Apple Announces iBooks 2 with $14.99 Textbooks

$14.99?! So I guess ebooks costs more than actual books nowadays.. data is more expensive than paper, printing, and shipping.. sad days

all those Macs in elementary classrooms, and now this. kids grow up using apple products, bloody great.

you realize that most physical textbooks by those companies cost around $100.

horrible

Not where i live!

I hope they get sued by every single bookstore nationwide. This is clearly a case of price fixing. Here's an example for a prealgebra book from Pearson.

Print version:
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-62886-2
Format: Paper
$162.00

ebook version:
Prealgebra, CourseSmart eTextbook, 6th Edition
$64.80 | ISBN-13: 978-0-321-64489-3

So how is it now that they can offer these titles for so little? I hope they all get so many lawsuits that they have to shut their doors.

Spending $400+ per kid for textbook RENTAL this year, if they go to $14.99 we're going to have a great vacation.

The Kno Tablet with a single or dual 14.1" touch screen tried to conquer the educational market. One of their big selling points was the large screen to adequately display a science book page. Intel Capital infused money to the company so it would stay out of the hardware side and concentrate on the software side. I was really looking forward to see tablets increase in display size to make it easier to read articles without the constant zooming. Weight issues and battery life would need to be addressed for a successful tablet of this size. This announcement may make it harder for companies like Kno to be seen as a viable company.

you only use your textbook one semester, let alone a full year, once the course is done you'll never need it again. I typically pay $600-$800 PER SEMESTER (2 semester's per year) for books. My professors are lame and definitely have a deal with the publishing companies, because every semester they require the brand new edition with online access, so you can't buy used.

$500 for an iPad + 10x$15 = $650 for the year's supply of books. Compared to around $1200-$1600 it cost me before. Plus i get an iPad outta the deal to use for other media consumption, while saving me around $600/year.

Nice apple, very nice.

you guys can hate all you want. I own a full gaming rig and love windows 7 and all, but this move is freaking awesome by apple. Even if one textbook per year is only from those publishers (4 of mine are this semester) I still save money in the long term getting an iPad and doing this.

My wallet salutes you apple

-didn't think I'd ever say that lol

College textbooks routinely cost hundreds a semester. But I don't think this 14.99 is talking about those.

Good luck getting around the requirements most States have for K-12 books. Lobbyists for the publishers are probably already offering up bribes to State leaders so they can continue to sell their highly overpriced paper books. $499 each for the device isn't going to happen in very many public schools anyway.

Anything that saves students money is a good thing. These savings alone on the books could easily save more than the iPad itself.

So should grocery stores sue dollar stores because you can buy candy, soda, and everything else in the store for one dollar? Granted 14.99 vs. 160 something ish and 1 vs. 1.50 are very drastically different ranges.

Two totally different creatures. Dollar store merch is usually defective in some way (usually not noticeable) or overstock from another company. The textbook industry is a much more corrupt sector that many people do not see nor understand. Books are supposed to be sold no lower than x price from the publisher. That's why you won't really find a Wii, Xbox, or PS3 differently priced, same principle. Now when you start being able to sell the product from the publisher to another company at drastically lower prices for the same format, that's when it becomes an issue.

Didn't Amazon and crapple recently go through something like this also? Amazon got a higher price than crapple did? Same thing and one company is destined to fail if the main supplier gives a 80% discount to one company and a 5% to another, but regulates that the 5% discount cannot be sold lower than x.

Would be nice if iBooks was available on Windows too. Like iTunes.

I mean if you're gonna sell textbooks (like music) you may as well.

I forgot to mention that most universities have little things called libraries. Even if your uni doesn't, I'm pretty sure you can purchase a library card from the biggest in your city. Cheap too, and guaranteed to have the books you need. I used to borrow them for 3-7 days and take pictures of the chapters I had yet to finish. Sometimes they would have underlined and highlighted portions, which came in very handy.

Anyway, my point is that you don't need a $500 fricken iPad to study. A library card, available for 6 months or a year, can go as high as a whooping $15. Probably for the plastic they put into it and the photo ID. An iPad is more of a distraction if anything.

This will make it easier for Texas and other school districts to edit the texts to their version of History, Math, Science, etc.

Texas removes Thomas Jefferson

Eh ebooks are still not convinving. Sure, most of those textbooks costs $100+ and usually even more. But most of the time I could buy used ones for half the price and then sell them back for the same price (sometimes more). Costs me $0 except in those rare cases where a company releases a new edition the next semester, although most of my professors never teach by the book and they say older editions are fine.

Reading on a screen for extended periods also give me eye strain Sorry but I still prefer hard copies. (I bet someones going to argue about carrying ipad vs heavy books.. wow get some exercise)

Schools don't pay retail, many times the equipment are donated, paid for with grants and/or bought for below wholesale.

There are ways around the state book requirements (at least I know there is here in CA). Digital versions of textbooks are a natural progression IMO. I personally don't like iPads tho, a school in my area is going to purchase Windows 8 tablets later this year so that the school server can restrict the content on the tablet and make sure the students aren't looking up porn when they are supposed to be following in their textbooks. I am told that this kind of restriction is not available with the iPad or Andriod tablets.

Except, I don't know how many times I have a seen a kid pulling a wheeled backpack, too many to count. So there are other options to carrying a heavy bookbag.

And I second your comment "...get some exercise"

iPads that are networked with a school can have the same security and filters as other school computers.

Apple really doesn't care about the consumer opinion on this. They can convince publishers and at this point that's all that matters. Non tradable books = higher sales, and no manufacturing costs. Pruduction and compositing costs only. Scrooge the little guy, now is a bad time to work at a printing company, and good day to work at a publishing company.

