Apple is making big moves today in the textbook world, offering books that cover 5 years of subject matter for a mere $15 each. Announced at an event in New York City today, the company has already made the books available through the iTunes Store.
There are 7 books available, at present:
- E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth
- Algebra 1
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Environmental Science
- Geometry
- Physics
Interestingly enough, there are actually two versions of the biology book, one published by Pearson and another from stalwart McGraw-Hill. What’s perhaps even more compelling though, is that Apple is offering free trials of the books; something that we’ve not seen from the company before.
The release is not without its challenges, however. Schools must agree to adopt the ebooks on iPad format, and that’s no small task. In many schools the books are ages old and schools rent them to the students for a small annual fee. Still, others have recently invested big money into newer books, so getting them to move the line to a digital version is going to be difficult.
Apple has quite a few other tricks up its sleeve today, including a free tool to let you publish your own books. You can catch up with all of the news from Apple’s education event by clicking here.
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Yes this is huge in the publishing industry and maybe a bit in education. But...... The schools that really need this new tech and new books will most likely never see them. Apple needs to stand up and start donating some tech or cash to help the underprivileged schools and youth of this country. Or even maybe drop the prices of some of its tech and make it a bit more affordable for the masses. I would use this in a heart beat if I could afford an iPad or Mac air and start creating interactive art history and art education books.