"A Game of Shark and Minnow"

I recently discovered a fascinating piece of journalism on the NY Times website entitled: "A Game of Shark and Minnow": http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/27/south-china-sea/
While the subject matter is quite familiar to me: Geopolitics in the South China Sea, the presentation of the material was altogether unique and refreshing.  It's not a traditional article, or one with photos, nor is it video.  Rather, it is a comprehensive integration of text, graphics, audio and video that I found incredibly compelling.  While I'm one who subscribes to the notion that the 'book is usually better than the movie', I'm also keenly aware of the value that audio/visual information can add to the presentation of a topic and indeed it can greatly enhance its relevancy to multiple categories of audience.  While reading this article, I was impressed with how seamless the experience was moving from text to photos, to video, to graphics and back to text again.  Perhaps this sort of presentation has been tried before but it's the first time I've seen it.  I'm entering a post about this because I think its a good example of how technology is changing the ways in which people are able to present and communicate ideas to the world.  Articles like this one, while perhaps not revolutionary, have important implications as well as potential.  I see potential for journalists and educators alike to offer dynamic experiences that can engage one's attention whilst still delivering a comprehensive and detailed understanding of their subject matter.  On the other hand, a serious implication I see is that this form of presentation may be necessary as the good old book becomes increasingly anachronistic.  That is not to say that I think books will become obsolete, rather I am acknowledging the fact that communications technology is integrating into our daily lives, bombarding us with cascades of stimuli, which in turn, have consequences on the human psychology.  Children raised around computers and smart phones will be more apt to learn and grow from methods that tie into to the ways in which they perceive the world, yet change is occurring so rapidly that it may be increasingly difficult for older generations to keep up.  Maybe its a stretch, but being part of a TV/Computer/Video Game generation myself, I feel like I've been subconsciously aware of this disconnect for a good portion of my life to this point.  Unlike raw street journalist video we can see on YouTube, which, while useful, is often lacking in context and/or credibility; I still like reading a good story.  So maybe I'm the one who is hopelessly out of touch and therefore, this article would already be outdated.  But will people still have the patience to read in the future even when provided with colorful incentives inviting them to do so?  While I cannot see the future, I suspect that one way or another, multimedia projects like "A Game of Shark and Minnow" are a sign of things yet to come.