Textbook Publishers Strike Deals to Bring Content to iPad

[Niko03]

Get ready for some serious eye strain...

Eye strain from reading backlit screens is a red herring.

There is no difference between reflective light
and transmissive light. Light is light.
The big issue is the brightness difference and contrast
A bright background in a dark area can cause eyestrain.
But a backlit screen where the backlight brightness is matched
to the ambient light won't.
These variables can be controlled, even though one may not always
take the time to do so.

At work I stare at a backlit screen all day. Day after day.
No eyestrain. My office is fairly bright and my screen brightness
and contrast is adjusted to match.

 

[guzhogi]

I just hope these e-Books don't cost as much as the physical books. While there is a cost for the bandwidth used to download the books, power to run the servers, etc., I'm sure it's no where near the cost of making & delivering the physical version.

Some advantages I have for physical books is that you can actually highlight, markup, etc. a physical book while some eBooks (or at least their readers) don't allow this. Plus, you can resell the physical books. And sometimes the physical books contain extra material the eBook doesn't.

However, e-Books do take up a lot less space and with the iPad, you don't need to keep a light on; the screen is its own light.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

It is a glass, glass , glass...

Eye strain from reading backlit screens is a red herring.

There is no difference between reflective light
and transmissive light. Light is light.
The big issue is the brightness difference and contrast
A bright background in a dark area can cause eyestrain.
But a backlit screen where the backlight brightness is matched
to the ambient light won't.
These variables can be controlled, even though one may not always
take the time to do so.

At work I stare at a backlit screen all day. Day after day.
No eyestrain. My office is fairly bright and my screen brightness
and contrast is adjusted to match.

You are absolutely correct about reflecting and transmitting light when it applies to the content itself. Unfortunately, Apple products have a layer of glass on top and glass is very reflective of anything but content.

iPad should be a big hit for eye doctors. But do not fret, you can buy another set of eyes anytime, right

 

[bytethese]

Ugh, my last semester of grad school (hopefully) starts today for 2 classes. I was hoping to by textbooks for this thing but if it won't be out until end of March, may not help as much as I would have liked. Maybe I'll be able to get some later semester textbooks needed for my courses, if they are in the $20-$30 range it makes it that much more tempting.

 

[suesskram]

That will ultimately be the question.
Text books are very expensive. They blame it on the limited run. You would think this kind of platform would allow for more competition because you could have businesses capable of creating text books without the ability to create them in enough quantity to make them worthwhile in print.

Please recognize, that the expenses for quality textbooks do not only cover the printing process; they cover the whole process from conception, writing, editing, proof-reading and ultimately the printing.

Print costs are "almost" neglible here; most of the money is spent on reimbursing authors and the running costs of the publishing company. These costs have to be recovered by online- or e-versions as well!
Believe me; you do want a lot of money spent on those stages, there are to many mediocre textbooks out there!

sk

 

[farmboy]

Get ready for some serious eye strain...

Stop this crap. At its worst it will be no worse than reading a book, and if adjusting screen brightness and text size are do-able, it will be superior.

Re: "backlighting causes eye strain" that some keep posting. Nonsense---all objects you can see you see because of reflected light, including book pages.

 

[Hmac]

You are absolutely correct about reflecting and transmitting light when it applies to the content itself. Unfortunately, Apple products have a layer of glass on top and glass is very reflective of anything but content.

iPad should be a big hit for eye doctors. But do not fret, you can buy another set of eyes anytime, right

Please stop these ridiculous and uninformed statements. What possible damage do you think this will do to the eyes?

Do you believe this will happen because you were told that for years by your mother? Do you also believe that going out in the rain or cold without a jacket will cause you to have pneumonia? Can't swim for an hour after eating?

There is no eye damage. Old wives' tale, like the others.

