Finally, Apple has revealed the big secret it has been guarding. Everyone has been eagerly apprehending what will Apple reveal at the event today. Apple certainly has revealed some major plans which may as well revolutionize the entire realm of education! For one, Apple announced that it will be publishing textbooks in collaboration with some of the major international publishers. And that these interactive textbooks with 3D Graphics will be available for a mere $14.99 or even less.
The biggest problem Apple may have faced in taking such a huge step could have been the major publishers. Publishers wouldn’t like to have their paper-textbooks replaced by someone else’s digital textbooks. But Apple found a very smart way around it. Apple took all these major publishers on board and invited them to create digital textbooks. As a result, publishers like McGraw Hill and Pearson are already producing e-textbooks for iPad.
A number of courses are already available with these publishers. For instance, Pearson makes its debut with e-textbooks of Algebra I, Biology, Environmental Science and Geometry. McGraw Hill is not far behind, offering Algebra I, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry and Physics. DK Publishing has launched another four books. All these titles are available with the iBookstore with iBooks 2.
And this is just the tip of an iceberg, just the start. The publishers have plans to roll more titles out at a very ‘aggressive price’ which necessarily means that textbooks will suddenly be quite affordable for iPad users. In fact, Apple claims that the e-textbooks will be available for $14.99 or less which is very economic compared to the paper-textbook prices.
It seems like Apple is finally realizing the dream of late Steve Jobs who hoped to make education accessible to everyone.
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