Apple Textbooks

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Do you think the technology will go away in a few years?

It wouldn't surprise me if something new and incompatible with existing storage comes along.

[Townsend]

It wouldn't surprise me if something new and incompatible with existing storage comes along.

From Apple?

[Gaspar]

We support thousands of clients.  There is a major shift towards Apple now.  The MacBook Pro, and iPad are replacing all others for mobile computing.  We are a Microsoft Gold company, and even among our staff we have engineers and developers dumping the PCs.  A base MacBook Pro can run multiple virtual machines without a hiccup.  Connectivity, reliability, and security are all far superior on the apple product.  RDC connections to terminal servers are more stable for some reason, and we have yet to encounter any disk failures.  Size, durability and battery life are also light years ahead of competitive models.  The entire aluminum body of the MacBook pro acts to dissipate heat from the processor, and as a result the internal fans draft less air and don't get gummed up with dust and lint. Our clients who have transitioned to Apple have little or no engineering support needs.

The Microsoft world is not going anywhere, but like what happened with IBM, they may recede from the individual client pc software market to just focus on their server software.  Microsoft has had a very hard time releasing a reliable operating system, and they have become a slave to the security cottage industry that they created.  Today, they compete on price and compatibility, but as that narrows, they will only be able to compete on price, and that's a very bad position to be in.  

One of my clients replaced every laptop for their sales force (hundreds of them) with iPads last year.  They said it was the best thing they have ever done.  They purchased a Dropbox Pro account and simply put all of the necessary documents, catalog pdfs, contracts, and pricing sheets in a folder on their server, and instantly their salesforce has everything they need on each iPad.  We created an order entry portal for them, and now their sales people just carry an iPad with 10 hours of battery life and everything they need, instead of a laptop, charger, air-card, and briefcase of catalogs.  Most of them can go on a 4 day business trip without even packing a charger.

[nathanm]

 A base MacBook Pro can run multiple virtual machines without a hiccup.  Connectivity, reliability, and security are all far superior on the apple product.  RDC connections to terminal servers are more stable for some reason, and we have yet to encounter any disk failures.  Size, durability and battery life are also light years ahead of competitive models.

And once again what's new is old. Very old. Hint: "competitive model" includes the price tag. Yes, comparing a MBP to a cheap PC laptop makes the MBP look really good. Buy a PC laptop for an equivalent price, not so much. It's your clients' money, though.

BTW, if you had asked me 10 years ago if a Microsoft operating system would ever again be worth a damn, I'd have laughed in your face. Unfortunately for Windows-haters like me, Windows 7 actually works very well, even on this netbookish thing I'm presently using, which, by the way, was over a hundred bucks cheaper than a base iPad.

None of that is to say that there aren't completely pointless and overpriced PC products out there. One of my clients had a consultant recently who decided that a $1800 convertible notebook would be better than an actual tablet or a cheap notebook for salesmen. I'm not quite sure it is the convertible notebook form factor brings to the table given that the intent is to use it as a tablet all the time. The only advantage relative to an iPad is that you're not stuck with Apple's idea of a good programming language, so existing skill sets can be relied upon to produce the software. There's a reason I quit using Objective C back when we were all on the Apple death watch. But once again, what's old is the new hotness.

[sgrizzle]

I'm not saying that textbooks on ereaders are an inherently bad idea (unless your students are likely to not have electricity at home!), just that it's a complete waste of money for a school district to buy an iPad over a Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire. Had a school the size of my high school done it, expecting the kids to keep the tablet their entire run, the iPads are an extra $150,000 a year that could go to useful programs that are being cut due to budgetary issues. And that's just the one freakin' school.

Although thinking further about it I'm not sure that it's the best thing in the world for kids to be essentially staring at light bulbs even more than they already are.

Also, it's definitely not the greatest thing in the world to cheapen textbooks even further. It takes literally years for a couple of people to write a good textbook. It's all about sourcing and accuracy, which is rather time consuming.

Both of those are half of the screen real estate and don't have the computing power for fluid interactive content. iPad 3 gets released in March, watch for iPad 2's to become $400 or possibly lower as they have reduced prices to schools. I know with Mac's it's like 20% off when sold to schools. That would mean an iPad would be only about $100 more than a Kindle fire and actually include things like a microphone, bluetooth, etc.

[nathanm]

She bragged that they were total PC because there was no business future for toys like Apple produced.

In the mid-90s, there was no reason to think otherwise. Aside from graphic design and media work, it was the worse platform. Even now, Apple makes little to no attempt to compete in the server space, nor do they put much effort into business productivity applications that most workers use day in and day out.

It's not a bad business strategy, though. Handhelds, especially ones with the Apple logo, have very high margins, and they sell in a lot more volume than high margin servers, storage arrays, and that sort of thing. The desktop is almost entirely commoditized, so there's little money to be made there.

grizz, there are other competitors that do have those things and are still less expensive, but maybe it all works out for schools after the discounting.

