'iBooks Author' eBook Authoring App for Mac Now Available

[jb1280]

Am I the only one who finds this self-publishing idea extremely scary. Think of the power someone can yield if they "publish" a book that contains morally reprehensible content and try to pass it off as a "textbook"? Is someone at Apple going to actually read these "textbooks" for erroneous information and other morally questionable content? And if so, what are their qualifications?

School children are going to be able go onto iTunes, go to the "textbook" section, and download some garbage? And remember, its not just "adult content" that I am scared of. There are much more damaging themes than making boobs jiggle. Just a glimpse through the App Store send shivers down my back. It's questionable if an individual makes an iPhone app with disinformation in it, but its a totally different ballgame if they label it a "textbook".

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Freedom of speech is fine with me, but do not label these creations as "textbook" that are aimed at children. Remember, today's presentation was geared towards the educational community. There are parents out there who go to the end of the world keeping their family's internet clean, now they will have to deal with a "textbook" section in iTunes.

I really do not think this is going to be a major problem. First, as has been mentioned there already exists a place to get incorrect information about the world and that is the Internet. Second, there are awful textbooks that actually get published anyways. Third, I don't see many children who are going to voluntarily download textbooks for the fun of it.

Ultimately there are adults who are responsible for developing curriculum and textbook adoption for the classroom and the potential for the proliferation of garbage is not going to stop that.

 

[radiogoober]

Second, there are awful textbooks that actually get published anyways.

Yup! Has anyone else heard of Elsevier?

 

[smoledman]

I spent a little bit of time in this app with some forthcoming material in a textbook and it is actually quite compelling for textbooks. Would I use this for a monograph? Of course not, but for the textbook audience this is a step forward.

Yet look at the vitriol that Apple has generated for having the temerity to make textbook authoring easier!

 

[radiogoober]

Yet look at the vitriol that Apple has generated for having the temerity to make textbook authoring easier!

Oh come on. We are allowed to criticize. Especially when the whole point of the software is for writing textbooks and the software is missing critical and essential functions for doing so.

 

[smoledman]

Oh come on. We are allowed to criticize. Especially when the whole point of the software is for writing textbooks and the software is missing critical and essential functions for doing so.

What is missing from the iBook authoring tool that is essential and critical? People on this forum have already described writing chapters and it being a very pleasant experience.

 

[radiogoober]

What is missing from the iBook authoring tool that is essential and critical? People on this forum have already described writing chapters and it being a very pleasant experience.

Citations, references, end notes, whatever you wish to call them.

It's bizarre, because Pages supports them absolutely perfectly. And iBooks Author seems to be a mix of boy Keynote and Pages, so I can't imagine why they didn't implement this.

 

[smoledman]

Citations, references, end notes, whatever you wish to call them.

It's bizarre, because Pages supports them absolutely perfectly. And iBooks Author seems to be a mix of boy Keynote and Pages, so I can't imagine why they didn't implement this.

Another user already posted that citations in textbooks are rarely done and irrelevant. Next?

 

[radiogoober]

Another user already posted that citations in textbooks are rarely done and irrelevant. Next?

I help write medical textbooks and each chapter can have hundreds of references. Something tells me you've never opened a textbook.

 

[jb1280]

I help write medical textbooks and each chapter can have hundreds of references. Something tells me you've never opened a textbook.

While many textbooks that are used in universities in myriad undergraduate core classes do not have footnotes and few references. Such textbooks are not

""Mickey Mouse", and is not remotely academic"

as you refer to them as.

It's one thing to criticize a new piece of software for not having the needs that you have. It's something else entirely to dismiss anything produced with the software with phrases as "Mickey Mouse" and "not remotely academic."

Also, one should consider that as more academic texts do move in this direction, there should be a complete reassessment on how references are supposed to be managed. Footnotes and other citations make sense on paper formats and traditional books formats. The less linear these texts become, the more dynamic citations could become.

 

[smoledman]

Next up in 2014 in every classroom - "student whip out your iPads"!

 

[kas23]

I really do not think this is going to be a major problem. First, as has been mentioned there already exists a place to get incorrect information about the world and that is the Internet. Second, there are awful textbooks that actually get published anyways. Third, I don't see many children who are going to voluntarily download textbooks for the fun of it.

Ultimately there are adults who are responsible for developing curriculum and textbook adoption for the classroom and the potential for the proliferation of garbage is not going to stop that.

What makes you think these "textbooks" are going to be only downloaded and implemented by teachers? From the looks of it, anyone with iTunes and a quarter of a brain will be able to download these books and digest them.

It is very true that there will be nothing in these books that you can't already read on the Internet. But, these sites are not iTunes. They are not branded by Apple. People eat up anything Apple puts out not just because it's from Apple, but more importantly, because Apple makes it easy. There's no way certain apps could have become so popular if they were scattered across every dark corner of the Internet. They became popular because they are collected into one centralized, very attractive place. And the popularity of the app store has exploded. Yes, there is idiot stuff on the Internet, but these sites probably don't get 1% of the exposure iTunes gets.

