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Apple's Textbook Project Code Named 'Bliss' and Inspired by Al Gore's 'Our Choice'?

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Apr 12, 2001
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AppleInsider reports that it received a tip earlier this week claiming that Apple's digital textbook project rumored for unveiling tomorrow has been developed internally under the code name "Bliss". The source also indicated that the project was inspired by Apple board member Al Gore's Our Choice e-book app focused on global climate change.

our_choice_harvesting_wind.jpg



Al Gore's Our Choice app​
Some of the source's information, including details on Roger Rosner's role in the project, was corroborated yesterday by The Wall Street Journal, increasing confidence in the remainder of the claims.
The person who contacted AppleInsider indicated that Apple's Internet software chief, Eddy Cue, is responsible for the distribution side of the new e-textbook initiative. But Rosner is said to be in charge of development of the editor used to create digital textbooks, as well as the reading software that will allow students and teachers to view the files.

The person said the internal code-name for the project is "Bliss," and said the software will allow publishers to make textbooks more interactive.
Click to expand...
Our Choice, which was selected for an Apple Design Award at last year's Worldwide Developers Conference, is an immersive, interactive app produced by Push Pop Press. The firm founded by former Apple engineers had planned to expand its efforts in the interactive book-as-app market with additional titles, but the plan was cut short when Facebook acquired the company last year.

Article Link: Apple's Textbook Project Code Named 'Bliss' and Inspired by Al Gore's 'Our Choice'?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/18/apples-textbook-project-code-named-bliss-and-inspired-by-al-gores-our-choice/
velocityg4

velocityg4

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Dec 19, 2004
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So does that mean the textbook program will be hypocritical?


Anyways digital textbooks seemed like the obvious direction given iBooks, Kindle, Nook &c. Plus expanded content available online from many magazine publishers and TV networks for years now.
 
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pheenix11

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Jul 13, 2010
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X; en_US) AppleWebKit (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile [FBAN/FBForIPhone;FBAV/4.1;FBBV/4100.0;FBDV/iPhone4,1;FBMD/iPhone;FBSN/iPhone OS;FBSV/5.0.1;FBSS/2; FBCR/AT&T;FBID/phone;FBLC/en_US;FBSF/2.0])

Are these digital textbooks going to be significantly cheaper to make up for the fact that you can't resell them at the end of the semester?
 
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blow45

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Jan 18, 2011
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Has anyone performed any studies on the effect lcd screens have on young eyes? :confused:

I know I 've had to put glasses at 33 from computer use and know a lot of friends who had their eyesight hurt after extensive computer use.

As much as I feel excited about this, I have to be reserved about it too...
 
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Webbedfeet8

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Jan 18, 2012
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Why would they base this on anything related to Al Gore? Uhggg. I love Apple and all their products but this is disappointing. Global warming is a hoax pushed for political gain.
 
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pjo

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Feb 20, 2006
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A major (technical) question for me is if one will be able to read purchased textbooks off anything besides an iOS device.
 
Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

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blow45 said:
Has anyone performed any studies on the effect lcd screens have on young eyes? :confused:

I know I 've had to put glasses at 33 from computer use and know a lot of friends who had their eyesight hurt after extensive computer use.

As much as I feel excited about this, I have to be reserved about it too...
Click to expand...

LCD screens don't cause damage as old CRT screens and TVs did in the past. There's no X-Ray or similar radiation on LCD screens.

Eyesight problems could be cause by excessive brightness in a dark environment, or by a cheap or defective monitor with a FL backlight that flickers, even if it's not easily noticeable.

Also, people who already have bad eyesight and need glasses but opt to avoid using them would of course experience headaches and related problems. Also, people who suffer from sinus related allergies. But those are not good reasons to say it's the LCD screen's fault at all.

Besides the situations mentioned above, there's no reason for a LCD screen to cause eyesight problems to anyone, unless the problem was pre-existent.

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Webbedfeet8 said:
Global warming is a hoax pushed for political gain.
Click to expand...

It's possible that some politicians may use the Global Warming as a tool for their own political gain, but we can't deny that there is a problem with Global Warming.
I do know there is some people who in their ignorance would say there's no Global Warming, and come up with all these facts that make no sense at all. I have decided to ignore those. I just hope you are not one of those people too.
 
