Textbooks on the iPad!

[David]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJxZG2Nv4KA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/KJxZG2Nv4KA&rel=1</a>

I love this.  I love this to no end.

I'm not an iPhone or iPod or iPad fan because I feel everything Apple makes is better than sex.  I don't recommend these devices because I despise Android-based devices or the PlayBook or the TouchPad.  It's because the iDevices work.  It's because Apple has a system in place that works.  It's because if a student has a textbook on her iPad, that same textbook can be downloaded on her classmates' iPads.

It's very hard to make that claim if someone has an LG tablet or an Acer tablet or one made by Asus.  There have been many apps I've come across in the Kindle store letting me know this program is not compatible with [FILL IN AN ANDROID DEVICE].  That's some real quality control you got there, Google.

Yeah, my brother gets pissed at me when I scoff at his attempts to get a non-iPad tablet (Oh, the PlayBook is only three hundred bucks right now?  Well, shit... sounds like your prayers have been answered, bro!) and suggest - yet again - an iPad.  I know they ain't cheap.  But he has three girls.  In Connecticut.  I'm pretty sure any requirements the school might have for e-learning or recommendations for tablets won't be Android OS.  But parents, please let me know if I'm wrong.

And I know that there's no way in hell a lot of parents can swing an iPad for their children.  Programs will have to be developed and implemented.  I don't see a lot of theft happening if every kid in the class has one.  And there are apps that can locate and/or wipe the device if it is stolen.  This is just the beginning.  Now that textbooks are becoming available, we'll see where we go from here.

[premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org]

~~~~~

Apple Inc. announced aggressive new efforts yesterday to move into the K-12 electronic-textbook market, though educational publishers said the biggest news from the move is how the normally disruptive company is likely to help the publishing industry rather than challenge it.

Through a partnership with three major K-12 textbook publishers—McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt—Apple is offering interactive textbooks through its iBooks store at $14.99 or less. The textbooks feature multimedia elements, including video, three-dimensional graphics, and photo galleries. They also allow students to highlight text to create flashcards and search within a glossary.

The publishers will give Apple a cut of the revenue; 30 percent in the case of individual consumers, and an undetermined amount when selling on a state or district level. It’s a mutually beneficial model akin to iTunes, publishers said, not a run around the publishing industry, as had been speculated and hinted at by Apple founder Steve Jobs before his death last year.

“Apple developed the software, but it’s our books and our content,” said Genevieve Shore, the chief information officer for Pearson Education, based in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Apple’s large distribution model allows those books to reach more people, Ms. Shore said, and its advanced Web development and presentation allows for a superior textbook.

At the characteristically sleek announcement yesterday from the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller and other officials demonstrated a science textbook, Life on Earth, created for the iPad by the renowned scientist E.O. Wilson. It features 3-D models of a cell that can be rotated by swiping a finger. A larger photograph in the sidebar can then be expanded into full-screen mode for a closer look, a move that elicited applause from the crowd at the event.

Apple also unveiled a brand-new application called iBooks Author, which allows users to create and publish their own e-books. The tool can be used only on Macintosh computers, but books can immediately be published into the iBooks store. Using an interface similar to other Apple applications like iMovie or GarageBand, users can import media into the program and drag and drop it onto a blank page. Users can create custom glossaries and custom widgets that allow for greater interactivity.

Lastly, Apple announced it is upgrading iTunes U, its directory for educational content for higher education, to allow teachers to create entire online courses. Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said iTunes U is also now expanding to the K-12 market.
Textbook Disruption?

In its entirety, the announcement signals Apple’s intent to further deepen its market share in K-12 education. Sales of the iPad are outpacing Mac computers in the education sector, and Apple officials said there were 1.5 million iPads in use in education, more than 1,000 one-to-one iPad computing initiatives in K-12, and 20,000 education apps in the iTunes store.

Critics still question, however, whether iPads improve learning, and there are few independent studies offering data to prove that they do.