[AquaMan]

In the mid-90s, there was no reason to think otherwise. Aside from graphic design and media work, it was the worse platform. Even now, Apple makes little to no attempt to compete in the server space, nor do they put much effort into business productivity applications that most workers use day in and day out.

It's not a bad business strategy, though. Handhelds, especially ones with the Apple logo, have very high margins, and they sell in a lot more volume than high margin servers, storage arrays, and that sort of thing. The desktop is almost entirely commoditized, so there's little money to be made there.

grizz, there are other competitors that do have those things and are still less expensive, but maybe it all works out for schools after the discounting.

Yes, that is the point I was making. However, in terms of what school I wanted my son to go to it was an arrogant philosophy for them. Better to have understood that both had a place in the learning process and in future use. They shorted their students.

[TUalum0982]

just my two cents here, but I personally think its a great idea and they are on to something.

To the person who asked if its accepted in the business world? ABSOLUTELY!

I work at the airport, we are seeing more and more business travelers with iphones and ipads.  ALOT of people travel to Tulsa from Texas to go into NW arkansas for business because its cheaper to fly into TUL.  On these one day trips they have nothing but their ipads and iphones.  Why? because just like with the kids and their backpacks,they dont have to lug around a bag with a laptop, charger and air card or their GPS.  Ipad does it all.  Need access to your work computer back in the office? There are apps for that.  Need to join a conf call with a webinar? The ipad can do it.  My nephews are in the 2nd grade, I imagine within the next 3-4yrs they will be carrying ipads around instead of backpacks filled with huge heavy textbooks. 

There are some school districts (primarly on the east coast) that mandated Ipads for their students.  The parents put down a deposit of some sort (didnt give the amount) and if anything happens to it, they pay a certain fee to get it replaced.  Can you imagine your child coming home with their homework already preloaded onto their ipad from their teacher? No more excuses of leaving it at home, or my dog ate it.  Its loaded, ready to go.  I personally see great things not just from an economic and environmental standpoint but from a learning standpoint as well.  Students would be more eager to read from ipad then a book.  The interactive maps, graphs, charts, etc.  I am a visiual learner, so this would be great!! Time will tell I guess! 

[AquaMan]

That's why I love this forum. I learn so much about how things have changed without having to leave my desk!

Can the Pell grants, scholarships etc that college students use for books, be used to buy these downloads?

[custosnox]

That's why I love this forum. I learn so much about how things have changed without having to leave my desk!

Can the Pell grants, scholarships etc that college students use for books, be used to buy these downloads?

Absolutely.  The only thing that would cause an issue on this is that in order for a student to be able to do so before classes start is if either the school sets it up to sell them using the financial system in place, or if the school releases the monies directly to the student after tuition and fees is paid.  Unfortunately TCC does not follow this practice, it takes about a month for them to do this, forcing the students to either use their own money or go through the school bookstore.

[sgrizzle]

I think for it to work, schools would have to switch to a model that many schools already use now which is to provide a laptop or tablet at the beginning of school and bill it as part of the tuition.

[Conan71]

In the mid-90s, there was no reason to think otherwise. Aside from graphic design and media work, it was the worse platform. Even now, Apple makes little to no attempt to compete in the server space, nor do they put much effort into business productivity applications that most workers use day in and day out.

It's not a bad business strategy, though. Handhelds, especially ones with the Apple logo, have very high margins, and they sell in a lot more volume than high margin servers, storage arrays, and that sort of thing. The desktop is almost entirely commoditized, so there's little money to be made there.

grizz, there are other competitors that do have those things and are still less expensive, but maybe it all works out for schools after the discounting.

Apple realizes there are better profits for them in terms of personal productivity, entertainment, and communication rather than trying to compete in an already crowded world of servers and business machines.  Their best foray into the business market at this time appears to be the iPhone and iPad.  I'm amazed at the number of people who have these devices paid for by their company these days.

I think the biggest issue for the iPads in schools is making sure kids don't load up on a bunch of game apps which will distract them from the studies at hand.

[Townsend]

In first 3 days, 350K textbooks downloaded from iBooks

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/23/10216314-in-first-3-days-350k-textbooks-downloaded-from-ibooks?ocid=twitter

Apple's push into digital education emerged with 350,000 textbooks downloaded within the first three days of its iBooks 2 textbook store debut.

Using information from Apple trackers Global Equities Research, AllThingsD shows what appears to be an early indication of success in the company's latest initiative.

As msnbc.com reported last week, Apple's Jan. 19 education event unveiled iBooks 2, which sells digital textbooks from top educational publishers such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, priced at $15 or less. Apple also gave educators two more tools: the ability to make their own textbooks (iBooks Author) and a revamped iTunes U app that gives them the means to use the iPad to post office hours, stream lectures and list assignments.

Global Equities Research found that 90,000 downloads of iBooks Author were made as well in the same time period.