As for children not downloading these for the fun of it, you're missing the largest point of these books and why Apple is pushing them; these books, unlike old crusty textbooks, will make learning a blast. It will be fun to open up one of these books. Apple and teachers hope kids will be falling over themselves to interact with them without being told to do so.

And finally, there are awful textbooks already out, but please read my point about iTunes. Currently kids have little means to obtain and read these awful textbooks. They certain aren't going to search them out on publisher websites, when they can have them wirelessly delivered right to their living room.

Now, that said, kids will need a credit card number to buy anything off iTunes and it is up to their parents to supply them with this. This is one saving grace.

 

[jb1280]

Now, that said, kids will need a credit card number to buy anything off iTunes and it is up to their parents to supply them with this. This is one saving grace.

The iTunes password is what alleviates all the hypothetical concerns you have. Parental/administrative controls is key.

 

[ixodes]

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True -

wow, this is FREE!!

Free is very expensive if we read the fine print.

It's a very clever way for Apple to own our work, permanently.

The iBooks Author user agreement says that any file output in the iBook format must be sold through Apple's store, and not anywhere else. You can give it away for free, but if you want to sell your work, you can't sell it yourself. Apple owns the rights.

This is a terrific way for Apple to profit.

 

[gnasher729]

It's a very clever way for Apple to own our work, permanently.

Since you are saying "our" work, what work do you intend to write that Apple might get their evil claws on? Just saying. Don't pontificate if you aren't actually affected by it, and because you are not affected, you can afford to have an uninformed opinion. Ask people who actually intend to publish whether they have a problem with this.

 

[stevensr123]

Free is very expensive if we read the fine print.

It's a very clever way for Apple to own our work, permanently.

The iBooks Author user agreement says that any file output in the iBook format must be sold through Apple's store, and not anywhere else. You can give it away for free, but if you want to sell your work, you can't sell it yourself. Apple owns the rights.

This is a terrific way for Apple to profit.

Isn't it more the case of " You use our application to create the digital textbook , then you can't sell it elsewhere"

And by that, I mean they can still sell the actual content, but not the actual file/format created from using apple's software.

Which is fair enough, Why should apple let you use there software to create the IOS style text book, but allow you to sell that version to a competitor.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, but that's the way I see it. There not actually stoping you from selling the Content ( i.e. the information) elsewhere , but they don't won't you selling that exact IOS style textbook that was created using there free software.

 

[foiden]

It's only the format. It's not entitled to your work as a whole. If you publish the same thing with a different program and output format, you're free to sell it through any other means.

 

[Ubik1981]

I see that several of you are working on a novel and want to see iBooks Author have templates for novels. I'm also working on a novel, so I was hoping to see the same thing. I'm sure some more templates will be available soon, either through updates or third parties.

But I wanted to mention Scrivener, a very under-appreciated program for writing novels. It's incredibly robust and has many writing tools you're not going to find in iBooks Author. Specifically, it has tools for helping with character development and storylines. iBooks Author is geared more toward education and interactive books. It might not be the best tool to write a novel in.

Plus, Scrivener allows you to export to both iBooks and Kindle, so you get to hit both markets.

I'm not ruling iBooks Author out though. Once I finish my book, I do plan on loading it into iBooks Author and experimenting to see if there are any creative interactive elements I can add to enhance my story. But I can't imagine writing a book within the software itself.

Hope this helps the aspiring authors here.

Scrivener and iBooks Authors are two completely different kinds of beasts. The former is a text-editor. The latter is a more complex typesetting and publishing tool. You may use Scrivener to write your novel, but you will have to use another software to typeset it and export it to whatever format.

 

[johngordon]

Thinking about this some more, it sounds great in theory, but how much of it involves entire classes having iPads? From the note about publishers benefiting because students would each pay $15 for a book every year, rather than a school / college pay $75 every five years, surely that only works if everyone is using an iPad? Otherwise you have some kids with a traditional book, and others with an iBook.

 

[mythree]

It's Apple's way of cashing in on someone that may submit a hit - read the agreement again in case you missed it.

 

[ixodes]

Since you are saying "our" work, what work do you intend to write that Apple might get their evil claws on? Just saying. Don't pontificate if you aren't actually affected by it, and because you are not affected, you can afford to have an uninformed opinion. Ask people who actually intend to publish whether they have a problem with this.

Apple is not evil like you claim. They've simply created a very good way to extend their income stream. It's just business. Nothing to get upset about.

 

[Kabeyun]

Holly crap! You have 3 other options: Windows, Linux and Google Chrome. No one is forcing you to buy Lion.

I just read this and can't stop myself from replying. Now that I've started typing, I can't seem to come up with a way to articulate the number of ways your comment is idiotic. That one will have to do.