That would be great. However, how large of a screen would suffice for all those tasks? The pages of the textbooks (at least in the sciences) are generally around 7 inches by 10 inches or larger. The screen would have to be at least 12.2 inches. That is fairly large for a tablet-like device. I've very curious as to how Apple will handle this. If the device sells for under $500 and textbooks are substantially cheaper, I'm sold. Otherwise I will pass and continue buying physical copies and using my MBP.
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HarperCollins Negotiating With Apple Over e-Books on New Tablet Device?
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That would be great. However, how large of a screen would suffice for all those tasks? The pages of the textbooks (at least in the sciences) are generally around 7 inches by 10 inches or larger. The screen would have to be at least 12.2 inches. That is fairly large for a tablet-like device. I've very curious as to how Apple will handle this. If the device sells for under $500 and textbooks are substantially cheaper, I'm sold. Otherwise I will pass and continue buying physical copies and using my MBP.
Itunes Updated as well
If this be true then iTunes will be updated.... for the iGuide software in the Apple iSlate
If this be true then iTunes will be updated.... for the iGuide software in the Apple iSlate
Yeah, don't hold your breath on that one, I doubt they're going to pass on the printing and distribution savings to you. The price of Kindle books is still quite high considering the reduced costs, and the textbook industry has been gouging students forever.
This is just the beginning of cloud computing. The big boys figured out how to make money doing this. The big server farms are built or close to it to handle this. More and more fiber optic lines are being layed and the big push for the country folks to get connected is going on now. The only big question next is how much they are going to reem us for the content. I for one am impatiently waiting on apple to release there tablet before I decide who I am buying one from.
This is true and probably wont change. What will change is a student walking around campus with 10 books under their arm. Instead it will just be a 10.1" device.
That in itself is worth it. I remember having to walk around campus with 10 books. I hated it. If I could walk around with just a ******* it would make my day much better.
That's what I am hesitant about. Publishers really are not knocking down the price of eBooks as much as expected. Saving 10% or less is not attractive enough to ditch paper.
Click! Everything just fell into place...
The tablet is for textbooks. I've been wondering what Apple saw in this class of device, and this is the first thing I've heard that makes sense-- they're leveraging their iPod cool to get them back into the education market.
The tablet is for textbooks. I've been wondering what Apple saw in this class of device, and this is the first thing I've heard that makes sense-- they're leveraging their iPod cool to get them back into the education market.
Reminds me of this from onLive - their way of getting the game industry on board.
left hand side - the break down of normal games. Piracy, used product took a big chunk of money for retail. Returns, Distribution, COGS, Platform Royalty...
Maybe Apple offers that a nice split, and helps get the publisher gross margin higher.
Big shot in the arm to get iPhone/Tablet apps for the education area. eLearning renaissance as a side-effect?
My law exams were open any printed material I wanted but absolutely no access to digital material or the Internet (see Examsoft). A textbook on the tablet would be worthless for an "open book" test because there's no way for the professor to limit Internet access.
Indeed. Though law schools are particularly strict about that - no cellphones, etc. I went to both law school and engineering school, and I think most engineering schools would allow it at least for some exams (unlike law school, engineers take many exams per class per semester, instead of one proctored videotaped examsofted exam for all the marble).
Yeah - law schools are no doubt the extreme, but as soon as a student has Internet access, ie email access, ie chat access, any exam is compromised. I don't see any way that a tablet could reliably replace a textbook for an open book exam.
Schools
Schools are going to be a big market for this new device. Apple are already road testing iPod Touch in schools in Australia for providing study material, video, audio and ebook...
Schools are going to be a big market for this new device. Apple are already road testing iPod Touch in schools in Australia for providing study material, video, audio and ebook...
It would only work in subject areas where the exams are mostly analytic and problem solving. That's why I think engineering classes would sometimes allow it. Law school and other areas that are largely memorization would obviously be a problem.
In general, i think etextbooks has no advantage other than less stuff to carry and a slight decrease in cost vs. a new textbook, and many problems (the exam issue, loss of the used textbook market, page numbers not matching the professor's, slow random access - no substitute for sticky notes, page tabs, etc., inability to take notes in mathematical disciplines).
They already have with iPhone. The Amazon Kindle app has been on the store forever. I think Amazon also owns Stanza too.
If this is an eBook reader, I doubt it.
That's the point. They let them in the store when they aren't competing. When they start selling books themselves, we'll see. Notice there's no amazon music store app...
"Cheaper" didn't happen with music or video - I fear it won't happen to publications either.
An open book test when the "book" has search functionality? I would have killed for that back in the day.
Because it would drive more people to buy it?
I have already bought about 10-15 Kindle books through my iPhone app. If the Apple slate didn't allow those books, I would have nearly zero interest in it. Amazon has by far the best selection, and as of now we just might know that Apple is negotiating with one publisher.
I really hope this e-book war gets settled soon. I don't want e-books to all be proprietary and tied into one or two devices. There should be some standard developed for pure reading and then different companies can make enhancements, like maybe photos, Web links, text to speech, etc. that are only available on certain devices.
I can just imagine what a life saver that would be on an exam. So far I have had only one open book exam, but that was in during a summer semester and the professor was really out of it. Regardless, that would be a killer feature to have.
There's alot of dreamers on macrumors. There's no way a tablet will replace textbooks but since it's an Apple device they get exited. Atleast with a textbook you can sell it when you're done with it.
How much are these ebooks going to cost? I've looked at some on Stanza and they're just as expensive as print editions, if not more so. I don't want to be paying the same price for a file as an actual book. Books still have some respect in my mind. A physical presence is necessary in order to complete the value equation. A free ebook with the purchase of the physical copy would be great. I'm too protective when it comes to books to let them be manipulated by proxy (Kindle/1984 reference).
This has nothing to do with the tablet. The iPod is not some kind of exclusive device to listen to music downloaded from iTunes, the Tablet won't some kind of exclusive device to read books sold through iTunes. If Apple does go forward with an iTunes book store, it will be available to all iTunes devices. Anything less would be downright ludicrous and hoping that this will somehow reduce the prices is also lunacy. Look at movies/music on iTunes, it's not much cheaper than DVDs and CDs.
Life is an "open book" exam
When you have problems/questions in real life, it's "open book" - you can use any resource to find the answer to your problem.
Is it more important to memorize a small set of answers, or to know how to research the answer to unexpected questions?
In my undergraduate program, we'd usually be given 5 days to work on the exams. Much closer to "real life" than some rote memorization tests.
When you have problems/questions in real life, it's "open book" - you can use any resource to find the answer to your problem.
Is it more important to memorize a small set of answers, or to know how to research the answer to unexpected questions?
In my undergraduate program, we'd usually be given 5 days to work on the exams. Much closer to "real life" than some rote memorization tests.
There's no reason these types of notations can't be replicated electronically - with all the additional benefits digital data provides.
Unfortunately the foundation of our antiquated educational system is rote memorization.
Yeah, and there's no way an automobile will replace a horse.
It's obvious why some people run technology companies and others just provide anonymous commentary on Web forums. Vision (the former). And lack thereof (the latter).
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.