Will ePUB3 Lead to the Enhanced eBook?

The enhanced eBook, by which I mean an interactive product that seemlessly integrates embedded audio, video and applications related to content contextually, will make current eBook offerings obsolute at least with respect to professional and educational eBook literature. ePub has become the defacto format standard. Will the forthcoming ePub3 spec advance the goal of transforming the eBook?

Eric Fresse, a member of the EPUB3 Working Group, writes

With speculation abounding since the introduction of the spec in the spring of this year, publishers have been waiting to see what’s really possible with EPUB3 — and what reading systems will support it.

To help manage expectations and alleviate confusion, I’ve provided a brief snapshot of some of the spec‘s new features, as well as what publishers can do to start preparing for them, and notes of caution as to what may, or may not, be available in EPUB3 reading systems.

Also of interest to law librarians, I think. For details see Fresse's Breaking it Down: the ePub 3 Spec post on Digital Book World. See also Keith Fahlgren, Fighting Complexity in EPUB 3: Modularization and Delegation, Journal of Electronic Publishing, vol. 14, no. 1, Summer 2011. [JH]