Although I like cool tech gadgets as much as the next person I'm not what you'd call a classic early adopter. For example, I didn't rush to be the first to get my hands on an iPhone 4. Actually I don't plan to get it. My current Nokia N97 phone works fine.

But I have bought myself an iPad even though it's not officially available in Malaysia yet.

This is not due to any early adopter tendency growing in me but my belief that the iPad, though not great for work purposes, is fantastic for media consumption.

I believe that iPad publishing, in the form of iPad Apps, will not only make e-publishing viable but will revolutionise it.

NONE Yes, we all have heard about the advent of e-books. There have been many false dawns. This is because e-books were often created in PDF format which is very one-dimensional and boring.

Amazon.com Kindle, which also is not yet officially available in Malaysia, was supposed to usher in the era of e-books. While that format allows for more interactivity, it still failed to give e-books the kind of pizzazz that's needed to get people really excited.

Endless possibilities with iPad

The iPad ( right ), I believe, will change all that. If created in the form of an iPad App, you can incorporate all kinds of multimedia, alternative content and interactivity into it. E-books will never be the same again.

I'm so convinced about the potential for interactive e-books, my next book, on the Olympic sport of judo, is going to be published as an iPad App.

Let me share with you some of the different things I plan to do with it and you will surely see what I'm so excited at this prospect.

Let's start off with video. In the case of a judo book, we can feature a technique represented by a sequence of say, six photographs. We can make it so that the sixth photograph is clickable and when the reader clicks on it, it launches a video of the full movement.

Audio is another form of multimedia that can be embedded in certain sections of the book. It's sort of like when you click on the "extras" feature of a DVD where you can hear the director's commentary. You could do something like that on an interactive e-book made as and iPad App.

Even with stills photography, you can bring it to a higher level. Let's say I feature a photo of a judo competition at the end of a chapter. You could make that picture clickable, allowing readers to launch a gallery with many more pictures to view!

Multiple angles

With interactive e-books, you can also have alternative content. Take photographs. Let's say we demonstrate a movement from a certain angle.

 It's possible to allow readers to click on a button to view the same technique from a different angle or perhaps from a bird's eye view. All this is possible but of course you have to take more shots from different angles.

Animation is also possible although it would be costly. Imagine a 3D animation of a guy popping up and throwing another guy. I guess the question is whether it's worth the cost to do this. It's important to remember that just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be. A video would probably suffice.

What I've described so far are things that traditional e-books, in the form of PDF files or even Kindle books, are not able to do. But there are some good things from Kindle type books that could be adopted.

mkini facebook For example, functionalities that allow for search, bookmarking, clipping, note-taking, highlighting and last but not least, social-sharing (through Facebook and Twitter ).

There's no question pre-production is more complex, and is crucial, with interactive e-books. But it's not just the pre-production that's complex, the content creation part is more complicated too. You have to produce text, images, audio, video.

It obviously can't be done alone. But if you don't have a lot of money, you can't very hire professional crews to do different aspects of the interactive e-book. So, what do you do?

Like so many IT startups, you team up with others individuals who are on the same page as you are with regard to doing something innovative and different. You give them shares in the endeavour.

Is there money to be made? By selling your e-book via Apple's App Store (which is required, by the way), you are able to tap onto a global market straight away.

And distribution is not a problem. People pay for it and download the content straight away. It's truly a global market out there. And that's what makes it so exciting to do things like this. Imagine the possibilities.

OON YEOH's new social media book ' L ike Me, Follow Me ' is published by MPH. You can connect with him via Facebook and Twitter .