Despite what typical anxious parent may say, the advent of the internet is not just responsible for the proliferation of cat videos and troll memes, but has also acted as an incredible platform for people of similar interests to meet and share ideas. Whether it’s business partners planning a start-up, or pen friends on opposite sides of the world trading gossip, the web allows an unprecedented level of easy communication many of us just take for granted.
It’s utilising this incredible potential that ebooks have yet to fully conquer. Ebook innovation has mainly been focussed on making the book’s content interactive and engaging. For example the latest version of ePub now supports HTML5, allowing publishers to embed audio and video into their books (International Digital Publishing Forum, 2011), and more publishers like the Oxford Internet Institute (2012) are making their work interactive as an attempt to engage their audience. iBooks Author is another tool developed by Apple that introduces features like pop-ups, scrolling sidebars, galleries and interactive maps to their e-reader platform; iBooks (Apple, 2014). But all of these solutions are still very limited when it comes to facilitating open discussions between more than one reader at a time. We already see it with video and music. Youtube commenters can link to certain moments in a video using a time tag (“anyone else get chills at 2:31”), and SoundCloud (2014) integrates a similar system where comments pop-up along a songs timeline.
As for the written word? The Journal of Electronic Publishing (2014) suggests that building a platform that hosts ebooks on the cloud that would allow select users to contribute and comment on content could be the next evolution for the ebook. One of the main areas it mentions is the importance of conversation. Oral historian, Studs Terkel told NYTimes (Johnson, D, 2011) that ‘reading a book should not be passive, but rather a raucous conversation’ and this is perhaps what is missing in today’s ebook consumption. Some services, like iBooks, allow users to attach digital marginalia to text whilst others, like Scribd (2014), are leading the way in promoting a subscription model for e-books hosted online. But it’s still connecting these two concepts that means ebooks still have some evolving to do to to fully integrate themselves in today’s online lifestyle.
Bibliography
Apple (2014) iBooks Author. Available at: www.apple.com/uk/ibooks-author. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Future of the Book (2014) Welcome to CommentPress. Available at: http://futureofthebook.org/commentpress/. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Hidalgo, J. Malagon, C. (2014) Opportunities and Challenges of Building a Books-as-a-Service Platform. Books In Browsers IV Proceedings 17 (1). The Journal of Electronic Publishing [Online] Available at: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jep/3336451.0017.109/--opportunities-and-challenges-of-building-a-books-as?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=epub3#N26. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
International Digital Publishing Forum (2011) EPUB 3 Overview. Available at: http://www.idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-overview.html#sec-features. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Johnson, D. (2011) Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins. New York Times, 29th February [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/books/21margin.html?_r=0. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Oxford Internet Institute (2012) Oxford Internet Institute Produces Its First Interactive iBook of Research. Available at: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=680. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Scribd (2014) Subscribe. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/subscribe. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
SoundCloud (2014) How do comments work? [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
It’s utilising this incredible potential that ebooks have yet to fully conquer. Ebook innovation has mainly been focussed on making the book’s content interactive and engaging. For example the latest version of ePub now supports HTML5, allowing publishers to embed audio and video into their books (International Digital Publishing Forum, 2011), and more publishers like the Oxford Internet Institute (2012) are making their work interactive as an attempt to engage their audience. iBooks Author is another tool developed by Apple that introduces features like pop-ups, scrolling sidebars, galleries and interactive maps to their e-reader platform; iBooks (Apple, 2014). But all of these solutions are still very limited when it comes to facilitating open discussions between more than one reader at a time. We already see it with video and music. Youtube commenters can link to certain moments in a video using a time tag (“anyone else get chills at 2:31”), and SoundCloud (2014) integrates a similar system where comments pop-up along a songs timeline.
As for the written word? The Journal of Electronic Publishing (2014) suggests that building a platform that hosts ebooks on the cloud that would allow select users to contribute and comment on content could be the next evolution for the ebook. One of the main areas it mentions is the importance of conversation. Oral historian, Studs Terkel told NYTimes (Johnson, D, 2011) that ‘reading a book should not be passive, but rather a raucous conversation’ and this is perhaps what is missing in today’s ebook consumption. Some services, like iBooks, allow users to attach digital marginalia to text whilst others, like Scribd (2014), are leading the way in promoting a subscription model for e-books hosted online. But it’s still connecting these two concepts that means ebooks still have some evolving to do to to fully integrate themselves in today’s online lifestyle.
Bibliography
Apple (2014) iBooks Author. Available at: www.apple.com/uk/ibooks-author. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Future of the Book (2014) Welcome to CommentPress. Available at: http://futureofthebook.org/commentpress/. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Hidalgo, J. Malagon, C. (2014) Opportunities and Challenges of Building a Books-as-a-Service Platform. Books In Browsers IV Proceedings 17 (1). The Journal of Electronic Publishing [Online] Available at: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jep/3336451.0017.109/--opportunities-and-challenges-of-building-a-books-as?rgn=main;view=fulltext;q1=epub3#N26. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
International Digital Publishing Forum (2011) EPUB 3 Overview. Available at: http://www.idpf.org/epub/30/spec/epub30-overview.html#sec-features. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Johnson, D. (2011) Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins. New York Times, 29th February [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/books/21margin.html?_r=0. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Oxford Internet Institute (2012) Oxford Internet Institute Produces Its First Interactive iBook of Research. Available at: www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=680. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
Scribd (2014) Subscribe. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/subscribe. [Accessed: 6th October 2014].
SoundCloud (2014) How do comments work? [Accessed: 6th October 2014].