it was probably 50/50 for me honestly in terms of which books I had to get updated versions of, no joke
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Apple Event Jan19 |OT| Students of the US... you've nothing to lose but your bookbags
- Thread starter Blackhead
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it was probably 50/50 for me honestly in terms of which books I had to get updated versions of, no joke
The carbon footprint analysis has been done. CO2 equivalent needed to make one ipad is approximately 100+ times than a normal paperback (probably a smaller amount when compared to a textbook). So unless you have > 50 textbooks stored on the thing (which is totally feasible for some), books are still the way to go from a carbon footprint POV. But then you would use the ipad for more than just books.
Meus Renaissance
Member
I don't see public schools paying for an iPad to give to every single student for X class. Considering the nature of the textbooks (customisable notes/annotations), I don't think its feasible to share the devices - it'd have to be 1:1
Yup, also being able to buy used and sell back to the school or to another student when you're done with it is a huge perk.
How biodegradable is an iPad, or a Kindle? How much more human labor is required to make these ebooks (the devices) vs printing an actual book?
The repair cost alone is not very attractive for schools.
I don't know. Why couldn't these ebooks just be available on the schools' website and have computer terminal built into the seat of every class room - this could easily be done with low cost parts and the the maintenance shouldn't be much.
:: SHRUGS ::
Treefingers
Member
Meus Renaissance
Member
Depends on the school district. Henrico County, VA has given laptops to every high school student for a decade, and is going to switch to tablets when their current leases expire.
Treefingers
Member
Not sure what professor would bother with this course stuff.. especially since most people in the class won't have an iPad.
My post from the other thread:
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.
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.
Yes, but the resell value is so trite. You can pay $150 for 1 textbook, and be lucky if you get $20 after 1 semester, mint condition.
Also true, but varies from professor to professor and department to department. My students have also found a couple of tricks:
- paperback instead of hardcover
- international editions are cheaper and are exactly the same.
Guy LeDouche
Banned
lmbo, way to do something ambitious and exciting.
Must be a regional thing. I have always sold my books for 70%-90% of the original price.
I'm ambivalent about this idea. I don't think it's a good option for more technical textbooks at university level. Otherwise, it seems like a limited stopgap until the promise of the web is fulfilled. A concerted effort to make better use of the technology that is already available would be more beneficial to the majority of schools and students who can't spend precious money on iPads.
In any case, I still prefer paper textbooks. Apart from the cost, which which Apple won't address by pushing iPads and can be mitigated by not insisting that books are updated so often, I don't see a problem with them.
Also, they are really pushing the idea that textbooks are quickly out of date. This is simply wrong, especially at the level they are pitching this, and is just perpetuating the interests of the publishers.
In any case, I still prefer paper textbooks. Apart from the cost, which which Apple won't address by pushing iPads and can be mitigated by not insisting that books are updated so often, I don't see a problem with them.
Also, they are really pushing the idea that textbooks are quickly out of date. This is simply wrong, especially at the level they are pitching this, and is just perpetuating the interests of the publishers.
Buckethead
Banned
Gimme that dark wood for iBooks.
More and more lately, publishers are releasing a new version with reordered questions every year, thus making the book impossible to resell.
Yup. There's not really a great case for e-readers from an environmental standpoint. Power consumption, resource usage, conflicts on rare materials, disposal issues - those things I didn't have a chance to delve into.
But hey, it's shiny and new!
just seems like a lot its easy to just say that but, if you approached some old teacher and said this they wouldn't understand what you mean or why you'd have a terminal in a seat
Possibly. I was in school going on 17 years ago, and I wasn't a science major, so I bought used and resold a lot, and the textbook industry wasn't a big back then. Alot of my professors would also just make photocopy packets of individual article collections that we would get at the local copy place.
To update those resell stats: my coworker just told a story of a student who bought a book new at $120, and got $8 for it at the end of the semester.
yeesh.
Buckethead
Banned
Yep I didn't get jack for my books.
That's why I'd sell them to students/put ads up on bulletin boards, internet, etc.
Get more resell value out of that way and they were grateful to get books 1/2 price.
That's why I'd sell them to students/put ads up on bulletin boards, internet, etc.
Get more resell value out of that way and they were grateful to get books 1/2 price.
Fleet_of_Foot
Member
After this, I'm just kind of scratching my head. Either I don't understand exactly what Apple is doing, or Apple doesn't understand what actually goes in to publishing a textbook.
The main problem with older revisions for me when I was in school was that the page numbers would not be the same. The prof would assign work or reference notes from certain pages that wouldn't match in older volumes. A search feature would certainly be a plus. Though it's sort of sucky that this is limited to iBooks only.
Or maybe they're trying to reinvent the way textbooks are published, seeing as the current way is a convoluted mess.
Exactly. Publishers change page numbers and problem set numbers intentionally now, which makes it difficult to even sell to other students.
Treefingers
Member
What do you mean?
