Apple Sees 350,000 Textbook Downloads in Three Days

[JMcEntegart]

Apple's newest venture is apparently already showing signs of success.

Apple Sees 350,000 Textbook Downloads in Three Days : Read more

 

[stingstang]

So wait...it COSTS something to make copies of a digital product? Is e-ink actually something that has to be manufactured and sold with software, or am I being appled?
I mean tricked!

 

[Guest]

[citation][nom]stingstang[/nom]So wait...it COSTS something to make copies of a digital product? Is e-ink actually something that has to be manufactured and sold with software, or am I being appled?I mean tricked![/citation]

Pixels don't grow off trees you know.

 

[husker]

According to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, there are approximately 98,000 public schools in the USA. So 350,000 downloads is like 3.5 books downloaded per school. And that is only looking at US public schools. Once we factor in private schools, schools worldwide, colleges, universities, technical schools, and the School of Beauty and Hair Design, then you are spreading those 3 and half books per school over a much larger number. This is a very sparse sprinkling of downloads considering the intended market and nothing much to brag about.

 

[Guest]

I prefer a physical book that i can read and flip through the pages for the night before the exams. I can't do that with an electronic tablet, its frustrating. But if the choice is between a $60 textbook or a $15 e-book, i will chose the $15 and deal with the frustration (Especially when tuition has double the last three years).

 

[xerroz]

I just wanna point out that if an author writes a book using iBooks Author and sells it using iBooks, he or she cannot legally sell that same book outside Apple's closed environment. You're locked in completely basically. As always, Apple bents people over.

 

[Guest]

my nut sack is super swole

 

[Guest]

@xerroz

If that author writes a book using iBooks, then he/she should know that you can't legally sell the book outside of Apple's environment. If he/she doesn't like that, then publish then they can do it themselves with word... or whatever. At least it creates a medium for new publishes to easily penetrate rather than having to go through all those publishers and whatnot.

 

[amdfangirl]

[citation][nom]xerroz[/nom]I just wanna point out that if an author writes a book using iBooks Author and sells it using iBooks, he or she cannot legally sell that same book outside Apple's closed environment. You're locked in completely basically. As always, Apple bents people over.[/citation]

I honeslty hope schools don't make it a requirement to buy Apple products to access their textbooks. I smell monopoly.

 

[danwat1234]

I wonder how long it will take before those textbooks end up on bittorent, etc. One just has to take a screenshot of each screen, trim it and put it together into a pdf

 

[danwat1234]

I mean, you can view the textbooks on a X86 PC right?

 

[torque79]

Why would anyone BUY highschool textbooks? Are'nt they still provided? AFAIK, in North America nobody has to buy textbooks until post-secondary. How did they sell so many texts for only high school?

Somehow I doubt university texts will be going for $15. I agree with others that it's BS that Apple says if you sell your text in their store you can't publish it. How is that not monopolistic? STOP THE PROPRIETARY BS people. Why are we allowing this to happen?? How are people this stupid??

 

[eddieroolz]

If schools are serious about using iPads as textbooks, it has to first raise kids with sense of responsibility in mind. That is already a lofty goal for many societities.

 

[fb39ca4]

yay now i can actually get *free* etextbooks that are optimized for a mobile device.

 

[Camikazi]

[citation][nom]supbro[/nom]@xerrozIf that author writes a book using iBooks, then he/she should know that you can't legally sell the book outside of Apple's environment. If he/she doesn't like that, then publish then they can do it themselves with word... or whatever. At least it creates a medium for new publishes to easily penetrate rather than having to go through all those publishers and whatnot.[/citation]
How does this allow authors to get anywhere when they lock your work to Apple alone? Why not go to Amazon which has a HUGE number of Kindles sold already, let's you publish with them and they DON'T lock you to just them. Or you could publish yourself in many other ways or maybe you could do ALL OF THEM at the same time, something Apples method will not allow you to do.

 

[Guest]

@Camikazi
Cos this format has images, interactive 3d models and videos. I doubt you can do that with e-ink.

@torque79
Cos these are not regular textbooks. They are filled with multimedia.

@danwat1234
A screenshot of a page on an interactive book with movies and 3d models? Yeah it would perfectly...

@xerroz
I don't see a reason why you should expect to use a tool Apple gives away for free to edit your textbook and then be able to SELL it somewhere else outside Apple's ecosystem. You can always use some other tool (paid or free) and then do what you want with what you end up with.

@stingstang
Apple doesn't use the e-ink technology.

@husker
Only high school books are available. So the target is not all those other schools you mentioned.

 

[Guest]

ebook, epub, ibook, pdf, text, apps, websites !
What is needed in this "affair" is a new role more than anything else.
This new role could be described as "personal contracts/licences holder" "account managers for personal contract/licences and login/passwds or certificates"(no contents or copies in there, just references), something like that, several of them of course, and ability to move all your "assets" or "belongings" from one to the other, so that a trust relationship can exist regarding the privacy of these data (and privacy of these data also under strong legal constraints for these organisations).
Then you can have an environment with a clear role separation between these organisations on one side, and editors, on line shops, on line content holders and difusers on the other.
Which then could allow a user to buy an ebook, apps, websites (access to) "for life"(or with some timing guarenteed in a strict legal point of view, but "for life" in spirit), possibility of upgrade if new edition and you feel like it, and that's it.
Enough with these "private bookshelves"(music, video, sito shelves) linked to some device maker, on line shops, "social network", or some other giant !
A bit more developed below :
http/iiscn.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/concepts-economie-numerique-draft/
(and in the "copies_licences" text (2007) linked in the post)

And almost EVERYTHING already there really

And a little cartoon :
http/iiscn.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/vestale-sous-contraintes-exercice-ludique-en-courrier-10/

 

[zubikov]

[citation][nom]xerroz[/nom]I just wanna point out that if an author writes a book using iBooks Author and sells it using iBooks, he or she cannot legally sell that same book outside Apple's closed environment. You're locked in completely basically. As always, Apple bents people over.[/citation]

I also want to point out that any quality independent author gets pennies off a published hard copy text book. That same independent author can get 70% of total sales using the Apple system, which much larger global exposure and zero distribution costs. How is this a bad thing?

 

[ik242]

you know what? electronic copy of books ARE great. i prefer to read real (paper) book too, but try carrying several books along with laptop and your shoulders will be as low as your knees. also electronic copy allows full text search. try that with paper book.

 

[wardler]

I work in a school system and our superintendent went nuts when he heard about this. Apple is infecting our youth like a disease. There are so many blasted iMacs in our schools. I can't stand it. They are just pure AIDS! I may work in the IT dept, but I care about the kids too!

When they go out to get a real job they aren't going to be using a dang iMac! They are going to be using a PC. It's not that I don't like the idea of eBooks either... because I think that is a fantastic idea! It's the fact that our schools are going to be flooded with even more Apple products in attempts to brain wash our youth into thinking Apple actually has the best products.

It disturbs me how many times a day I hear, "I wish I had a MacBook" or "I wish I had an iMac" from a teacher or student. "Well it's so much better than my old PC was!"

How much did you pay for your PC?
"Oh about 300 - it was one of those eMachines from Wal-Mart"
And your MacBook was 2 grand and you are surprised it is way better?!
Try a Dell Precision.

I have to combat these stupid statements. These people are like sheep when it comes to technology. I truly believe there is more than one genious at Apple. How else could you sell worse, for more?