JAN 23

Last week, Apple officially unveiled its iBooks 2 textbook platform where iPad users can download electronic versions of textbooks that are not only interactive, but cheaper too. Apparently, it was just what educators and students were waiting for because early reports are saying that in just its first three days the iBooks store saw 350,000 downloads of e-textbooks.

Apple has partnered with the three textbook publishers Pearson, McGraw Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who together represent 90 percent of the textbook market. The e-textbooks come equipped with features like 3D animated models, random pop-up quizzes and the ability to create sticky notes on pages and then have them assembled into digital 3 x 5 notecards for use as study aids.

The digital textbooks also come with the advantage of being updated whenever new information comes along, keeping owners from having to purchase subsequent editions. Even with these added elements, high school e-textbooks cost $14.99 or less.

Studies have shown that once a certain threshold of e-books are downloaded, replacing the purchase of hard copy books, the carbon footprint of the e-reader or tablet itself is canceled out and from that point forward users are making a positive environmental impact.

With the size and weight of textbooks, that threshold could be even lower than with a typical book.  Between the Amazon's Kindle textbook store and the new Apple textbook store, students now can save their backs, their wallets and help the environment:  win-win-win.

via Engadget

Comments (5)

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At what cost to IP though?
written by Don VanDemark, January 23, 2012

Apple has created some onerous EULAs to go along with their rollout of the newest version on iBooks. I can;t say it better than the following two articles, so I won't:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apples-mind-bogglingly-greedy-and-evil-license-agreement/4360
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/how-apple-is-sabotaging-an-open-standard-for-digital-books/4378

While e-books are wonderful for green reasons, Apple's approach is an assault on intellectual property. Now, it's a business decision to do this and is not illegal but it's concerning with the mindshare (and blind mindshare at that) they do have.

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reuse?
written by Gus, January 25, 2012

...and a traditional textbook can be sold when the student is finished with it, thus
1) reducing its cost to the previous owner
2) reducing its environmental impact because it is shared

I'm not convinced of the ebook==green argument.

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US only
written by Gareth, January 30, 2012

Accepting the reusabilty of physical books I like the space saving and aesthetic experience.
But I'm not allowed. I'm in the wrong country.

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written by recycling electronics, February 08, 2012

I hope the electronic copies last as long as the physical ones. Looked after a book can last a lifetime whereas an e-book reader is probably not expected to last beyond 10 years at best.

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written by Mark, February 11, 2012

I can see day where college bookstores would become obsolete. You could just purchase a digital copy of the textbook and load it on your tablet or e-reader and take it to class. The campus could just sell them over the internet and you could download everything you need to one device. You would never have to carry heavy textbooks to class. You could also have related books on your e-reader for additional information that would be helpful to the class. If you are taking multiple classes in the same day, this would be the only way that you could have all the information right at your fingertips.

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