Mr. Jobs had always taken an interest in education, and in Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of the technology innovator, he is quoted as speaking of a “corrupt” state textbook-approval process, the massive textbook industry, and his hope to transform it.

For textbook publishers, though, business won’t be as disrupted as Mr. Jobs may have hoped.

Ms. Shore of Pearson Education said creating content for Apple would be no different from creating any other kind of textbook content. Pearson creates the content first, then adapts it to multiple platforms, whether it’s Apple, Android, Amazon, or print.

And publishers believe that regardless of the technology (or the user-generation tools), they will still be relied upon to create useful content.

“The common myth is that anybody can create quality content and curriculum,” said Lisa O’Masta, the vice president of STEM marketing—products for science, technology, engineering, and math—at New York City-based McGraw-Hill. “The reality is there’s a lot that goes into what curriculum is created.”

That leaves the accessibility issues up to the publishers, which have to provide high-quality content across multiple platforms, not companies like Apple that offer the platforms, Ms. Shore said.

Some educational technology experts agreed.

“It’s not whether the tablet or iPad is beneficial; it’s the content,” said John Bailey, a former director of educational technology for the U.S. Department of Education under President George W. Bush and now an educational technology consultant.

The bottom line, at least for the major publishers, doesn’t stand to change much either, Ms. O’Masta said. A traditional textbook that costs nearly $100 is updated every five years or so, requiring the school to buy new ones. E-textbooks can be updated at any time, and students must purchase them every school year. Even with the cut going to Apple, there’s not likely to be a major difference in revenue.

Publishers wouldn’t speculate on whether they would bundle in certain devices when selling textbooks at the district level. For districtwide textbook purchases, students will be given a code to access books on their devices.
Apple-Only Concerns

But some critics believe the cost of the devices could prevent the innovative textbooks from being used by the students who need them most. By the end of the year, for example, McGraw-Hill will produce five Apple-only textbooks. If the textbooks can be used on Apple devices only, it could require cash-strapped districts to decide on Apple or a lesser education.

“Unless the economy significantly improves and the state governments have a load of money, I’m not sure where the districts will find money for $400 devices, and textbooks,” said Osman Rashid, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Kno, an e-textbook company in Santa Clara, Calif., that focuses on higher education.

Ultimately, Mr. Rashid said, Apple’s plans will have an overall positive effect on education because it will help prove the value of interactive textbooks and learning. Plus, it will provide more competition in a crowded but important area.

“May the best product win,” he said.

[thefreakytiki]

I keep checking for textbooks/courses on art history but haven't seen it yet.  If anyone sees this pop up (and I miss it) please give me a holler.

Thanks.

The Tiki

[Lucien21]

One step closer to "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" from becoming a reality.

[Kenney]

I remember my first semester in college when I had to go buy books -- I was SHOCKED when I started to see the prices. I felt like a ninja when I figured out I could buy my books cheaper on line, and felt like a borderline GOD when I figured out that for most books I could buy an older edition for only a couple of dollars, which held the same information as the text book that would cost me $130 brand new.

Digital text books will be a wonderful thing, and hopefully will cut down on the insane prices of text books, along with the wasteful nature of the needlessly "updated" volumes to be able to charge each new class for the same old information.

That said, I don't think I could handle not being able to flip back and forth between different sections of a book while studying. But I'm sure these new kids won't be bothered by that at all.

That said, I don't see this as having to an iPad centric thing. Sure, Apple is aggressive with this new initiative, but if say Amazon the the Kindle store got into this game, and made their interactive textbook cross platform, that would be great too. The more platforms, the better. And if you can get a similar service on cheaper tablets, that's better still. Amazon should be doing backflips trying to get something similar going on with the Kindle Fire if they aren't already.   

[thefreakytiki]

Amazon came after Apple with a tablet.  Now Apple is attacking Amazon's core business with ebooks/iTunesU.  Cutthroat I tell ya.