Awesome move Apple. Hopefully it will catch on and trickle down to all devices.

Am I the only one that thinks this is a good start, but severely lacking? Did Apple even think to discuss the usefulness of this with real professors, students, and school? I mean, seriously, there are some rather staggering flaws here.

Firstly, this is all based on the supposition that everyone has access to "broadband" internet. I am not talking about the poor among us; I am talking about the millions of citizens, and who knows how many students, which live in areas that do not provide broadband internet service anywhere near their homes. I happen to live in such an area. One can argue that the student can go to school to obtain a download, but that is not a solution.

Secondly, typing notes on an iPad, at the rate the information is put out, is not efficient. One of the biggest, most glaring problems with the iPad is the lack of a good, integrated handwriting recognition feature. In some of the college courses I have taken, I have observed some students using Windows-based tablet PCs. With the stylus that allow easier, more fluid access to writing notes the way students have been doing for centuries, as well as having quicker access to write, erase, and write again, among many more important features. I foresee this being one of the biggest points of failure, unless something changes.

Thirdly, there are still many professors that continue to ban any type of electronic device during lecture. Why those people are allowed to continue to teach is beyond me, but they are still teaching. Regardless of what people believe, there are still quite a lot of professors that ban electronic devices. Until schools start forcing these professors to change their classroom rules, or remove them from teaching, this will be another, albeit smaller, point of failure, or maybe just delayed acceptance.

Lastly, I believe the price of textbooks will not be as cheap as is being trumpeted. While I was running errands today, I checked into some of the available free courses, and I noticed something: There were few fee-based items in some of these courses. So, while textbooks may be priced at $14.99 USD, I have to wonder whether or nothing these courses will just "nickle and dime" students to death, to the point that these students are paying the same price, or more, for a non-physical copy of a textbook. One that cannot be sold, or traded.

If that will not be the case, then great. If it is, then I will prefer to sticking to physical books. At the very least, I can use my old textbooks as references, or give them to someone that cannot afford to attend college, but whats an education.

I am not saying iTunes U isn't a good thing; it is a good thing. We are starting to finally see a more widely released product that we have been promised since the early days of educational use of computers. I just think that this idea, as it currently exists, is too much hype, behind too little willpower and proper execution. Regardless, we have to start somewhere and this is a good place to start.

So by the same logic, nobody should ever buy any textbooks?

So, is that the case? Do people not buy any textbooks?

No, no it isn't the case.

Your second point about the iPad being potentially distracting, I agree with. But it can also perhaps be more engaging than a book. If students want to find distractions they always can.

@Montezuma, why isn't it a solution for the students to carry out a one-off download of the textbook at school, or wherever there happens to be internet? They don't need broadband thereafter.

I agree about typing notes, I wouldn't suggest students do this on an iPad. I don't think Apple is suggesting that either. This is intended as a replacement for textbooks, not for taking notes, which also means that whether professors ban it or not, it will still serve its purpose. That being said, assuming that schools/colleges start allowing electronic devices, you could take notes in other ways, such as recording the lecture. Also, there are numerous handwriting-detection apps for the iPad, please refer to here:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/23/7notes-ipad-iphone/

I don't understand your argument about 'nickel and dime'. Given that any textbook on iPad is cheaper than the equivalent hard version, surely students will be far better off in any scenario? How does a course mean that students pay more for a non-physical copy of the textbook when that non-physical copy of the book is cheaper?

... price fixing or not... people get dumber, because they can not afford education... and that's why there is more and more stupid folk... the knowledge about everything should be free... that's the only way to evolve... look at the full presentation to see, how 'good' is U.S. doing in education...

What you fail to realize is that students will pay one way or another. If a college bookstore goes out of business then I can guarantee that tuition rates are going to skyrocket to make up for the lost income. It's a vicious circle and the student is always going to end up paying. They find cheaper books, less income for college, tuition rates go up, it's that simple. Education or not, I think people are just getting dumber as a whole. Just look around you and then think back 15 years. People could read a map, figure out how to drive, read directions, balance a checkbook...etc. Now you have 18 year old kids that can't even figure out how to wipe their own a$$.

Ok, Not sure what its like in the US.
But in Canada, All public and high school resources don't cost any money. That's what part of our taxes go towards. To fund schools with textbooks that you essentially 'borrow' for the school year.

Post Secondary is the only place where buying your own textbooks at $100-250 a piece exists.

Its great that Apple is offering books for $15, but just how many publishers are going to have those available (will I be able to get all my textbooks I needed). Cause Paying $500-700 for an iPad to have enough storage space to all my books would likely cost more than just buying the books used from amazon. These books range from 800MB - 2.7GB, times that by about 5 - 6 per semester and that adds up to alot of storage space for even a 64GB iPad that also contains your music/movies and other Apps. Are these iBooks fixed to your device as well? Meaning you can't move them to a PC/MAC to store backups for each new semester.

Why are you so mad? If anything you should be outraged at paying $162 for a BOOK. A text book that will get used for ONE semester no less. Publishers have been taking advantage of students for way too long.

Exactly, that's why I hope they all get sued into bankruptcy. For years its been that the publishing costs are so high, paper is expensive yada yada. Then they come out with ebooks and they are still expensive because the author has to get their cut and the publisher still wants a killing on them. What they're saying is that developing content that interactive and everything is cheaper than just selling a pdf file? That's why I hope all of the publisher's and crapple get sued for this since they've been screwing every student for years!