 

[farmboy]

You are absolutely correct about reflecting and transmitting light when it applies to the content itself. Unfortunately, Apple products have a layer of glass on top and glass is very reflective of anything but content.

iPad should be a big hit for eye doctors. But do not fret, you can buy another set of eyes anytime, right

First--absolutely NO medical issues involved. Your eyes will not wear out from using an iPad. Second, it will be assumed that the user is smart enough to tilt the iPad or adjust lighting to avoid glare, just as you would with any other device. And do we know how reflective the iPad glass cover is? No.

Got the Stones reference in your header. Good.

 

[HLdan]

Finally, this thing is starting to look usefull

Why don't you just admit it, you crapped on the iPad the first day it was intro'd, many of us remember your posts very well. Now within 1 week since the iPad was intro'd multiple companies want to make software for it as well as this article in regards to textbook publishers. Now you can get off your high horse and start eating the crow on your plate.

 

[blindzero]

Must be able to Annotate and Highlight and possibly print from it. Huge market if they can hit this one out of the park.

With any luck Textbook manufacturers will charge less because they don't have to compete with the used market.

I didn't notice anything about printing but with productivity apps and textbooks I think it's a necessity.

 

[rtdunham]

...Text books are very expensive. They blame it on the limited run. You would think this kind of platform would allow for more competition because you could have businesses capable of creating text books without the ability to create them in enough quantity to make them worthwhile in print....

I'm worried about what'll actually happen to textbooks that ARE available on the iPad: every copy purchased digitally is one less copy purchased in print format, thus reducing the print run and increasing the cost per copy. This could be a very undemocratizing device: Another example is with newspapers, where pundits have suggested some papers might retreat to a digital-only business plan in order to survive. In those markets, only those wealthy enough to afford the necessary reader would be privy to the news. Gutenberg might roll over in his grave. True, the cost of annual subscriptions might drop. But for lower-income families that's not as important as the cost of the delivery vehicle. It's the same reason the poor are stuck driving cheap but gas guzzling cars.

I'm an apple fan and I'm excited about the iPad for my personal use. But these social concerns remain. Any thoughts?

 

[steve-p]

Stop this crap. At its worst it will be no worse than reading a book, and if adjusting screen brightness and text size are do-able, it will be superior.

Re: "backlighting causes eye strain" that some keep posting. Nonsense---all objects you can see you see because of reflected light, including book pages.

Just like reading a book under a sheet of glass anyway, relying on a backlight that won't be much use in bright light outdoors. It will be fine anywhere you would use a laptop or LCD screen, but not necessarily everywhere you could read a book. My iPhone and MBP are not great outside when it's bright and sunny. Too many reflections and not enough contrast to use it for more than a few minutes.

 

[ShiftyPig]

Any professor or organisation who isn't already blocking mobile phone and wifi signals in an exam environment probably shouldn't be in a position to teach.

You know that's illegal, right?

 

[DudeDad]

Long beyond my student days, I find this exciting. It would be amazing if you could highlight text as you read, click a button that pulls all highlighted text into a Pages document (the Mac document program, which can be saved as Word documents) then print it as an outline...also, imagine reviewing your document with the highlighted text, and think "I'd like to see the page in the book that came from" and with a touch, you are back in the book on that page to see the quote in context. This will make the iPad a hit. Especially since so many campuses in the United States have wifi wherever you go.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

It is your eyes. I care about mine, not yours...

First--absolutely NO medical issues involved. Your eyes will not wear out from using an iPad. Second, it will be assumed that the user is smart enough to tilt the iPad or adjust lighting to avoid glare, just as you would with any other device. And do we know how reflective the iPad glass cover is? No.

Got the Stones reference in your header. Good.

I do not really worry of what vision or tolerance someone else eyes have, besides the majority of folks have a very poor vision anyway. Why would they care, indeed? Nothing to loose

I never listen what doctors or experts would say (they are paid for). I never needed glasses and I have excellent vision (well above what most folks would dream of), so I do care about mine and my kids' ones though, and mine said "we do not like it".

