[iNvid02]

just announced, new textbook experience for ipad - i would have loved something like this when i was in school.
i remember having to put these massive books, basically bricks into my bag each day and carrying em around would be a mini workout


3d chromosone, drag it around to look
cross section of a cell, swipe slider to adjust visual density
quick definitions of words etc, search for page numbers
swipe to highlight important sections
make and customize study cards, shuffle through em
free like ibooks and available now












you purchase and download from apple of course

[Escape Goat]

my text book is portable. Apple is deceitful.

But seriously I'd love to have a semester where all my texts were available online.

[crazy monkey]

kids will play games and go on facebook on ipad rather than doing study. Yes I am old school. Childeren will get everything at there finger tips and that is not something I like.

[stilgar]

Trolololol







Also, I fail too see how an Ipad is more durable than a book.

[SmokyDave]

Sounds awesome. I was thinking I ought to use iBooks more after I downloaded 'Yellow Submarine'. You can do so much more with an ebook.

[BGBW]

Pretty sure standard books are portable.

Also an iPad will never beat the interactivity of a pop-up/slide bits out book.

[The Last Wizard]

kids will play games and go on facebook on ipad rather than doing study. Yes I am old school. Childeren will get everything at there finger tips and that is not something I like.

assuming they have an internet connection.

[sixteen-bit]

Childeren will get everything at there finger tips and that is not something I like.

Yeah I'm jealous too.

[thechristoph]

Pretty sure standard books are portable. Also an iPad will never beat the interactivity of a pop-up/slide bits out book.

Sure, but all of your books at once aren't portable.

[andymcc]

this is great as the coursesmart ipad app is serviceable at best.

hopefully the book prices are nice.

kids will play games and go on facebook on ipad rather than doing study. Yes I am old school. Childeren will get everything at there finger tips and that is not something I like.

you're right, that totally doesn't happen already with students that take their laptops to class.

[Emitan]

And it's still iOS only which means a pass for me. I can access Kindle books from almost any modern device.

[Psychotext]

Pretty sure standard books are portable.

My books are a shitload more durable than my tablet too.


/throws book at wall

I can read it just fine still


/throws tablet at wall

Shit.

[nemss]

So some universities will add this into their cost for books I'm sure. You would think that getting an iBook should make the books cheaper, but I bet its the opposite.

[Cosmonaut X]

While I think iBooks is a great idea (and I adore my Kindle), something in the bibliophile part of my soul dies a little when I see that stupid checklist comparison (complete with tattered books and gleaming iPad) in the OP.

[drspeedy]

3d chromosone, drag it around to look cross section of a cell, swipe slider to adjust visual density quick definitions of words etc, search for page numbers swipe to highlight important sections make and customize study cards, shuffle through em free like ibooks and available now

All of this is awesome! I just hope this idea catches on and expands beyond just iOS... with so many things already exclusive or geared towards Apple products, other platforms just get ignored and end up shoehorning an inferior idea onto their systems. This could be a real revolution in learning.

Imagine this with glasses-free retina 3D displays...

[ultron87]

Nice confidence there on having Great Content, Apple. You know Steve would've made that a check mark.

[NH Apache]

I'm not understanding the more durable aspect...

[BGBW]

Sure, but all of your books at once aren't portable.

Sure, but I only read one at a time. However being able to carry all your University books would be handy.

Also you can't make a hole and hide a gun in an iPad.

[DoctorWho]

The beauty of picking up a used text book is all the old notes and highlights you can find. I loved that stuff.

Is there going to be a feature that will allow you to upload/download your notes/highlights/study cards for the particular text you have? That would be revolutionary IMO.

[bachikarn]

Seems cool, but I used to buy my books used and saved a ton of money. Guessing that's not possible with iBook b

[Duane Cunningham]

kids will play games and go on facebook on ipad rather than doing study. Yes I am old school. Childeren will get everything at there finger tips and that is not something I like.

Yeah, but they'll have that all their lives, so "learning not to screw off and play Angry Birds instead of studying just because it's there" is actually a life skill they need to be taught anyway.

[Salvor.Hardin]

This would be useful for school, but I don't know many people who use the core text book at university, and university research requires mining the library and the internet, sources that I don't think Apple can or should really provide. It wouldn't be worth the company's time to get the digital rights to that obscure 1980s book on monetary policy.

Are ipads quite popular in high schools? I've always looked at it as a young adult device but perhaps I'm wrong.

[vareon]

If the point of this is convenience, then it's good. I love a shelf of beautiful books I'd like to have, and for the books I just want to read (not have) having them on a tablet would be handy.

[Munin]

Does this version finally have dictionaries in other languages than English? Does anyone know of an ebook reader for iOS that has that functionality (without going online, preferably)?

[Dabanton]

Sounds like it makes things a little too easy.

Going to the library finding and researching were always awesome discovering things and taking notes.

I like the interactive aspect of this but uhhh Apple seem a little too determined to try and muscle into school learning tools. Of course you'll need an iPad for all this. Will Apple be offering extra cheap or even free iPads to kick start this?