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coder12

coder12

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Jun 28, 2010
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applesith said:
except McDonalds
Click to expand...

You're thinking of Bill Clinton.


Anyways, this makes complete logical sense. Whenever Apple touts the iPads to schools, Al Gore's book is always the spotlight of the show. "Look at how your kids can be learning!", they say. When in reality, all the teachers do is scan PDFs of their worksheets and push them out for students to read in iBooks. That's just ... pathetic! They were shown the quality that the iPads can bring, and let's hope that tomorrow's event really pushes book publishers to think differently. :)
 
Amazing Iceman

Amazing Iceman

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coder12 said:
You're thinking of Bill Clinton.


Anyways, this makes complete logical sense. Whenever Apple touts the iPads to schools, Al Gore's book is always the spotlight of the show. "Look at how your kids can be learning!", they say. When in reality, all the teachers do is scan PDFs of their worksheets and push them out for students to read in iBooks. That's just ... pathetic! They were shown the quality that the iPads can bring, and let's hope that tomorrow's event really pushes book publishers to think differently. :)
Click to expand...

it's very hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Not all teachers know or want to learn about this unless they feel their job depends on it.

The younger generation is the one who will push this to the max. And those "old dogs" who are adaptable will help too.

There are many ways to use the iPad in education, it just requires the teacher to use his imagination; and hopefully more will be learned about this starting this Thursday.

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Apple's Textbook Project Code Named 'Bliss' and Inspired by Al Gore's 'Our Choice'?
Click to expand...

I would say that Al Gore's "Our Choice" was the pilot for Apple's Textbook Project Code Named 'Bliss'.
 
applesith

applesith

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coder12 said:
You're thinking of Bill Clinton.
Click to expand...

Fat+Albert.jpg


He's touched McDonalds once or twice.

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Amazing Iceman said:
It's possible that some politicians may use the Global Warming as a tool for their own political gain, but we can't deny that there is a problem with Global Warming.
I do know there is some people who in their ignorance would say there's no Global Warming, and come up with all these facts that make no sense at all. I have decided to ignore those. I just hope you are not one of those people too.
Click to expand...

All depends on the period of time you are measuring temperatures. And there is no proof that it's man made or that anything can actually be done about it. That is why it can be called a hoax.
 
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ronm99

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Jan 13, 2012
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blow45 said:
Has anyone performed any studies on the effect lcd screens have on young eyes? :confused:

I know I 've had to put glasses at 33 from computer use and know a lot of friends who had their eyesight hurt after extensive computer use.

As much as I feel excited about this, I have to be reserved about it too...
Click to expand...

My understanding is that computers hurt the eyes due to the fact that you are constantly focusing on an object at the same distance away. As people age, they become far-sighted because their eyes become less flexible which limits their ability to focus on things that are close to them (thus requiring reading glasses). You can help your eyes during computer use by occasionally focusing on things far away and then looking back at the computer again.

I've never heard of any studies that say that LCD screens hurt the eyes.

If the above is correct, then there should be no difference between reading a book and reading on a computer screen.

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applesith said:
Image

He's touched McDonalds once or twice.

----------



All depends on the period of time you are measuring temperatures. And there is no proof that it's man made or that anything can actually be done about it. That is why it can be called a hoax.
Click to expand...

This is getting off-topic, but I would like to add that calling something a "hoax" is saying that the scientists are deliberately trying to mis-lead people. You may or may not agree with their conclusions, but calling global warming a hoax is going too far.
 
M

marcusj0015

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Webbedfeet8 said:
Why would they base this on anything related to Al Gore? Uhggg. I love Apple and all their products but this is disappointing. Global warming is a hoax pushed for political gain.
Click to expand...

LOL political hoax huh, then why hasn't snow stuck around the great lakes fro more than two days all winter?
 
Lesser Evets

Lesser Evets

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Jan 7, 2006
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There's enough well-presented information on the internet now; a 12-grade USA education can be gained online by kids with about 5 years of applied study. An iPad + Time + Effort = the end of schools... except we need schools to be indoctrination daycare for kids.
 
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