The Tiki

[David]

That said, I don't see this as having to an iPad centric thing. Sure, Apple is aggressive with this new initiative, but if say Amazon the the Kindle store got into this game, and made their interactive textbook cross platform, that would be great too. The more platforms, the better. And if you can get a similar service on cheaper tablets, that's better still. Amazon should be doing backflips trying to get something similar going on with the Kindle Fire if they aren't already.   

When you walk into a computer lab, the computer systems in place for that class/course are all the same make and model.  If the school supplies the tablets, they're not going to have a half dozen iPads, five Vizio tablets, and some Kindles or Acers for one class.

If it falls on the parent to provide the device, things are going to be a mess when it comes time to cut corners and dad goes the Pandigital route.  Plus, you have to hope the publisher makes the textbook compatible for that device.

It would be neat if it was available for the Kindle and Amazon pushes that any textbook would have to also work in their app, regardless of the OS.  But then the problem is compatibility with other apps or hardware.  Again, with Apple's system in place, there's no worrying about SD cards or varying screen sizes or what the Xoom might have compared to an Asus tablet that cold cause a crash.

[Robert]

I love this.  Albeit I have been out of school for several years now, I can still see the advantages to this.  Though I am curious as  to what the price point will be for these iTexts.  

As David alluded to, for this program to "work", the school would have to provide the tablet device for the digital text initiative to be effective.  I can easily imagine schools charging a fee to compensate for the expenses and the students would then pay for their uploads/downloads depending on their coursework.

[Kenney]

If it falls on the parent to provide the device, things are going to be a mess when it comes time to cut corners and dad goes the Pandigital route.  Plus, you have to hope the publisher makes the textbook compatible for that device.

It would be neat if it was available for the Kindle and Amazon pushes that any textbook would have to also work in their app, regardless of the OS.  But then the problem is compatibility with other apps or hardware.  Again, with Apple's system in place, there's no worrying about SD cards or varying screen sizes or what the Xoom might have compared to an Asus tablet that cold cause a crash.

I guess that's my point. Admittedly I was thinking more about college, but mainly I was thinking about when the parents/student needed to provide the tablet -- not the school. And you're talking about apps and such which is cool and interesting, but I'm talking more about non-interactive/non-app based digital textbooks, which should work on any device.

Same way you expect a digital comic to work on whatever tablet you may have.

[David]

...but I'm talking more about non-interactive/non-app based digital textbooks, which should work on any device.

Same way you expect a digital comic to work on whatever tablet you may have.

Ah, gotcha.  If we were talking about just scanning in the pages, sure.

But I'd rather have the publishers planning on the future, changing the way students use their product.

[Kenney]

No doubt, especially when you're talking about elementary and middle school aged kids. A college kid could get by just fine basically just getting the text from a textbook on a kindle, but I know when I was younger I definitely appreciated the vividness of the textbooks that had lots of interesting pictures and whatnots to break-up the monotony of the text.

Can you imagine a science textbook that can talk about a principle, and then have a little mini-app built into the digital textbook's page that had an interactive example of said principle? Something as simple as Earth's size relative to the other planets and stars in the galaxy? That would be the bees knees.

Oh, or a math textbook that had example problems that worked themselves out line by line. So you can work alongside the examples, without seeing the answer before hand.

Or simpler still a art book for younger students that had an interactive color wheel that the kids could mix the colors together to see how to make other colors? Ok, this one is better doing with real pain, but you get me.

The possibilities are exciting to me, and I don't even have kids.

[David]

I would be ecstatic if the lab fees and taxes the students pay when they're getting their classes included iPads.  Especially the pricier courses like Anatomy and Physiology.  Which would greatly benefit from having an interactive textbook.

I edited the topic starter to include the video that was making the rounds last week.

[David]

Alabama's doing it right:

A proposal expected to be discussed during the 2012 Alabama legislative session is one that, if passed, would put 21st century technology in the hands of all high school students in Alabama.

