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Less than Stellar Member
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I shot the sherrif.
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The idea of interactive text books sounds fascinating, and if you can keep them, why not? It would be kind of cool to be able to go back through some of my old text books and read them now, the main reason I got rid of them was to save space. Google is your frenemy. Caveat Emptor - Latin for tough titty I tend to interpret things in the way that's most hilarious to me |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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iBook Author seems really cool!
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles... reation_.html And it's free from the Mac App Store. And "reinventing the textbook" too! http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...for_ipad_.html I can't go back and find it, but I remember babbling a lot on here, prior to the original iPad's launch (when I thought textbooks would be part of it) the very stuff talked about today...photos and graphics/video playing a role, the ability to manipulate 3D models (DNA or atoms or whatever), inline video or audio where applicable, etc. Took a couple of years, but this is all a no-brainer. The technology certainly exists. As is often the case, it'll be changing/challenging entrenched approaches or mindsets (often those of people or companies far from actual students). But it sounds like Apple has the three big textbook outfits - Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - onboard with them. So this could be the start of something big. Five years or so from now, buying your college books may be nothing like it is today. Thank God. EDIT: Apple's eTextbooks cost $14.99 or less...major publishers already on board. Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2012-01-19 at 11:06. |
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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To anyone who has ever had the misfortune of using Blackboard, from either perspective, the new iTunes U app seems like the coolest thing ever. I think it's so cool that a real software company (Apple, no less!) is shaking up that super-stale space.
But because I'm me: I don't get the name. It's not part of iTunes any more, it's not just for college-level students any more, and it's not really that much like the "free lecture podcasts" service iTunes U was. I think a new name like iSchool or whatnot would be more appropriate for what the new app really is. But, still: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong |
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Less than Stellar Member
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I wonder if this thing is going to create problems for self-publishing platforms like Lulu (Brad?) and the like. That said, I'm totally going to put my book out there.
If it's not red and showing substantial musculature, you're wearing it wrong. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
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Will it? How much does iBook Author have to do with publishing printed books? I honestly don't know, I haven't gotten iBook Author yet. I was under the impression it was just for ebooks, where Lulu and Blurb are for self-publishing actual printed books.
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Less than Stellar Member
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Paper is going the way of the dodo. This makes paper publishing relatively harder than digital publishing and it's more expensive, too.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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There will always be a place for paper/print publishing and work (I think...ask me again in 40 years). But in some fields, with some audiences, digital/online is certainly the way to go. Education/learning has to be one of the top fits, for so many reasons. It's practically meant for such engaging, easily-updated and hands-on approaches. Who in the hell would rather read about some cellular process if they could, instead, see it move/transform and self-label/notate in glorious color and sound, guided by your own hand and allowing for three-dimensional perspectives and motion?
