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Live Coverage of Apple's Education-Focused Media Event
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Well, I still want it. This is nothing compared to what serious parents spend already.
This isn't the final future, all ready today. But tablets in general are a major step to where we should be headed, I think. Very simple to see a "school" tablet for lower cost in the future, also. Kinda like low-end student laptops sold by many companies.
I agree. And I'm not against the technology. Interesting point you raise. It will be interesting to see what happens in 5-10 years. Will text book publishers have more than just Apple to rely on for distribution - or will they be able to author for other formats and get their books into classrooms. I hope so. I hope that Apple doesn't become an "education monopoly" where schools can't choose an alternate ecosystem.
I suppose that makes sense. But there already is such a monopoly, nearly. And Apple's partners, per the news today, are them. Depending on what happens, Apple just becomes the tech partner.
A bit different. A physical book doesn't also require technology to run it. And the book publishers do not set prices or do the deals for the tech. So they could have the best intentions - and then Apple could just screw over the schools. I am not saying they would or will. I'm saying that it's a bit different. At least if there is competition - it keeps everyone "honest" and offers alternatives if one entity is gouging.
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From Engadget - and a little unsettling.. (bold is mine)
Were you wondering about the economics behind Apple's new e-textbooks? Well, it turns out that Cupertino is giving authors the ability to set their own prices as long as they remain $14.99 or under. In exchange, Apple takes a 30 percent cut, and requires authors take an oath of fealty to Tim Cook -- ok, not really, but any e-textbook author that wants access to the iPad-toting masses must make his or her work an exclusive to iBooks 2.
I don't see this initiative as being very successful for several reasons.
1. The upfront cost of an ipad is very expensive. At least $500. A single class of 30 students would require $15K in ipads. Certainly text books have an upfront cost as well, but it would not be as large as providing ipads for everyone.
2. Durability. Particularly in younger students, text books get abused. They get bounced around in backpacks, dropped, etc. Ipads would be subject to breakage and damage from routine use by students.
3. Theft. Ipads are pretty expensive, and providing them for use outside of the classroom means students taking them home. Very few people in my school ever had books stolen, a lot of people had ipods, etc. stolen. Elementary/junior high students running around with valuable electronics seems unsafe.
4. Cost of ebooks; my biggest concern. Book publishers currently make money hand-over-fist with printed texts. They release new issues every year, release online (single use $$$) companion material, etc. I don't see publishers gladly switching from $100-200 text books to $15 ebooks. They already have a captive market (you have to buy text books) and I can't see them walking away from revenue. If publishers are going to be interested in this, there has to be more money for them than in print and that desire for more money + an expensive platform isn't going to magically result in cheaper text books. Publishers will love the disposable nature of ebooks (expect single use books) as it removes the used book market that is vital to frugal students, but this isn't much of a benefit to the users of this platform.
1. The upfront cost of an ipad is very expensive. At least $500. A single class of 30 students would require $15K in ipads. Certainly text books have an upfront cost as well, but it would not be as large as providing ipads for everyone.
2. Durability. Particularly in younger students, text books get abused. They get bounced around in backpacks, dropped, etc. Ipads would be subject to breakage and damage from routine use by students.
3. Theft. Ipads are pretty expensive, and providing them for use outside of the classroom means students taking them home. Very few people in my school ever had books stolen, a lot of people had ipods, etc. stolen. Elementary/junior high students running around with valuable electronics seems unsafe.
4. Cost of ebooks; my biggest concern. Book publishers currently make money hand-over-fist with printed texts. They release new issues every year, release online (single use $$$) companion material, etc. I don't see publishers gladly switching from $100-200 text books to $15 ebooks. They already have a captive market (you have to buy text books) and I can't see them walking away from revenue. If publishers are going to be interested in this, there has to be more money for them than in print and that desire for more money + an expensive platform isn't going to magically result in cheaper text books. Publishers will love the disposable nature of ebooks (expect single use books) as it removes the used book market that is vital to frugal students, but this isn't much of a benefit to the users of this platform.
Given that the hardware is expensive ($500) and the software is inexpensive ($15 per book) I'm not sure what your point is.
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The stupidity of some never cease to amaze me.
jsbaugh said:
The stupidity of some never cease to amaze me.
and Apple writes thank you notes for people/companies they have taken ideas from?
so if Amazon comes out with a similar program but makes it so that the books are available to all types of devices through their kindle app, that's a bad thing?
how much stock do you own?
My Niece (14) says they do not have to take the books to school anyway?
No stolen books and no back problems from carrying the darn things.
I know there are many other advantages and if she wants them she just has to work to earn $15 each.
Anne Arundel County, MD ... Supposedly some of the best schools in the country.
Anyway it is a great start Apple.
I want to write a book now. lol
No stolen books and no back problems from carrying the darn things.
I know there are many other advantages and if she wants them she just has to work to earn $15 each.
