Is This A Look Into The Future Of Ebooks?

Digital publisher Push Pop Press made news recently not for its re-envisioning of the e-book
as much as for its acquisition by social networking giant Facebook.

Why?  While Facebook apparently has no interest in throwing their hat into the world of
e-publishing, apparently they have an interest in adapting the technology utilized by Push Pop
Press into a more complete social experience. 

Why does this concern the future of e-publishing?  Looking at the Push Pop Press home page feels a little bit like looking into the future of the big publishers.  Push Pop Press is most famous for publishing Al Gore's latest work, Our Choice, a project the site indicates has been two years in the making and boldly declares the next generation of digital books.

From Push Pop Press: "Our Choice melds the vice president's narrative with photography, interactive graphics, animations, and more than an hour of engrossing documentary footage. A new, groundbreaking multi-touch interface allows you to experience that content seamlessly. Pick up and explore anything you see in the book; zoom out to the visual table of contents and quickly browse though the chapters; reach in and explore data-rich interactive graphics."

How might this affect ebooks of the future?   Here's some speculation.

1. Seamless downloading, whether via HTML or another platform, may well be the future of the viewing / reading experience.  This will allow for true touch screen use and a more interactive experience that so far has eluded the e-book world.

2. Active reading.  Reading will not simply include turning digital pages.  It will still be far more
textual than experiencing a film, but graphics, audio, interviews, teaser film footage, graphs, charts, and even music and media files will be embedded, allowing readers to feel more like they're interacting with a fusion of a kindle and a web site.  "Reading" may include listening to your favorite author talk or voicing part of the narrative, reading some chapters on your own, touching a graph or chart to find out more info on the topic, and possibly utilizing your music library for some background music while you read.  Readers might even have a "create your own movie" option that allows them to put music on at key parts and watch dramatizations of certain book scenes, much like video game narratives.

3. This will be how New York publishers justify higher prices for ebooks during the decade.  It will be about premium content.  How else will you get a single download that allows you to listen to your favorite author speak, read, and get interviewed while getting film footage and music that you can select to enhance your reading experience?  How else will college kids get access to up-to-date technical data and charts?  Content will be at a premium, and readers will be paying premium prices for it.

4. Pirating books will truly come of age once ebooks make reading that much more popular (and profitable) again. 

5. Cheaper digital versions with less features will also become big business, as select readers will still insist on lower prices.  This will, in my estimation, be like the digital equivalent of mass market paperbacks, which are on their way out.

6. Despite the upward trend in pricing that this new digital book will justify, readers will have greater control over pricing, deciding which content they might want to include with their download and which content they might leave out.  This will help counter cheaper digital versions somewhat, though cheaper versions will still persist.

Definitely an exciting time ahead for the ebook!