Apple Announces iBooks 2 with $14.99 Textbooks

[JMcEntegart]

Apple today unveiled its efforts to radically change textbooks and the way students consume information.

Apple Announces iBooks 2 with $14.99 Textbooks : Read more

 

[noobzilla771]

$14.99?! So I guess ebooks costs more than actual books nowadays.. data is more expensive than paper, printing, and shipping.. sad days

 

[Meatymutawings]

all those Macs in elementary classrooms, and now this. kids grow up using apple products, bloody great.

 

[Meatymutawings]

[citation][nom]noobzilla771[/nom]$14.99?! So I guess ebooks costs more than actual books nowadays.. data is more expensive than paper, printing, and shipping.. sad days[/citation]
you realize that most physical textbooks by those companies cost around $100.

 

[loomis86]

horrible

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]Meatymutawings[/nom]you realize that most physical textbooks by those companies cost around $100.[/citation]
Not where i live! 😛

 

[glasssplinter]

I hope they get sued by every single bookstore nationwide. This is clearly a case of price fixing. Here's an example for a prealgebra book from Pearson.

Print version:
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-62886-2
Format: Paper
$162.00

ebook version:
Prealgebra, CourseSmart eTextbook, 6th Edition
$64.80 | ISBN-13: 978-0-321-64489-3

So how is it now that they can offer these titles for so little? I hope they all get so many lawsuits that they have to shut their doors.

 

[inthere]

Spending $400+ per kid for textbook RENTAL this year, if they go to $14.99 we're going to have a great vacation.

 

[Osmin]

The Kno Tablet with a single or dual 14.1" touch screen tried to conquer the educational market. One of their big selling points was the large screen to adequately display a science book page. Intel Capital infused money to the company so it would stay out of the hardware side and concentrate on the software side. I was really looking forward to see tablets increase in display size to make it easier to read articles without the constant zooming. Weight issues and battery life would need to be addressed for a successful tablet of this size. This announcement may make it harder for companies like Kno to be seen as a viable company.

 

[SneakySnake]

you only use your textbook one semester, let alone a full year, once the course is done you'll never need it again. I typically pay $600-$800 PER SEMESTER (2 semester's per year) for books. My professors are lame and definitely have a deal with the publishing companies, because every semester they require the brand new edition with online access, so you can't buy used.

$500 for an iPad + 10x$15 = $650 for the year's supply of books. Compared to around $1200-$1600 it cost me before. Plus i get an iPad outta the deal to use for other media consumption, while saving me around $600/year.

Nice apple, very nice.

you guys can hate all you want. I own a full gaming rig and love windows 7 and all, but this move is freaking awesome by apple. Even if one textbook per year is only from those publishers (4 of mine are this semester) I still save money in the long term getting an iPad and doing this.

My wallet salutes you apple

-didn't think I'd ever say that lol

 

[bin1127]

College textbooks routinely cost hundreds a semester. But I don't think this 14.99 is talking about those.

 

[extremepcs]

Good luck getting around the requirements most States have for K-12 books. Lobbyists for the publishers are probably already offering up bribes to State leaders so they can continue to sell their highly overpriced paper books. $499 each for the device isn't going to happen in very many public schools anyway.

 

[NuclearShadow]

Anything that saves students money is a good thing. These savings alone on the books could easily save more than the iPad itself.

 

[demonicrotato]

[citation][nom]glasssplinter[/nom]I hope they get sued by every single bookstore nationwide. This is clearly a case of price fixing. Here's an example for a prealgebra book from Pearson.Print version:ISBN-13: 978-0-321-62886-2Format: Paper$162.00ebook version😛realgebra, CourseSmart eTextbook, 6th Edition$64.80 | ISBN-13: 978-0-321-64489-3So how is it now that they can offer these titles for so little? I hope they all get so many lawsuits that they have to shut their doors.[/citation]

So should grocery stores sue dollar stores because you can buy candy, soda, and everything else in the store for one dollar? Granted 14.99 vs. 160 something ish and 1 vs. 1.50 are very drastically different ranges.

 

[glasssplinter]

[citation][nom]demonicrotato[/nom]So should grocery stores sue dollar stores because you can buy candy, soda, and everything else in the store for one dollar? Granted 14.99 vs. 160 something ish and 1 vs. 1.50 are very drastically different ranges.[/citation]

Two totally different creatures. Dollar store merch is usually defective in some way (usually not noticeable) or overstock from another company. The textbook industry is a much more corrupt sector that many people do not see nor understand. Books are supposed to be sold no lower than x price from the publisher. That's why you won't really find a Wii, Xbox, or PS3 differently priced, same principle. Now when you start being able to sell the product from the publisher to another company at drastically lower prices for the same format, that's when it becomes an issue.

Didn't Amazon and crapple recently go through something like this also? Amazon got a higher price than crapple did? Same thing and one company is destined to fail if the main supplier gives a 80% discount to one company and a 5% to another, but regulates that the 5% discount cannot be sold lower than x.

 

[DSpider]

Would be nice if iBooks was available on Windows too. Like iTunes.

I mean if you're gonna sell textbooks (like music) you may as well.

 

[DSpider]

I forgot to mention that most universities have little things called libraries. Even if your uni doesn't, I'm pretty sure you can purchase a library card from the biggest in your city. Cheap too, and guaranteed to have the books you need. I used to borrow them for 3-7 days and take pictures of the chapters I had yet to finish. Sometimes they would have underlined and highlighted portions, which came in very handy.

Anyway, my point is that you don't need a $500 fricken iPad to study. A library card, available for 6 months or a year, can go as high as a whooping $15. Probably for the plastic they put into it and the photo ID. An iPad is more of a distraction if anything.

 

[audioee]

This will make it easier for Texas and other school districts to edit the texts to their version of History, Math, Science, etc.

Texas removes Thomas Jefferson

 

[noobzilla771]

Eh ebooks are still not convinving. Sure, most of those textbooks costs $100+ and usually even more. But most of the time I could buy used ones for half the price and then sell them back for the same price (sometimes more). Costs me $0 except in those rare cases where a company releases a new edition the next semester, although most of my professors never teach by the book and they say older editions are fine.

Reading on a screen for extended periods also give me eye strain 🙁 Sorry but I still prefer hard copies. (I bet someones going to argue about carrying ipad vs heavy books.. wow get some exercise)

 

[Martell77]

[citation][nom]extremepcs[/nom]Good luck getting around the requirements most States have for K-12 books. Lobbyists for the publishers are probably already offering up bribes to State leaders so they can continue to sell their highly overpriced paper books. $499 each for the device isn't going to happen in very many public schools anyway.[/citation]


Schools don't pay retail, many times the equipment are donated, paid for with grants and/or bought for below wholesale.

There are ways around the state book requirements (at least I know there is here in CA). Digital versions of textbooks are a natural progression IMO. I personally don't like iPads tho, a school in my area is going to purchase Windows 8 tablets later this year so that the school server can restrict the content on the tablet and make sure the students aren't looking up porn when they are supposed to be following in their textbooks. I am told that this kind of restriction is not available with the iPad or Andriod tablets.