Anne Arundel County, MD ... Supposedly some of the best schools in the country.
Anyway it is a great start Apple.
I want to write a book now. lol
I'm still trying to figure this attitude out. Is it because he said those things? Because they are all true. Every day, all over the world. I'm not sure how the textbook market is going to fix it, whether it is digital or paper.
You're confused. You're applying the new, digital price to print-format textbooks.
My point was that if you lose a backpack/book bag that has four print college textbooks, you easily could be out $300 worth of books. And if something happens (say fire/water damage) and you lose all of your books one semester, it would be cheaper to replace an iPad and redownload for free digital versions than to replace all of the print editions.
Volume Purchasing
Hey everyone! I've noticed a few comments on this thread suggesting that parents would be responsible for purchasing the student's textbooks. I did a little digging and found that this is not the case. Read all about it by visiting the link below. Thanks!
http://www.apple.com/education/volume-purchase-program/
Hey everyone! I've noticed a few comments on this thread suggesting that parents would be responsible for purchasing the student's textbooks. I did a little digging and found that this is not the case. Read all about it by visiting the link below. Thanks!
http://www.apple.com/education/volume-purchase-program/
Aren't textbooks free in High school? Mine were free.
I had to pay a book deposit but got it back. Now I'm not sure I know I have to buy a lot of stuff for my kids in grades 1, 3 and 5. My wife does it all though. I think books are part of it.
Do you know how much textbooks actually cost? This semester alone cost me $800 in text books. While I'm in college and not high school, the textbook costs aren't all that different. In fact, the text books I had in my AP bio, chem, calc, and physics classes in highschool were the same text books I would've had to buy if I had to take the intro courses in the same subjects in college. In fact, for my AP Chem class, the school didn't even buy the book. I had to buy the book myself for $180. Which thankfully carried over to chem II
I'm sure there'll be some kind of volume license program that allows schools to still pay for the textbooks. If the cost is truly $15/ebook, the costs will go down significantly for most schools. That extra money could help prevent tax hikes (or could be used to hire better teachers)
On another note, is there anything about Apple going into college level textbooks? The K-12 stuff probably covers intro classes, but the books I'm using for the 400-level classes certainly wouldn't be considered K-12... If I could get electronic/interactive copies, I'll go buy an iPad right now
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I did notice one odd thing when looking through the Life on Earth text book.
It does not seem to support "speak highlighted text" as other books do. Knowing how Apple is all about accessibility and education, I find this surprising. What if a student has a visual problems or or some other learning issue? Speak selected text is a huge omission.
It does not seem to support "speak highlighted text" as other books do. Knowing how Apple is all about accessibility and education, I find this surprising. What if a student has a visual problems or or some other learning issue? Speak selected text is a huge omission.
I do know what textbooks cost and you're right about college level and AP books. But far off the mark when it comes to books for Elementary, Middle and most High School books.
I think the iPad for replacing college books makes a LOT of sense. Except for the fact that Apple is requiring publishers to be exclusive. I take BIG issue with that.
This is a big beef, and part of the "college as profit center" model that I really dislike. Courses at the freshmen/sophomore level do not need updated (eg) calculus texts every 1,2,3 years. The same edition should have a shelf life of 5 years, minimum. For something like calculus, even longer.
The texts for those courses should be standardized, commoditized, and cheap.
Hey everyone! I've noticed a few comments on this thread suggesting that parents would be responsible for purchasing the student's textbooks. I did a little digging and found that this is not the case. Read all about it by visiting the link below. Thanks!
http://www.apple.com/education/volume-purchase-program/
that page doesn't say whether or not parents would shoulder the load or not. And Apple's volume pricing isn't all that big/great anyway...
Keep digging
You won't find anything though because Apple won't dictate who pays for the iPads or the content - that will be up to the school boards...Whole-heartedly agree with that when concerning things like calc and classical physics. Chemistry and particularly biology, I disagree. Even the introductory material in biology has changed quite a bit over the last 5-10 years. (Particularly classifications and evolution... bird are reptiles now. Archaea are now known to be younger than Eubacteria. Neither was the case when I took biology in hs)
I don't even buy my books from the university bookstore anyway. Amazon's prices are way cheaper, and with prime I don't have to worry about shipping time
I love the idea of textbooks on the iBooks 2, but I absolutely hate the idea that the textbook has to be exclusive to Apple. Not only does Apple takes 30% of the purchase, it also lock the author's and publisher's from selling the contents on other systems (for example, as a PDF ebook). Please let me know if I'm interpreting this wrong. This disturbs me a lot. I wish it were like apps where the contents are not exclusive.
Ah, yeah, medicine never changes
In all seriousness, I would think with programming languages changing so quickly, that'd be a huge advantage to iBooks with updates available.
Due to fast-change I've already switched to digital references for drug and lab test references. I've also switched to ebooks for my textbooks where possible to save the weight.