Sen. Gerald Dial (R-Lineville) and Rep. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) announced in December their plan to propose the “Alabama Ahead Act” in the legislative session, which convenes Feb. 7. The proposal suggests purchasing pen-enabled electronic tablets for each student in grades 9-12. The tablets would allow students to use digital copies of textbooks instead of the traditional printed copies.

“With our recent investments in statewide broadband services, we have a unique opportunity to include digital-based education options in our schools,” Dial said. “We have delayed purchasing new textbooks for years. The books we expect our children to use are in shameful condition, and some students cannot even bring their books home because multiple classrooms share them. The Alabama Ahead Act will fix that.”

The legislators suggest paying for the tablets by selling up to $100 million in bonds.

“Some will ask, ‘How can we afford to do this?’ My answer is, ‘How can we afford not to,’” McClendon said. “If our students are going to compete in a 21st century job market, they need 21st century tools.”

Area schools are ahead of the curve

Area schools have all embraced new technology, and teachers and students are already using the new tools in many of the classrooms.

John Hill, a Talladega High School English teacher, helped lead a group of students in preparing projects for last year’s technology fair. The groups all used Hill’s iPad2 to complete the projects, which all showed how the most popular tablet on the market is useful in the classroom.

“My students did a video newscast as one of their projects for the technology fair,” Hill said. “They videotaped it with a small hand-held camcorder, transferred the files to the iPad and then used iMovie to cut it up and to add on text layers so they could have their names on it, credits and other things. (The iPad2) has its own video camera, so they actually could have recorded (the newscast) with it, which was the plan, but with (having just) the one, I needed to be able to pass it around, not have one group just (using it) the entire time.”

Another group used the iPad2 to pull together a project on volcanoes, which was something the students were studying in science class. The students were able to use a bulletin board-type application called Evernote, which allows students to pull not only text, but also pictures, maps and graphs from various internet resources and store the information in one place.

Teachers and students throughout Talladega County schools are using iPads and other various technological upgrades daily.

The technology upgrades are funded through several sources, according to Jennifer Barnett, an English and history teacher at Fayetteville School. Talladega County schools have chosen in recent years to use federal Title I funds for purchasing technology such as iPads.

“In Talladega County, any of our schools that have elementary grades in the school, they’re known as a Title school,” Barnett said. “Fayetteville would be an example because it’s a K-12. All of our middle schools and all of our elementary schools (are Title schools). Unfortunately, there are a handful that have no title funding, so you’re going to find not as many resource dollars to do this. Like all funds, they’ve been cut. A huge number of our schools have chosen (to use the funds) to purchase technology over the past five or six years and in lots of different types of technology. You see things like SMART Boards and projectors … computers and laptop carts and iPads and handheld devices. You see this in most elementary schools in our county, most of our middle schools and some of our high schools.”

Digital textbooks

Dial and McClendon suggested the use of digital textbooks would save schools money over time because they are less expensive than printed textbooks. Area schools are already giving students the option to receive textbooks in the digital format for many of their classes.

Michael Robinson, technology coordinator for Sylacauga city schools, said there are advantages to digital textbooks over traditional print copies. However, he does not see the cost being significantly less than the printed version.

“I personally don’t foresee school e-textbooks being significantly cheaper than the traditional textbook because the publishing companies want to make a profit,” Robinson said.

The cost may not be the only factor to consider when weighing the options of purchasing digital or print textbooks.

“The advantage of e-textbooks are no older, outdated books,” Robinson said. “An e-textbook doesn’t have the risk of pages coming off the binding, tearing or have pages missing, and e-textbooks — especially science and history — can be continually updated with current events and discoveries. Another advantage of e-textbooks is the interactive capabilities. Going back to a science e-textbook, students could zoom in and out, spin and move the pictures, watch videos and go to websites related to the lesson. And, like current e-readers, students can get the definitions of words they don’t know by simply touching the word.”

