Summary: A couple of weeks ago <a href="http://toc.oreilly.com/2012/09/whats-new-with-epub.html">I interviewed the IDPF's Bill McCoy about the current state of EPUB</a>. As I mentioned in that conversation, EPUB is the format used by pretty much every device not named "Kindle." But since the Kindle format is the most popular I wanted to get an update on it as well, so I managed to grab a few minutes with industry expert <a href="https://twitter.com/jtallent">Joshua Tallent</a>, founder and CEO of <a href="http://ebookarchitects.com/">eBook Architects</a>. Key points from the audio interview include: Beware of auto-conversions -- They tend to lead to the most common problems in Kindle-format books. Some hands-on work is required for just about everything except the most basic content formats. Amazon and EPUB -- They accept it on the content ingestion side but Joshua feels Amazon benefits so much from their proprietary format that it's unlikely they'll ever switch to a more open solution like EPUB. HTML5's role -- Yes, HTML5 is already used by KF8 and EPUB, but Joshua feels HTML5 will always require a container to define, manage and control the content and that HTML5 isn't a viable standalone solution, at least not in the short term. Enhancements required -- Fixed layout capabilities are at the top of Joshua's wish list but he also notes a few features of EPUB 3 he'd like to see implemented in Amazon's format. This post is part of the <a>TOC podcast series</a>. You can also subscribe to the free <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/tools-change-for-publishing/id465091714">TOC podcast through iTunes</a>.
