When we last left off, we were eagerly counting down the hours to the release of iPad. We weren’t alone. People lined up hours in advance. Apple stores served breakfast. The twitter stream was abuzz with anticipation.

Finally, the doors opened. The release of the iPad this Saturday was not just a red letter moment for Silicon Valley, it marked a turning point for the publishing and film industries, and a great opportunity for those invested in the future of media. The team at Vook has been working hard for months to prepare apps for submission to Apple, and we are ecstatic that 19 of our Vooks are now for sale in the iTunes store as iPad apps.

The iPad has provided us with a platform to make our content even more compelling, dynamic and unique. In many ways, it seems like the iPad was literally made for us. As eBookNewser wrote, “This has got huge potential on the iPad, and Vook’s already off to a strong start.” To share our excitement with you, we’re giving away two titles for free: The Shakespeare “Love, Love, Love” app and The Sherlock Holmes Experience. With bigger screens and higher video quality, our iPad applications show off the expanded functionality of the new device and make for a truly enhanced reading experience.

We’ve gotten a wonderful response from authors, filmmakers and fans. Gary Vaynerchuck, author of Crush It told us he’s thrilled with his Vook, and so are his fans. We’ve also gotten great feedback on Seth Godin’s Unleashing the SUPERIdeavirus as readers recognize the incredible potential for Vooks on the iPad.

And this is just the beginning! We’ll be adding more titles to our iPad app page all the time, and continuing to explore the many possibilities of this new medium.

What are your feelings about the iPad? Leave us a note in the comments below!

We recently sent out a survey to members of the Vook community to find out what our readers thought of our Vooks. In 40 hours, we got a tremendous 367 responses expressing an incredible amount of enthusiasm for the Vook, mixed media and enhanced reading. Overall, 84 percent of people said they liked or loved their Vook. 75 percent said they would recommend the product to a friend.  Given the proven merit of word-of-mouth marketing, this kind of enthusiasm bodes well for both the product and the future of a thriving mixed media industry.

50 percent also said the Vook offered a better experience than an e-book and 42 percent said it was impossible to compare the two. Users felt the Vook experience could not be compared to the traditional e-book experience. There is a wide-open space ready to be occupied by a whole new product.

It seems that users are keen to spend their time and energy in that new space. Half of users replied that they would “definitely re-read” their Vook, and over 50 percent predicted they would “definitely” or “probably” purchase another Vook. It is obvious that the Vook is capable of engaging users, provoking conversation and getting attention. There is a prime market eager to receive this type of mixed media experience. In plain English: The people want this. There is a great future for devices and platforms that enable them to have it.

Tomorrow, the iPad comes out. Our apps are already available for it — and when you get your iPad you can try Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes for free! We’re thrilled to be on iPad and our survey results show that readers can’t wait either.

If you would like to know more about the Vook Community Survey, please email Matthew at Matthew@vook.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

We are thrilled to announce a tremendously successful week of downloads for our Sherlock Holmes Experience vook. With great support from Apple, picking our app as the #1 “Staff Favorite” for the holiday week, Sherlock received over 17,000 20,000 downloads in just a matter of a few days (Ed: we just got some NEW sales info, upping the numbers even higher!).

2009 was a great year for Vook—it was the year we launched and it was the year we saw the publishing industry start committing to the digital medium. As our holiday present to everyone, we gave away our Sherlock Holmes Vook for free in the iTunes store from December 23rd through the 27th. We expected we’d get at most a few thousand downloads—after all, it’s difficult to attract attention even for a free app. And it was the middle of the holidays. So, with modest expectations, we set the app price to free and welcomed a few days of vacation.

Imagine our surprise this morning when we got our sales figures from Apple for those days.

17,000 20,000 downloads! (Ed: We can’t get enough of this)

We were stunned. We’d seen some good responses on Twitter and through email, but nothing of this magnitude. 17,000 20,000 people have had the chance to read and watch and enjoy our enhanced version of Sherlock Holmes. 17,000 20,000 people know what a Vook is—and why we think it’s such a great new platform for books.

We want to thank all of you who downloaded the free Sherlock Holmes Vook. We thought we were giving the reading public a gift, but you all made our offer into a huge present for us. Thanks to all of you who downloaded the Sherlock Holmes Experience, tweeted about it, mentioned it on Facebook, told their friends, and sent us emails. We’re glad we have such a great audience—and we can’t wait to bring you more great vooks!

Happy New Year!

Team Vook