Hill said several classes at THS have given students the option of downloading .pdf versions of their textbooks on home computers.

“When we got our new sets of textbooks a couple of years ago, we went with the technology option, which gave us all of the literature and the grammar books in .pdf format on a CD, so that students could take them home if they wanted to and put them on their computer,” Hill said. “The iPad reads .pdf format. We can easily drop their entire textbook onto the iPad.”

Barnett said using electronic tablets strictly for digital textbooks is not the best use for the devices.

“I don’t think that’s the biggest benefit for iPads and other handheld devices,” Barnett said. “I think that is a benefit. I actually think that if your school is fortunate enough to be similar to my classroom where you have a one-to-one (ratio of students to computers), the concept of textbooks is going to be completely outdated.

“The most important, most significant aspect of having a computer is learning loads about any particular topic (whereas) a textbook is very narrow on any topic. I would definitely not use the argument that we need to put digital, handheld devices in a classroom because this is a great way to provide a textbook. I think we need to get rid of the notion of textbooks, (and) the concept that a book can tell you everything you need to know about a topic.”

Winterboro is one of the schools using iPads and other technology in 21st century classrooms. Principal Craig Bates agreed with Barnett that the iPads at WHS are used for much more than just digital textbooks.

“We have an English class that’s reading ‘The Great Gatsby.’ (The e-books are) less expensive than paperback books,” Bates said. “We also have the audio book as well.”

Barnett and Bates both lauded the iPad’s use in English classes, especially for students with learning disabilities or those who struggle with reading. With the digital version of the book on the iPad, the audio version and study guides for the book, which are available with some apps for the device, a student is able to listen to the book and follow along on the tablet.

“They’ve got the book, audio book and study guides all in one place,” Bates said. “It’s really neat.”

Technology outside the classroom

Reading, writing and arithmetic are not the only areas where technology can be useful in education. Some coaches in the area are using iPads to streamline keeping score and statistics for games throughout the year.

Mike Gibbs, baseball coach at Sylacauga High, plans to keep his team’s stats on the iPad beginning this season. In addition to the bookkeeping ability of the iPad, Gibbs said the tablet also has uses during practice.

“There are several game apps available for use and the iPad lets us use it, plus it has video that can be recorded and watched immediately for teaching points during practice time,” Gibbs said. “The iPad gives us the opportunity to email results to many people, including newspapers, immediately with game stats and cumulative stats as well. We can print out the paper scorebook as often as we need to.”

Gibbs said the Aggies plan to use both the electronic scorebook on the iPad and the traditional paper scorebook this season, but hope to eliminate the paper scorebook next season.

Students at Munford are also using technology outside of a classroom setting, according to MHS teacher Anne Hopkins. The school already has one 21st century classroom that has a one-to-one student to computer ratio. Hopkins said the school would soon receive 35 iPads for instructional use.

“Because of our partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, we plan to use the iPads for project-based learning instruction that is centered around the environment,” Hopkins said. “We have a 100-set outdoor classroom amphitheater, two huge greenhouses, six 1,000-gallon fish tanks and a three-tier wetland. We already use these outdoor learning opportunities often, and we plan to further them as our students gain more access to technology. The iPads will assist in research, virtual field trips, communication with experts, etc.”

A valid use of state funds?

Area educators who are using the current technology have all seen ways to implement it in the classroom. A growing number of classrooms in elementary, middle and high schools in the area are equipped with iPads and other technology, which were purchased with grant money over the past few years. The teachers and administrators gave mixed answers when asked if the proposal by the two legislators would be a good use of state funds.

“It’s a catch 22,” Robinson said. “While we want to continue moving Alabama forward in all areas, not just technology, after several years of proration, we also need the funding to return to lower class size, buy buses, classroom supplies and pay for professional development.

“There are a myriad of curriculum, technology, inventory and financial questions and concerns that must be worked out before e-textbooks and tablets become mainstream in education.”

Barnett, a self-proclaimed advocate for technology in education, has some reservations about the proposed bill.

