Yep, and I could just imagine the study possibilities with it. Quick highlights, word searching, easy bookmarks. Ah, I can dream.
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Apple's 'Education Announcement' Scheduled for January 19 in New York City
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Yea, it's the reason it hasnt gone ahead, the book companies wanted too much money in return for their books, where as Steve pictured them being available for free, if I remember rightly he even considered having them rewritten by Apple and then distributing them for free, I can't remember too well as it's been nearly 3 months since I read Steve Jobs, and I read the whole thing in a single sitting on a 19-hour flight to the Falkand Islands.
This would be a dream come true, how I'd have loved to have my schoolbooks on an iPad or iPad-like-device when I went through school, searching for key words instead of hunting through phonebook sized books, even the index page on most of my books were 10 pages long.
1. Update on iBooks as a platform and some luminary remarks about how iBooks has impacted education.
2. Some statement about how Apple can do better
3. Announcement of distribution deal with major textbook publishers.
4. Updated iBooks app to accompany announcement.
5. Some new tool to help publish in ePub.
Followed by rage over no new hardware; no revolutionary way to interact with books; no revolutionary prices; and people living outside the United States feeling neglected.
2. Some statement about how Apple can do better
3. Announcement of distribution deal with major textbook publishers.
4. Updated iBooks app to accompany announcement.
5. Some new tool to help publish in ePub.
Followed by rage over no new hardware; no revolutionary way to interact with books; no revolutionary prices; and people living outside the United States feeling neglected.
I can give you an example, since I also have thought about this.
My bank has a little app to do most of what you can do with its normal webpage. And I am missing it on the desktop because it is so streamlined and specific. You can check most anything with 2, 3 taps.
Meanwhile, the webpage allows for more control and some more serious operations. That means bigger menus, more downloading, more waiting - only fractions of a second for each click, but enough to make me realize how comfortable it is in the phone. For example I prefer now using the phone app than entering into the webpage only for the quick checks.
Finally, if the app is well done, it should be more secure than the webpage. Less chances for scripting vulnerabilities (in the browser), installed malware (in the OS or browser), or phishing (since the app is hardwired).
You could argue that the bank should rethink its webpage, but the fact is that it is the best online banking page I have experienced up to now (anyway I only know 4 banks).
It sounds like a better way to get through a flight than watching terrible movies
.I know a little about publishing but not enough to write a really good analysis here. Perhaps someone else will offer one.
Sum-up
Software (more likely):
Software (more likely):
- iBooks U / ePub3: (low-cost) textbooks with (shared) annotations and multimedia everyones expecting that
- iWork 12 (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) iStudy 12?
- ePad: 20cm (7.85in) XGA screen (1024×768, 4:3), 200 160px/in like classic iPhone (up from 130px/ini)
- iPad U: 25cm (9.7in) XGA iPad2 now eligible for usual academic discounts, 400 ; later this year iPad3 with 25cm QXGA (2048×1536, 4:3) screen
- eBook, MacBook U,eMac, iMac U: nobodys expecting that
It's probably something that state schools can't afford, so it won't be for the masses. Yes, normal people go to school, and yes not everyone can afford an idevice.
I presume (feel free to correct me after the announcement) that far from democratising education, this will build in further elitism. -1
I presume (feel free to correct me after the announcement) that far from democratising education, this will build in further elitism. -1
There are bad schools all over, but when one looks at the data, the poor performing schools are usually clustered together in urban or rural areas and they are a minority of schools as a whole. I'm not saying there aren't bad schools or crappy teachers or poorly paid teachers, but a majority of the U.S. has few of these features.
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Considering Apples history with selling hardware to the education market, an 'ePad' can't be completely ruled out!
This blog post speaks more on the matter:
http://moderntat.blogspot.com/2012/01/mini-ipad.html?m=1
Considering Apples history with selling hardware to the education market, an 'ePad' can't be completely ruled out!
This blog post speaks more on the matter:
http://moderntat.blogspot.com/2012/01/mini-ipad.html?m=1
Given the state of the school systems today, this promises to be a very interesting event. There's a wide range of possibilities. Many of which are very positive, others perhaps... not so much. What Apple chooses to do may show us a different side of this corporation. There's a lot Apple can do. We'll find out what they choose to do.
My concern is that Apple will be too focused on college level uses, which mesh better with the single-user model of iOS devices. iPads are devishly tricky to get to work in a multi-user environment and still lack good solutions for quick data(note) sharing between devices locally. Even the annotations in iBooks are difficult to populate across multiple devices in a classroom set.
Whatever comes out of the 19th event I'm not sure it will really do much at the K-8 end of things.
What I wish (magic genie lamp wish) is that they will open up ways to get files moving back and forth between iOS devices easier on a local network, or even ad-hock networking. From a school use perspective for paperless work that would be very useful. As it stands students can't "bump" course work back and forth to each other they way they can with pure paper or even laptops.
Again I'm talking K-8 here not college.
Whatever comes out of the 19th event I'm not sure it will really do much at the K-8 end of things.
What I wish (magic genie lamp wish) is that they will open up ways to get files moving back and forth between iOS devices easier on a local network, or even ad-hock networking. From a school use perspective for paperless work that would be very useful. As it stands students can't "bump" course work back and forth to each other they way they can with pure paper or even laptops.
Again I'm talking K-8 here not college.
College/Uni students are more able to afford them, though (and colleges/unis are more likely to be able to give them to students).
Personally I hope that Apple makes something to replace the terrible e-library systems used by most universities.
E-libraries are messy, confusing, full of mishmashed user interfaces, crazy redirects, irrelevant portal pages and hidden search boxes. It makes it very difficult to find the book or journal that I want.
I was using Ebrary the other week, and it occurred to me that it would so much better if Apple designed it. This is probably wishful thinking, but I do believe Apple could do for reference libraries what iTunes did for the music industry.
E-libraries are messy, confusing, full of mishmashed user interfaces, crazy redirects, irrelevant portal pages and hidden search boxes. It makes it very difficult to find the book or journal that I want.
I was using Ebrary the other week, and it occurred to me that it would so much better if Apple designed it. This is probably wishful thinking, but I do believe Apple could do for reference libraries what iTunes did for the music industry.
i'm glad there's a new apple event coming, but i wish something new was at least being announced. looks like nothing big here. but maybe we'll get iBooks on our macs?
Hopefully as a sign of things to come with all things iStore.
iBook should take on the same folder/shelf as Newsstand.
Then follow with All document based apps taking on the same document presentation.
I haven't seen any news of anyone doing a live blog, does anyone know if there will be one anywhere?
Also, expect an on stage appearance by someone at one of the big New York based publishers
Also, expect an on stage appearance by someone at one of the big New York based publishers
