On Formats and Friction

I'm not going to play the blame game, but it's all @shutsumon's fault this post exists.  The question is: what do we need out of an ebook format?

Note: Liza Daly rightly points out that my argument is with the implementations of ePub, and not the standard itself.  I most agree with that sentiment, upon reflection.  Mostly

Let me state up front that I think all the current formats suck beyond words.  We live in a world where a web app can behave just like a really fancy desktop app… where...