[amvp]

I agree somewhat, but I think the article underlines a problem with the Genius UI as it is now, rather than the concept.

The current Genius UI of 'annotation' restricts the concept to highlighting words and phrases. This is limiting. But annotation thats both richer and looser would be more flexible: Allowing people to reference chapters or sections more generally, and potentially multiple sections simultaneously and cross reference annotations themselves. I could see utility in something that allowed the creation of CliffNotes style context alongside the real content. And that also falls under the umbrella of 'annotation' in my mind. There's also potential in the idea of real-time annotation, rather than the snapshot, more curated content they seem to have now.

Doing any of this in a way that isn't overly complex or cumbersome will be tricky, and I've no idea if it's a direction that the creators want (or can) develop it in.

Genius were a lyrics site with an interesting javascript UI and great SEO. They sold that JS UI as part of a bigger picture. But for the reasons the article mentions that JS UI isn't going to take them there. Hopefully they can use that 15 million to build something that will.