Apple recently announced two exciting additions to their educational footprint. The first is iBook Author and the second is a newly updated iTunes U. The latter offers universities the ability to compile an entire course's material into one digital entity (the image looks a lot like a self-bound book in iTunes). The benefit of this is that learners can now access syllabi, presentations, lecture videos, and miscellaneous course materials from one place. It used to be that each of these things was in a separate area in iTunes (some on the iTunes store, some in podcast form), or worse: it was not available at all (e.g. presentaion slides). The new iTunes U is an obvious improvement!
The former announcement, however, has been received with mix reviews. As usual, Apple announced the product with pomp and circumstance, making claims like "[we are] reinventing the textbook" (Philip Schiller). Tech junkies and education pundits are not exactly unanimous in their agreement with Apple. Jeffrey R. Young says—in his article on the Chronicle of Higher Education's website "Apple's New E-Textbook Platform Enters an Already Crowded Field"—that iBook Author will likely suffer in a market already saturated by similar programs. He adds that iBook authors, since their publications will be available exclusively to iPads, will not reach as broad an audience as other authors using other publishing software. Two other things that might limit an author's audience are these two facts: (a) the iPad is not the most competitively priced tablet and (b) Apple uses a closed operating system.
While all of Young's claims are based on facts, his conclusions, I think, contain errors. First, it is not clear that what Apple has released is comparable, for better and for worse, to existing etextbook publishers. For example, it is much easier to use than other ePublishing software (it is strikingly similar to Apple's word processing app known as "Pages"). Second, the software is as easy to download as an iTunes song. Other differences include that authors need to be using an Apple computer to create their textbooks (though they can import Microsoft Word content) and readers will need to use an iPad. These last two facts are indeed limiting. However, much of Apple's technology and software involves exclusivity in some form or another and yet Apple portable computers make up the majority of college students' computers, iPods make up the majority of peoples' MP3 players, and iPads are the most popular tablet computer on the market. So, judging by Apple's track record, iBook Author's limitations will not necessarily cripple the success of the program.
Young also critiqued Apple's closed platform philosophy. His claim is that because Apple's operating systems are not as easily customized, the iPad will be less useful to schools. I fail to see how the iPad would be less useful to school for this reason. Few K-12 IT departments have the means to regularly reconfigure the operating systems their computers, let alone tablets. So not only do I doubt there is a huge need for such configuring, I doubt the resources exist to make it happen anyway. Moreover, Apple's closed platform offers at least one benefit to schools. It hinders unwanted hacking by students, who as everyone probably knows, are far more tech savvy than their pedagogues. Also Apple's mobile devices limit explicit content quite well. So, if a school has any interest in limiting access to questionable material, then the iPad is a much better choice than, say, an Android tablet.
Another claim of Young's is that iBook Author is not actually more cost effective than textbooks. He supports his claim by pointing out that the first textbook costs $499 (the minimum cost of a new iPad 2) + $14.99 (the maximum cost of Apple's new textbooks). It is simple to see how his example, though true, is downright myopic. Anyone with the ability to do basic arithmetic can understand how using an iPad for one textbook is not cost effective when compared to one printed textbook. When considering a few years of textbooks, however, the economic tables turn.
Consider the cost of a high schooler's textbooks. I had no less than 6 textbooks each year as a high schooler. If I averaged the cost of those books at $50—a charitable assumption no doubt—then four years of books amounts to $1200. If, however, those textbooks were iPad textbooks, then the total would be $859 [$499 + $360], at most. Add the fact that an iPad can do much more than a pile of books and the cost comparison becomes a no brainer. Students get much more out of an iPad than they get out of printed textbooks, and they pay less in the long run.
Another worry about iBook Author is that authors must use their own content or content in the public domain. The reason is that big publishers own the rights to a great deal of printed content. Since many authors are not affiliated with big publishers, there is a worry that authors will not have enough content. I beg to differ. I had no less than 5 textbooks—costing about $100 each—that were chock full of public domain literature and editor's prefaces. Also, as a graduate student, I frequently look for public domain material to read. However, what I find is often formatted poorly for reading—usually it is HTML text from a university's online archives. With iPad textbooks, the most I could be charged for a readable and digital version of the classics I seek would be $14.99. As someone who already has an iPad, I find that pleasing. And when I consider that iBooks is constantly adding well-formatted public domain texts to their store (for free), it seems obvious how students could be saving money by using iPads—again, in the long run.
One should notice, also, that whatever limitation is imposed on iBook Authors (or any independent authors) via copyright legislation is not Apple's fault. Many educators expend their own efforts working on papers in an attempt to have their own work published. After writing, peer-reviewing, and waiting, only a select few papers make it to print. And who owns them? Not the writers or peer-reviewers, but the journal that publishes them. Oh, and the journals sell their stuff for a profit. That journals somehow make claim to an educators unpaid services is beyond me, and that it hinders endeavors like iBook Author is no fault of Apple.
To be fair, however, Apple will own the material that authors publish using iBook Author. In fact, they will own the entire creative process. This is part of the reason Apple can guarantee a maximum price of $14.99 for a textbook: authors receive a share of each purchased textbook—again, that's better than what can be said of printed journal publications—but they are not paid anything for the work itself. The big hang-up for some critics is that authors are not free to republish their book (or parts of their book) in other formats without Apple's permission. Some think this discourages authors' participation. To be clear, it discourages the authors who are out to make money, but authors that are out to offer rich digital textbook experiences to students at a low cost have no reason to hesitate. With iBook Author, they can easily put their media into a textbook and get it in the hands of students. And should an author decide later that he is out to make money, then he can simply buy Apple stock.
So Apple's iBook Author is not without its limitations. Then again, Apple's limitations have not prevented its products from being praised as the premier tech devices so far. Apple's iBook Author could very well be the next staple etextbook publishing software and iPads could be the next staple classroom technology. Alas, only time will tell.
To learn more about Apple's new programs visit their new webpages here.
Are you an educator, a student, or a publisher? Feel free to share your perspective below by clicking "comments."
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