iBooks 2 (free) was released for the iPad and iBooks Author (free) was launched for the Mac yesterday. By using Author it is easy to create an interactive, movie featured, chapter and glossary filled text or fiction book to be self published on the iBooks store. Designed for textbooks the software will allow you to import content from MS Word, Keynote and even create interactivity in html. Your audience may be limited to only 40 million customers (as of September 2011) but you can set the price from free to millions and know you will walk away with 70% of the money (Apple gets 30%).
I sometimes forget that we live in a world of naysayers. Then Apple releases an innovative and profitable way tprovide a service and the comments rise up to remind me. During their ‘education’ event yesterday, Apple gave the gift of self-publishing to the [Mac using] world. But a huge number of comments on many big tech blogs seem to dwell on a) lots of crap text books will be created with incorrect or dubious factual content, b) Apple are just out there to fill another couple of dumper trucks with money and c) that paper books are more durable and will always outlast technology like the iPad.
Possibly but…
a) someone will create a textbook on intelligent design and the church of Scientology may have already release some interactive literature because they can! Many textbooks from major publishers have fundamental errors and sometimes worse. This is the beauty of choice and peer review: just because it exists doesn’t mean you have to read/ believe it. Schools will still have to read through a textbook to ensure it is valid for use.
Choice is good and this means content will need to be marketed carefully by content providers and authors generally will need to use the book preview part of iBooks Author to really sell the quality of the book. A textbook is a companion to good teaching rather than a replacement. iBooks shouldn’t change that.
b) correct. If Apple can make a improvement to user experience and turn it into a way to make lots of money they will. Apple are not a charity but they can still have good intentions whilst trying to make that truck load of money!
c) If a book is out of date then you buy a new book but with an iBook? Download the update. This has to be a better way. Sure, you can’t re-sell an iBook textbook but the $US price ($15) makes textbooks cheaper in the first place. You can highlight and mark text and the books can compile all your digital jottings into flash cards for later revision. There is some really cool stuff here. It might be nice to carry only an iPad to a class and remember the iPad will do so much more. I wonder exactly how teachers will stop students from playing Angry Birds rather than reading the course textbook though?
Additionally, the proprietary money traps in place in the UK’s education system are far worse than anything Apple could offer with its closed ecosystem. Apple’s system can give schools more choice over time, not less. Specifically because a school(s) could develop their own bespoke textbooks – worth trying for this feature alone.
So that’s that. Apple’s iBook creator is wonderful right?
Well…I am not completely sure about that.
The pros:
Interactive graphics and built-in videos: The new textbooks, and any iBook 2-compatible books will be able to use fancy formatting. Instead of just text and photos, they will include multitouch, video, thumbnail navigation and interactive objects. Just keep your fonts to the iPad equipped ones for compatibility.
Thumbnail navigation: A visual index with thumbnails marking the sections of the book – like a PDF.
Custom glossary: A feature similar to the current iBook’s dictionary, in which you can access a glossary only for that book.
Quizzes and review questions: Built right into each page or chapter of each book.
Study cards: A killer feature. The ibook will automatically turn your highlights and notes into study revision flash cards and should be available for every book through the iBooks 2 app (untested).
The Cons:
Take a look at the end-user license agreement (EULA) for iBooks Author, only when selling a book, the following bold note appears at the top:
IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.
Many on the net are taking ‘Work’ to mean the pre formatted source material and that Apple will only let you sell through them. I take ‘Work’ to mean the post formatted and fully competed iBook textbook. Quiet simply, Apple don’t want you to use their free software to release a beautifully formatted ebook on Amazon. You are still free to repackage your work to sell elsewhere, just not the version created with iBooks Author.
This is something I would like confirmation about. I will not write a book and then only be ‘allowed’ to sell it on the Apple book store.
No iPhone support for iBook 2 textbooks
No iBook app for the Mac. This would have been the time to build it right into iBook Author.
Summary:
Get this EULA issue clarified and get writing. This could change everything. For books this time.
UPDATE: 3rd Feb 2012: Apple has just released iBooks author 1.01 containing an update to the EULA clarifying Apple’s ownership to the container rights not the content rights. That settles that then.
