MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - epub3 and kf8: What happened to the "book" in e-book?

Nathanael · 12-20-2011, 08:01 PM

So epub3 and Kindle Format 8 are out, and are supposed to be the future of ebooks. As a Bookeen/iPad/Linux user, I don't own a Kindle or any Kindle-reading software, so I haven't seen anything in KF8 format. However, a week or so ago I downloaded Azardi 7 and InfoGrid Pacific's three sample epub3 ebooks.

My initial reaction -- to be very impressed with the flash and dazzle of the, well, flash and dazzle -- was quickly replaced with something more visceral. Under whose rules is this a "book"? I really felt like I was browsing a Flash-laden website, long on animated sprites, fly-out text and interactivity up the wazoo, but conspicuously short on "book".

At what point does a book cease to be a "book" and transmogrify into a multimedia presentation? From embedded video, to read-aloud features, to sprite animation, will the next Stephen King offering be a novel, a Hollywood-mogul-directed feature-length cinematic event, or full-fledged computer game?

So what do you think? Is the future of books not books at all?

12-20-2011, 08:01 PM	#1
Nathanael Groupie Posts: 185 Karma: 1110435 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Shanghai, China Device: Sibrary G5	epub3 and kf8: What happened to the "book" in e-book? So epub3 and Kindle Format 8 are out, and are supposed to be the future of ebooks. As a Bookeen/iPad/Linux user, I don't own a Kindle or any Kindle-reading software, so I haven't seen anything in KF8 format. However, a week or so ago I downloaded Azardi 7 and InfoGrid Pacific's three sample epub3 ebooks. My initial reaction -- to be very impressed with the flash and dazzle of the, well, flash and dazzle -- was quickly replaced with something more visceral. Under whose rules is this a "book"? I really felt like I was browsing a Flash-laden website, long on animated sprites, fly-out text and interactivity up the wazoo, but conspicuously short on "book". At what point does a book cease to be a "book" and transmogrify into a multimedia presentation? From embedded video, to read-aloud features, to sprite animation, will the next Stephen King offering be a novel, a Hollywood-mogul-directed feature-length cinematic event, or full-fledged computer game? So what do you think? Is the future of books not books at all?