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Live Coverage of Apple's Education-Focused Media Event

I'm a diehard democrat and pro-union type of person but if the teachers union stands up to efforts like this then I will call them out on it and I will use everything in my power and my political influence in Illinois at least to stop them.

EDIT:

I see they have a new tool out too that can be used to create books. I've been meaning to start my book about the last days of the Cold War. Thank you Apple for making it easier.
 
CFreymarc said:
IMO, this press conference is a huge Trojan horse for public education. Suddenly, many more textbooks become affordable for home schooled children. Also, I would not be surprised if Teachers Unions start to oppose this and not let these in primary and secondary school. At the college level, this will do great.
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If that is the case, disband them immediately as they have overstayed their welcome.
 
The Life on Earth Book mentioned in the presentation is free right now on iTunes. Its a 1GB download!! Downloading now to check it out.
 
I know this is supposed to be "about education," but forget that... iBooks Author is going to be huge, and education will only be a small part of it. Being able to make good e-books all on your own is going to crush the publishers. Their role just got shrunk to marketers and editors, but all the other parts of their business are about to get stripped away.
 
CFreymarc said:
IMO, this press conference is a huge Trojan horse for public education. Suddenly, many more textbooks become affordable for home schooled children. Also, I would not be surprised if Teachers Unions start to oppose this and not let these in primary and secondary school. At the college level, this will do great.
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that seems a little paranoid, overly dramatic.
 
thenerdal said:
I like how they say iPad is more durable than a textbook. That's not true.
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If you consider that you can download a version for free from the cloud after you've purchased it, perhaps it is. Lose a textbook, it's gone. Lose your iPad ... we'll you're out of an iPad, but you can redownload every textbook you've ever bought for free.
 
Seems like a good idea. Being in my 3rd year of college, I could have bought 5 iPads with the money I've spent on textbooks -_-

Sometimes you have to use textbooks simultaneously, however... so that could be an issue if all your textbooks are on an iPad, ya' know?
 
If the iPad can be more affordable, then I can see this doing well, if not, then no I can't.
 
Honestly, I'd just like to see the ability to read books on Mac (rumored for today but not announced yet).

Until that happens, I'd likely buy any electronic book for Kindle instead.

EDIT: New books in the iTunes store, so far they say iPad only.
 
"If you've ever been involved in an e-book creation before, you know this is a total miracle."

I see Apple's gone from the business of "magical" to the business of "miracles."

;)
 
Textbooks aren't always ideal: cumbersome, not terribly portable, not durable, not interactive, not searchable, but the content is great. Companies work hard to update, but hard to get the content out to people fast enough.

Wha????

1)How are textbooks cumbersome?! For comparison, there are no buttons (unlike an iPad), no cords, no dead batteries, no crashing, etc.

2)NOT PORTABLE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Having graduated high school and college, I can say that I never, ever, found a texbook that was not portable. Sure, maybe if I tried to carry all 15 home in 1 bag at the end of the year...but that's it. Total joke on this point, Apple.

3)Not durable? Again, a joke, Apple.

4)Not searchable? Well, kinda true...but all textbooks are broken up into Chapters and there is that thing called, um, oh, THE TABLE OF CONTENTS in the beginning...and typically an index in the back for topics and sub topics. Very very rarely did I find it hard (gee, I had to spend 5 minutes) to locate a topic in a book. And how many times in Search Engines (either web-based or built into software products) have I spent more than 5 minutes trying to find something...often enough (exception: Google)

5)Can't get the content out fast enough? Mmmmm, last time I checked at textbook was good for a Semester or longer...typically 3-9 months worth of a topic. Other than Science and Biology, textbooks are not years out of date. Typically new Editions come out every year with fixed typos, extra or new examples, and every blue moon a new topic. Lets not forget that textbook companies have been screwing kids for decades by releasing a new "edition" every year which thus makes the old edition worthless on the used market...we've all been there.


It will be interesting to see what Apple has to offer, but this opening statement is a complete joke and the biggest Marketing spin I've ever heard of.

Other comments Apple will likely make against textbooks:

1)You can get papercuts
2)Classmates can draw on them and ruin your pages
3)They are heavy and can cause scoliosis if carrying with a backpack
4)Paper can trigger nasty allergy attacks
5)That "new book smell" can cause brain tumors
6)Bullies throw textbooks at their victims
 
What would keep me from taking my text books and copying them with iAuthor and making a killing? Sell them for $5 in ibooks.
 
You can expect colleges to bundle the cost of an iPad into tuition. A college near the one that I teach at already provides all freshman students a "free" iPad.

Of course it's not free. It's cost is factored into tuition. But if the savings vs. print books is more than $400 or so over four years (merely $100 a year), then obviously it's a good move.
 
Enough trash see's the light of day as it is. Quality in the publishing industry was already going down the toilet, now it's just fallen into the sewer.

Any one will now think they can write a book. A big hint, if you could actually write something worth reading a publisher would have picked you up.

This could be very good for final year students doing dissertations, but apart from that this is nothing more than Apple letting everyone believe they can do a professional job of something.
 
ericinboston said:
2)NOT PORTABLE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Having graduated high school and college, I can say that I never, ever, found a texbook that was not portable. Sure, maybe if I tried to carry all 15 home in 1 bag at the end of the year...but that's it. Total joke on this point, Apple.
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Did you have a locker in school where you could keep books? Apparently a lot of kids don't.

Not really fair of you to just say they don't matter because you were lucky.


G4DP said:
Any one will now think they can write a book. A big hint, if you could actually write something worth reading a publisher would have picked you up.

This could be very good for final year students doing dissertations, but apart from that this is nothing more than Apple letting everyone believe they can do a professional job of something.
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By your logic the inventions of iMovie + Youtube should have ruined my career as a video editor and made it so no one watches professional videos anymore.

Well guess what? That didn't happen.
 
mrzeigler said:
You can expect colleges to bundle the cost of an iPad into tuition. A college near the one that I teach at already provides all freshman students a "free" iPad.

Of course it's not free. It's cost is factored into tuition. But if the savings vs. print books is more than $400 or so over four years (merely $100 a year), then obviously it's a good move.
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And for pre-College schools? Elementary, Jr High and High School?

Who will be paying for the iPads. And the content?
 
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