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Meh. The partners listed are important partners, but without a specific content commitment, it's a bit empty. It could result in a wholesale sea change, it could be a novelty, it could be ignored. The key to this market isn't creating unique content, it's getting the content people are already buying in the format.
FrontalMonk
Banned
I'm still rocking the OG iPad, and a really aggressively-priced iPad2 would be nice as hell. I still have my student-ID somewhere...
Fleet_of_Foot
Member
You're half right about the first point, dead wrong about your second. There are laws about the minimum amount of content we must change between editions.
Crazymoogle
Member
It looks like it had some kind of note adding function within the books?
Anyway sounded like an interesting alternative. Students who have an iPad can load up on $15 books instead of a backpack of $40+ books. The publishers are going to be interested because they cut out distribution problems and can publish quickly. It's also pretty clear that while the interactive stuff is there, a) they don't have to use it (so they can do dual print/iOS contracts with writers) and b) they can use HTML5 in case they want to build something to port to other devices later.
Anyway sounded like an interesting alternative. Students who have an iPad can load up on $15 books instead of a backpack of $40+ books. The publishers are going to be interested because they cut out distribution problems and can publish quickly. It's also pretty clear that while the interactive stuff is there, a) they don't have to use it (so they can do dual print/iOS contracts with writers) and b) they can use HTML5 in case they want to build something to port to other devices later.
This news release is a dud. Y'know what works way better?
www.coursesmart.com
Do you know why it works better? Because it's a massive discount off the list price, and students don't have to go through the resale route for textbooks.
Also, most publishers already have custom textbook publishing tools already, so I don't see the relevance of Apple going into this market.
edit: Publishers also offer protected PDFs for sale through various sites, aside from Coursesmart.
www.coursesmart.com
Do you know why it works better? Because it's a massive discount off the list price, and students don't have to go through the resale route for textbooks.
Also, most publishers already have custom textbook publishing tools already, so I don't see the relevance of Apple going into this market.
edit: Publishers also offer protected PDFs for sale through various sites, aside from Coursesmart.
Buddha Beam
Banned
I've heard about that, but how specific is it? The last history book I needed basically had switched up pages. My friend gave me his from the semester before (maybe 2). And I ended up needing to buy a whole new book.
Fleet_of_Foot
Member
Page numbers are not content. There are laws about how much CONTENT must change between editions.
Most engineering textbooks will revise diagrams, change example/end-of-chapter questions, and insert content. History books and other humanities titles are a little harder since it's difficult to find new or revised content.
Are you talking about reselling it to the campus bookstore? Then yeah, I agree that they bone you (although I would get back more than you did) but you can sell textbooks online now pretty easily. I know a lot of people who did that. Sure it can take some work, but you can make a lot more money that way.
How am I wrong? I witnessed it first hand, every year, during college. For my first 2 years, I bought the prior year edition and attempted problem sets, only to find the questions were reordered and mixed on different pages. It would often take me much longer to complete assignments because I spent a huge amount of time trying to match questions up.
Jill Sandwich
the turds of Optimus Prime
Make no mistake that this is to sell iPads. Hey these textbooks would great on a hi-res display don't you think?
These announcements are fantastic if you live in an Appletopian society, but unfortunately the real world will get in the way here.
trudderham
Member
Again, who puts just a book onto an iPad? You're comparing a book with a portable computer with a billion uses, apps, games, music, accessing an infinite source of information and communicating with the rest of the world (ie, the web).
Besides, most kids already have access to an iPad, so what's the problem with adding the ability to read school books on it?
Start looking at the bigger picture instead of looking for negatives.
im so confused by all the reactions here
somehow trying to make books cheaper, easier to get into the hands of people, with "important partners" that also facilitates all the things we typically do with books(highlight, compile notes, make note cards/re arrange them)
is a meh endeavor?
i was dying for a cheaper alternative to the 100+ dollar books i had in college lol
id take a 500 dollar device + cheaper books
over 1000 laptop + 400+ dollar book fees (saw an awful lot of mac laptops on campus)
a few million iOS devices that are already in the hands of people isnt asking people to go out and purchase a new device lol
somehow trying to make books cheaper, easier to get into the hands of people, with "important partners" that also facilitates all the things we typically do with books(highlight, compile notes, make note cards/re arrange them)
is a meh endeavor?
i was dying for a cheaper alternative to the 100+ dollar books i had in college lol
id take a 500 dollar device + cheaper books
over 1000 laptop + 400+ dollar book fees (saw an awful lot of mac laptops on campus)
a few million iOS devices that are already in the hands of people isnt asking people to go out and purchase a new device lol
Meus Renaissance
Member
Guys, we can create/write books on a Mac but cant actually read them? I don't get it. What's the punchline I'm missing here...why is there is no iBooks app? Legal? Financial? Ancient curse? I need an explanation
Buckethead
Banned
Considering how Apple owns the tablet market, everyone lives in an Appletopian society.
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