[crazy monkey]

assuming they have an internet connection.

they might. If not even then there is enough distractions.

Yeah I'm jealous too.

lol. I would not have passed anything If I had this kind of toys to play with.

you're right, that totally doesn't happen already with students that take their laptops to class.

you're right. DO we want them to get more distracty and preachy that their school have the ipad stuff?

Yeah, but they'll have that all their lives, so "learning not to screw off and play Angry Birds instead of studying just because it's there" is actually a life skill they need to be taught anyway.

kids be kids man. They will find a way. All I am saying is that easy is not always better. Kids need to learn how to research and be practical.

[andycapps]

As nice as not having to carry around books is, what would the trade-in value of these e-books be?

[CF_Fighter]

As a future teacher my only concern so far is books that are written and designed around state specific achievement tests. In Florida many of our textbooks are designed for the FCAT tests and as of now the books look like they aren't that differentiated.

[rSpooky]

I like the idea of author and the ibooks upgrade. But (as others pointed out) there arguments/slides feel a little disingenuous.

[acheron_xl]

And it's still iOS only which means a pass for me. I can access Kindle books from almost any modern device.

I more or less agree with this sentiment even though the only portable devices I have that are capable of reading ebooks are all Apple products. Kindle books feel more future-proofed to me.

[toohectic]

I'm not understanding the more durable aspect...

Maybe they view it from the perspective that the digital book file is "durable". You can break and destroy your iPad, but your book file is safely stored in the cloud.

[LyleLanley]

kids be kids man. They will find a way. All I am saying is that easy is not always better. Kids need to learn how to research and be practical.

I used to type boobs in my calculator, does that mean kids should use an abacus instead?

[JonCha]

Great idea. Since being a kid I never felt textbook study was conducive to learning and understanding content effectively. I've always wanted some kind of study material that resembles gaming (where you're actively interacting with the content, and not just reading it) and the these books will do that if they take off.

And schools can block Wi-Fi access and have the book pre-installed, so that stops the social media / gaming distraction. And for college / uni students, well, it's up to them to not go on Facebook etc.

[Crazymoogle]

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

[Alucrid]

1. Will schools actually make the books available on the ipad the required text books? Will thesebooks be available in print?

2. If not why would book publishers go from books selling for hundreds of dollars to the price the ipad price?

[Lanbeast]

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

No way.

[Seraphinianus]

Yeah, but I can always resell my textb--

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

boom

[Like the hat?]

I'll buy an ipad if I can get textbooks for half or less than the $100+ that is charged normally.

[Omikaru]

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

That's only for high school books. I imagine university/college level textbooks will be priced extortionately.

[Foob]

how is a book neither portable nor searchable

yo apple ever heard of the index pages bitch

[Enco]

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

If we got this + lots of content, it would be gold.

Not a chance in hell though.

Like Omikaru said, I'm expecting extremely ridiculous prices. Publishers don't get the fact that digital things are unlimited and easier to send out. Morons pretty much.

[Treefingers]

The key point I liked was $14.99 or less per book...

For K-12 textbooks... which are normally provided to students for free.

[Alucrid]

If we got this + lots of content, it would be gold. Not a chance in hell though. Like Omikaru said, I'm expecting extremely ridiculous prices. Publishers don't get the fact that digital things are unlimited and easier to send out. Morons pretty much.

They get it, in fact they get it more than you. They know you have no other choice than pay what they dictate. Those hundreds of dollars for textbooks isn't because of the paper. Even the digital versions they have now don't even cost 1/3 of printed versions.

[andycapps]

If you think that the college science books you used to have to pay over $100 each for will suddenly all be $14.99, I have a bridge to sell you.

[The Faceless Master]

Durable? really?

now, Portable, i give that to the iPad, since they're comparing to a stack of books...

[Divvy]

how is a book neither portable nor searchable yo apple ever heard of the index pages bitch

Index pages are a huge pain in the ass, at least compared to a search function.

[macuser1of5]

My books are a shitload more durable than my tablet too. /throws book at wall I can read it just fine still /throws tablet at wall Shit.

My kid has done more damage to my books than my iPad, despite his efforts.

[kottila]

Cell biology books would be much easier to learn from with animations.

[Crazymoogle]

For K-12 textbooks... which are normally provided to students for free.

Which is to say the school pays that price. But yeah, I see the high school quote on that. Anyway considering the budget problems in america's schools I wouldn't be surprised if at some point parents just get a per-year opt-in; either pay the book fee or buy your own on iBooks.

For university books I'd be surprised if Apple didn't have some sort of price cap or tiers, since that's how they like to run other departments. Will be interesting to see how those filter out.

[Duane Cunningham]

So, no iPhone version, eh?

EDIT: Durrr, yep, I just opened the app store, and there's the update. Hopefully this fixes the fact that it's been broken on jailbroken phones for a while.

EDIT: Damn! Still incompatible with jailbreak. :(