How enhanced ebooks could change entertainment

Enhanced Ebooks may be a fad, OR! they could be the bridge between the classic novel and the new digital world.

Looking beyond the debate over what makes a book a book and who likes what format better, imagine for a moment that enhanced ebooks are here to stay. Imagine that they impact how people consume content. Imagine that books, music, movies, and websites come together in a form that each person wants to have personalized and available on his/her schedule.

That sounds like an enhanced ebook to me. And I don't think it's that far-fetched. We are quickly moving toward some kind of entertainment mash-up that will not just change the way we enjoy entertainment, but how it is made in the first place.

I also think it could have some amazing impacts on specific genres in very different ways. Here's how:

1. Science Fiction: Sci-Fi books get made into movies all the time because, well, they're usually these epic stories with crazy fun aliens and imaginary or future worlds. If I were a sci-fi author, I'd be all over trying to get video clips or graphic images included in my books to bring them to life.

2. Romance: I feel like this genre could have a lot of fun with the video clips and the extra content that an enhanced ebook can provide. The cover of any romance novel is already practically a movie, what with the flowing hair and the scene setting the tone for the whole book. What if you could do that with a quick video clip for each chapter?

3. Academic books: Any book that teaches any kind of concept is ripe for enhancement. Add in lectures, discussion groups, etc. and you can hit more learning styles, can go over the same concepts in different ways, and can connect people around the world who are reading the same basic text.

What would be a future innovation you'd like to see in publishing through enhanced ebooks? 

Image source: CarbonNYC via flickr