I imagine as us 40-and-up types age and fade away, people who are in their teens and 20's now (and those just being born) are going to come into a world where this kind of thing is the norm/standard. When my little niece and nephew (third and first grade respectively) grow up and have their own children in 20 years, I suspect those kids may enter a school system where no such thing as a printed textbook ever exists. Why would it have to, if we've seen just these many changes to tech and design in just the past five or so years? It may happen much sooner than what I've imagined, but it'll certainly go that way. It almost has to. It seems silly to make students, any age/level, tote around expensive, bulky, heavy, (possibly) outdated and static material if a better, more engaging way is available. In the way that printed, full-color books were better than a stone slate and chisel/chalk, this new stuff is a leap above the norm. Or can be, in the right situation. The tools of the age. Nothing lasts forever, and there's always something better and smarter waiting to take its place. Today's old farts will one day be gone (and hipsters and tech-heads currently in their 20's and 30's will be tech-savvy, -appreciating seniors...that'll be a huge advantage, once a generation or two passes). I'm fortunate in that I feel like I get to live comfortably in the smack-dab middle of it all...young enough to see/appreciate what it all means and can do, but not old and entrenched enough to be all "bah!" and "back in my day, we used books, dammit..." about it all. I know it gets into funding and "haves vs. have nots" (not everyone will have access to iPads, WiFi, etc.), but maybe that's part of the process too, as districts and administrators begin to re-think (and re-route) funding and resources from older ways to newer ones. Point is, that's stuff that will be addressed and worked out as it all transitions. It won't be overnight - few things ever are - but it can start slow and steady. I guarantee you, 3-4 years from now we'll look back and today will be like some of those other "firsts" we associate with Apple (iPhone, iTunes Store, iMac, etc.). They all started out in a modest, measured way (none were "perfect" or fully-featured on Day One), but look at what they've become over the years, and the things they can do/offer. Same thing here, I think. Today was just the first, opening step. Give it a couple of years and see what happens... This needed to happen. And, once again, is anyone surprised by who will most likely be leading the way? You can pretty much expect Everyone Else™, if the past 10 years is anything to go by, to suddenly be killing themselves to get into this new thing in the coming years. Steve would be proud, if this goes the way it should. Didn't he talk about all this kind of stuff in that Isaacson bio? Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2012-01-19 at 13:26. |
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careful with axes
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
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Would have been nice if the textbooks could be viewed on Macs...
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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Yeah, no kidding. Practically speaking, if you're taking 18 hours in college that's maybe $480/semester (six textbooks @ $80 each) vs $500 (iPad)+ $90/semester, so it really should be a no-brainer. I'm just really really unbelievably strongly against spending $500 on something that I only need for "political" reasons.
When I was a kid, people who did wrong were punished, restricted, and forbidden. Now, when someone does wrong, all of the rest of us are punished, restricted, and forbidden... and the one who did the wrong is counselled and "understood" and fed ice cream. |
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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Obviously you're not majoring in economics.
My whole thing with this announcement is that they didn't make a push in iBooks for, y'now, books. Creating ebooks today is an absolute clusterfuck. It would've been nice to see that. So it goes. |
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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And no, I did not major in economics... I did fine in the micro/macro classes, but it never actually made any sense beyond the basics. When I was a kid, people who did wrong were punished, restricted, and forbidden. Now, when someone does wrong, all of the rest of us are punished, restricted, and forbidden... and the one who did the wrong is counselled and "understood" and fed ice cream. |
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I didn't watch the presentation, but iBooks Author clearly names other book types in its description.
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careful with axes
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
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I'm just saying that it would be terribly convenient if I could let someone else use my iPad or leave it charging while I use the textbooks I bought from a Mac reader. |
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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I'm not in college anymore so I no longer need my old textbooks... I did keep a bunch of them (mostly math/phys/comp sci) and I still want textbooks that cover those topics, but it doesn't have to those specific titles or editions. I would love to sell them all, reclaim the shelf space, and buy replacement iBooks, but I can't because I don't have an iPad. It's silly and/or ridiculous. When I was a kid, people who did wrong were punished, restricted, and forbidden. Now, when someone does wrong, all of the rest of us are punished, restricted, and forbidden... and the one who did the wrong is counselled and "understood" and fed ice cream. |
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can't read sarcasm.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
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This sounds like a great step forward in book publishing.
However, is it really as easy as Apple makes it out to be? I mean it's easy to drag and drop text and pictures, but what about the interactivity? Don't files that allow 3-D rotation or user selectable options still need to be scripted or built in some other app? Apple did the same thing when they showed how easy it was to build an iPhone app. Also while the templates are nice, it would be great if there was greater granularity and customization. I guess we're left to Adobe and (shudder Quark) to provide us with tools to build custom publications. |
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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Hates the Infotainment
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
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Satchmo, AFAIG the templates are easily re-arranged and customized. Looking right now at creating my own long-form template. The real problem with this app is the non-friendly Import/Export behavior WRT to EPUB and using it in an environment with other apps. ...into the light of a dark black night. |
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