Besides, a binoculars type eye wear would look awesome at the graduation photo..

 

[cmaier]

You know that's illegal, right?

In the U.S. But since he wrote "organisation," he's probably British.

 

[ShiftyPig]

In the U.S. But since he wrote "organisation," he's probably British.

It's illegal there too.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

It is perfectly legal. What a surprise>

It's illegal there too.

Blocking simply means reducing electro-magnetic radiation with a layer of absorbing material with in a perimeter of a given exam room. The gadgets are simply could not get operational signal strength, egro are effectively useless. Absolutely legal practice and used by governments, labs, theaters, schools and etc.

 

[HLdan]

You are absolutely correct about reflecting and transmitting light when it applies to the content itself. Unfortunately, Apple products have a layer of glass on top and glass is very reflective of anything but content.

iPad should be a big hit for eye doctors. But do not fret, you can buy another set of eyes anytime, right

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since the iPad is a handheld device you can change positions where you are using it to reduce reflections right?

 

[Hmac]

Blocking simply means reducing electro-magnetic radiation with a layer of absorbing material with in a perimeter of a given exam room. The gadgets are simply could not get operational signal strength, egro are effectively useless. Absolutely legal practice and used by governments, labs, theaters, schools and etc.

Passively blocking cell phone signals would require some pretty fancy and expensive construction, placing all that RF absorbing material surrounding the room.

Active jamming of cell phone signals is completely illegal, both here (USA) and in the UK.

 

[rtdunham]

As a poor college kid, my only defense is that what else are we to do? Most of us have no money, are thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, and am expected to cough up $300-$900 a semester on books.

None of that includes being able to actually drink or do anything once we get there ....

well, watch it when those poorer than you--and there are millions--realize they have a defense for tracking you down and stealing your computer and other valuables: "what else are we to do", to quote you. I mean, if you don't have enough money for something, isn't stealing it defensible? Sad, sad...

 

[rtdunham]

...I never listen what doctors or experts would say...

"The whole problem with the world
is that fools and fanatics
are always so certain of themselves,
but wiser people so full of doubts."
-Bertrand Russell

 

[HLdan]

As a poor college kid, my only defense is that what else are we to do? Most of us have no money, are thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt, and am expected to cough up $300-$900 a semester on books.

None of that includes being able to actually drink or do anything once we get there ....

So yeah, if it can be pirated, college kids will try it.

Here we go again with the "poor college student" nonsense. At least you have the opportunity go to college, there are people that can't even afford to buy food period such as that country outside the US that's in dire need right now?

 

[Hmac]

I never listen what doctors or experts would say (they are paid for). I never needed glasses and I have excellent vision (well above what most folks would dream of), so I do care about mine and my kids' ones though, and mine said "we do not like it".

Truly something to brag about.

So, do you have ANY data upon which to base your opinion, or is it just based on "a feeling you have"?

 

[WilliamLondon]

I could have had an "iBookstore" on my laptop for years - this isn't some sort of content revolution. The device is about hardware.... there isn't one iota of content that isn't available somewhere else. In fact, textbooks have been coming with digital copies for years; it's that nobody uses them.

As I've said before, the only people who see this as a "paradigm shift" are simpletons who are mesmerized by a different, inefficient user interface.

The laptop isn't the best device for reading "book-like" material, hence the rising popularity of the e-reader devices. The iPad is in this realm, not in the realm of reading on a laptop. Hell, I (don't tell the green revolution this) prefer to print things out if it goes beyond a couple of pages on either my laptop or desktop because it's a nicer experience.

Whether this is a paradigm shift for you is not for me to say, but I can tell you that you are wrong if you think it's not a paradigm shift for others. I'm sitting at my desk right now but when I get this device, I will sit on my sofa watching tv (yes, I *am* that lazy!<grin>) and surfing the web, doing the odd email or two as well as the odd post or two, and it'll be a much more comfortable (and enjoyable) experience.