional library and even replacing person-to-person research. Now,
instead of phoning people or interviewing them face to face, I do it
via email. Because of speed, it has also enabled me to collaborate with
people at a distance, particularly on screenplays. (I've worked with
two producers in Germany.) Also, digital correspondence is so easy to
store and organize, I find that I have easy access to information
exchanged this way. Thus, emailing facilitates keeping track of ideas
and materials. The internet has increased my correspondence
dramatically. Like most people, I find that email works better than
snail mail. My geographic range of correspondents has also increased -
- extending mainly to Europe. In the old days, I hardly ever did
transatlantic penpalling. I also find that emailing is so easy, I am
able to find more time to assist other writers with their work -- a
kind of a virtual writing group. This isn't merely altruistic. I gain a
lot when I give feedback. But before the internet, doing so was more of
an effort."
How about web-extended books? "If a book can be web-extended (living
partly in cyberspace), then an author can easily update and correct it,
whereas otherwise the author would have to wait a long time for the
next edition, if indeed a next edition ever came out. (...) I do not
know if I will publish books on the web -- as opposed to publishing
paper books. Probably that will happen when books become multimedia. (I
currently am helping develop multimedia learning materials, and it is a
form of teaching that I like a lot -- blending text, movies, audio,
graphics, and -- when possible -- interactivity)."
He added in August 1999: "In addition to 'web-extending' books, we are
now web-extending our multimedia (CD-ROM) products -- to update and
enrich them."
He added In October 2000: "Our company -- EDVantage Software -- has
become an internet company instead of a multimedia (CD-ROM) company. We
deliver educational material online to students and teachers."