Evolution of the E-book

David Baldacci is leading the charge toward enriched content e-books with his new novel, “Deliver Us from Evil”.  In addition to a typical e-book format, “Deliver Us from Evil” will be available in an enriched format that includes audio and video interviews, deleted passages, and reference pictures.  The enriched e-book release coincides nicely with the April 3rd release of the iPad, which will bring new functionality to e-readers (though its current stranglehold on enhanced e-book capabilities may be challenged by HP’s Slate and Samsung’s slate in the coming year).  In any case, the e-book world is about to evolve as technology pushes it toward more and more sophisticated applications.

As much as I love my Kindle, I am looking forward to the new features on the horizon.  Author interviews and “deleted scenes” are definitely interesting, but what about the more collaborative aspect inherent in the new technology?  Now that the iPad and its competitors support other media forms, the artistic combinations are endless.  Short film makers or animators can team up with authors to create shorts that recreate or enhance the scenes of the novel; artists can create detailed interactive maps for fantasy novels or 3D renderings of futuristic cities that the reader can explore.  These possibilities lead to valid concerns about intellectual property rights and what the core essence of a book should be, but I’m looking forward to where future growth of the e-book will take us.