The information comes via Analyst Trip Chowdhry, who had, prior to the Jan. 19 announcement, predicted Apple "may capture 95 percent of digital textbook market, while Amazon.com may only participate in 5 percent of the market," due to Apple's "very strong following" with all the key players in the textbook publishing industry: authors, publishers, faculty and students. (Many who've attended college since the late 1980s have already been indoctrinated into Apple's world through school bookstores.)

 
Chowdhry is so bullish on Apple's potential in this niche that over the next 5 years, he expects digital textbooks could make up $4.9 billion of iTunes revenues.

More than 1.5 million iPads are now being used in education, with access to 20,000 education apps on the iPad. But as we've mentioned, U.S. Census statistics show that is a small dent, as there are well over 57 million enrolled students between the ages of 5 and 19 in the U.S., as well as countless other college and pre-school students, not to mention teachers and parents.

[Conan71]

If you haven't already, might not be a bad time to add Apple to the portfolio

[Townsend]

No Textbooks in NYC Schools: Coming Soon?

http://shine.yahoo.com/financially-fit/no-textbooks-nyc-schools-coming-soon-192700016.html

Schools without textbooks? It could become reality in New York City, which is floating an idea to instead use tablets in all 17,000 public schools. That would put the city in step with hundreds of other school systems across the country, where books and paper have gone the way of the mimeograph machine.

We currently spend more than a hundred million dollars a year on textbooks," said New York City Council Speaker and 2014 mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, who made the tablet proposal Tuesday while addressing how to improve the city's school system. "That's enough money to buy tablets for every student in New York City public schools, and cover staff costs to make sure these online texts are meeting rigorous standards."

The move to replace hefty textbooks with feather light, programmable iPads or other tablets represents a growing national trend that's happened in places from small-town Kentucky to the suburbs of Boston and the city of San Diego. And, while it represents a major leap forward and would be a boon for your kid's aching back, the loss of textbooks has also been controversial.

"We do not believe the textbook will remain a central pillar of learning," LeiLani Cauthen, vice president at the Center for Digital Education, a research institute focused on the intersection of education and technology, told Yahoo! Shine. But teachers have been building lessons around textbooks forever, she said, and with tablet-based learning, teachers can just have kids log in and have virtual lessons begin.

"This shift means they're not lecturing, they're facilitators," she explained. "It's a behavior shift of monumental proportion, and so has been rejected by many teachers and districts. It's an argument against progress based on how it's always been done, and no one seems to have the complete answer."

Also, Cauthen said, there has been pushback over tablet plans because of fears it could lead to learning from home, through virtual classrooms. "Six-year-old kids could not have been shot and killed if they were not penned together in physical buildings, but were learning online from home or in small neighborhood groups," she said. "The controversy over the a model that is 'placeless' will probably rage for the next 20 years, but has a certain inevitability."


A soon-to-be-released 2012 study by the Center shows that nine percent of school districts across the nation now mandate the use of digital content.

Another survey, the Project Tomorrow Speak Up National Research Project, which looked at the results of more than 400,000 surveys from K-12 schools, showed that in 2011 (the most recent year available) 43 percent of district administrators were considering online textbooks instead of traditional ones as a way to save money.

And Apple reported in October that 2,500 U.S. classrooms were using iBook textbooks.
It all follows efforts by the FCC, through a 2012 Digital Textbook Collaborative, to encourage and accelerate digital learning in K-12 education. And policy changes in a number of states—including Florida, which mandates the adoption of digital learning tools for all public schools by 2015-201—-reflect the trend, as well.

In November 2012, ProCon.org, a non-partisan research organization devoted to critical thinking on controversial issues, collected info from a plethora of studies and media reports to launch a website, "Tablets vs. Textbooks," focused on the most-discussed pros and cons of schools going all digital.

Proponents of tablets, the site point out, say that they are much lighter than print textbooks, and that they improve standardized test scores. Furthermore, ProCon.org notes, "They say that tablets can hold hundreds of textbooks, save the environment by lowering the amount of printing, increase student interactivity and creativity, and that digital textbooks are cheaper than print textbooks."

Opponents of tablets, though, say that they are "expensive, too distracting for students, easy to break, and costly/time-consuming to fix. They say that tablets contribute to eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision, increase the excuses available for students not doing their homework, require costly WiFi networks, and become quickly outdated as new technologies are released."

In New York City, Quinn explained why tablets would suit the public schools there so well. "So a teacher in the Bronx can pull together the most relevant information for his class, and update it throughout the year to stay current," she explained. "He can incorporate videos and interactive multimedia assignments that better engage kids living in a digital world. By using tablets instead of textbooks, the possibilities really are limitless."

Still, some remain doubtful. Eric Nadelstern, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College and New York City's former deputy chancellor, told the Daily News that tablets represent just one of many useful tools. "Will it take the place of all printed matter? Definitely not," he said.