Blackboard on the Apple

Apple recently announced what it calls the future of the textbook industry,interactive textbooks. Printed books beware: Apple is here with iBooks 2,that has fun textbooks with animations,graphics and videos. It also launched iBooks Author,a software used to create these interactive textbooks (or other ebooks). The software comes with a set of tools that makes book-making easy even for the layman. And the best part — it’s free.

The dampener is that iBooks Author has restrictive terms of use. Authors are allowed to make and distribute their books for free,but they can sell it only through Apple’s iBookstore,where Apple takes a generous 30 per cent cut. Well-known Apple-watcher John Gruber calls this “Apple at its worst”. Another limiting factor is that iBooks Author is compatible only with Mac OS X as of now,meaning Windows or Linux users will have to find Macs to make their own books.

However,the launch of iBooks 2 has evoked criticism and praise. In the US,the average textbook costs $100 and is updated every four-five years by publishers. Apple has collaborated with three major American publishing companies to make these e-textbooks available for $15. These e-books will be updated every year,and firms can make up for lost revenue by selling several new editions every year as these e-book accounts cannot be transferred.

Interactive textbooks are the future of education. A well-made book has the power to make things interesting for even those with a short attention span. For instance,a chemistry textbook can use animation to show two atoms of hydrogen combining with one of oxygen to make water. Where such animations are insufficient,integrated videos do the job. In geography,imagine a video of rainfall in equatorial regions while learning about its climate. Another interesting feature is the study card. Simply select and highlight any text or notes and iBooks 2 automatically turns it into a study card. These should be useful during exams as the search function does away with shuffling through a heap to find the right card. For self-assessment,these books come with quizzes and review questions at the end of every chapter. Despite the lack of a scoring system,these quizzes are good for a quick recap. If a stylus is provided with the iPad,taking notes will become much more convenient.

But there are several pitfalls to this,the primary one being the price of iPads.

At their launch announcement earlier this year,an Apple spokesperson said that easing students’ heavy backpacks was the main aim. Apple’s tablets might be light and easy to use,but imagine typing a long assignment on it. The cheapest keyboard docks cost around Rs 3,000. This may be affordable for someone who can buy an iPad worth Rs 30,000 but Apple hasn’t made it clear how it’s going to reach a majority of students across the world,who are the target customer for the product. Until iPads become more affordable or are given to students at discounts,it is hard to see iBooks capturing even the American market,let alone the Indian market.

Still,iBooks might change the way we learn. And Steve Jobs’ last project may end up being a masterstroke,another product,which people did not know they needed.