At first I wanted to make EPUB files for the iBook store. I realized that although I like reading, I value books, and I see a benefit in knowing how to produce long digital texts, EPUB has limited capabilities that make it fall short of what we may need for educational asset delivery. I read that a better solution might be the creation of Apps- self contained systems of media rich content with almost unlimited capacity for interactivity. Instead of being distributed through the Apple iBook store they'd be delivered through the Apple App store and be part of a growing, popular culture.
I looked and couldn't find simple, understandable steps to producing the "App" books. I have this idea that I could produce an educational comic book as an App, utilizing some of the capabilities of HTML5. But how? If I develop the thing and make it work as a set of interconnected html5 pages, what do I do to make it an "App"?
I'd hoped for something simple. For widgets, it was little more than adding .WDGT to a folder. With EPUB too, little more than compress it and add .EPUB to the archive. I tried compressing the html and css to make a website in an archive and added .app to it. Sure enough, it assumed a default application icon—but it had a "Not Allowed" symbol on it and said it could no longer open in the classic environment.
What I want to do is create a dynamic interactive website that can be distributed and then used regardless of internet connectivity. Something self contained, and playable or readable off-line. I thought an App was the only way, but like with so many things I'm reading about, it looks like the solution is html5. It's possible to create an offline application cache that lets you use an entire site after you've disconnected. A little bit of javascript lets you trigger a cache update when needed. Very slick. Eventually, servable to many devices and platforms.
I'm thinking that I'd do better developing the story and appropriate rendering technique, but it looks like learning about creating manifest files comes first. Do you think I could start rumors of a PDF killer?
It depends on what you mean by interactive. The new javascript and HTML5 have been very impressive and it may actually fulfill all the interactivity you are looking for. For special effects that you see in "Alice In Wonderland", we probably need a real app (that Apple has to approve and we have to pay a license fee just to develop the software).
I think Safari on iPad has a cache that you can use as kind of an offline storage. It's possible to read the whole book into one HTML file and split it into "pages". I can show you how this can be done some time.