“It would really sound weird for somebody who is such a huge advocate for technology in education to say I’m not sure, but I will say I’m not sure, because I think the plan for the use of these devices is as important as the plan to purchase them,” she said. “Just the information, let’s put a device in the hands of all the students, is not enough for me to say wholeheartedly let’s go for it.

“I would want to see a plan for using them. I would very much appreciate our legislators asking our teachers and possibly bringing together a panel of teachers to listen to, to allow them to talk to them. I’m talking about teachers who have some experience with this, with technology, the place technology has in our classrooms, to hear them, to help them construct a plan. I believe, no more should I write legislation should they write the plan. I strongly believe that it would be in the best interest of all involved – students receiving them and legislators trying to make a decision to vote on it — for them to have a plan for its use.”

Barnett and Bates both would like to know more about the plan for training teachers to use the devices in the classroom. Many teachers in Talladega County schools have received and/or are going to receive training on the iPad. Barnett and several other teachers and administrators in the county will be helping train those teachers, but the veteran educator also said the best training is hands on, where the teachers take the devices home and use them, figuring out how they work in their everyday life as well as how they will be used in the classroom. She said the plan to train the teachers across the state on how to use the devices would be as important as the plan to purchase the tablets.

“The general rule in education is that you would spend 20 percent of the cost of any item on professional development,” Barnett said. “I would like to see the professional development plan that spends 20 percent of the budget for purchasing this item. Let’s say you’re going to spend $1 million … I need to see the plan to spend $200,000 to teach teachers how to use them. The expectation that they will know (how to use the devices) is unrealistic.”

[thefreakytiki]

Let us not forget when the Philadelphia school system bought laptops for their students...

http://articles.philly.com/2010-10-12/news/24981536_1_laptop-students-district-several-million-dollars


Lower Merion district's laptop saga ends with $610,000 settlement

The Lower Merion School District will pay $610,000 to settle lawsuits over its tracking of student laptop computers, ending an eight-month saga that thrust the elite district into a global spotlight and stirred questions about technology and privacy in schools.

School board members voted unanimously Monday night to pay $185,000 to the two students who claimed the district spied on them by secretly activating the webcams on their laptops.

The bulk of the money, $175,000, will be put in trust for Blake Robbins, the Harriton High School junior whose family brought the issue to light in February. Jalil Hasan, who filed his lawsuit this summer after graduating from Lower Merion High School, will receive $10,000.


the Tiki

[David]

iPads.

Too many things can go wrong (obviously) with laptops.



EDIT: correction made due to posting while intoxicated.

[thefreakytiki]

iPads.

Too many things can go wrong (obviously) with laptops.

I know, I'm just stirring the hornet's nest with a monkey wrench. 

In all seriousness, that Philly story always left me scratching my head as to how dumb a school district could be. 

The Tiki

[Jeppe]

Lots of hugely interesting potential going on here!

On a side note, regarding the pricing aspect, I have so far been disappointed in the prices of most publishers' digital textbooks. Their strategy is eerily familiar to the most short-sighted of the big comic book publishers.

[ryan]

Can you imagine a science textbook that can talk about a principle, and then have a little mini-app built into the digital textbook's page that had an interactive example of said principle? Something as simple as Earth's size relative to the other planets and stars in the galaxy? That would be the bees knees

Oh, or a math textbook that had example problems that worked themselves out line by line. So you can work alongside the examples, without seeing the answer before hand.

Or simpler still a art book for younger students that had an interactive color wheel that the kids could mix the colors together to see how to make other colors? Ok, this one is better doing with real pain, but you get me.

The possibilities are exciting to me, and I don't even have kids.

All the things you mentioned are possible. We have been toying with the free authoring tool at work and as long as it can be developed in apples widget code it can be placed in the book. it's sweet.

Also, beyond the $15 texts available currently there is Life on Earth which has some free chapters. It's amazing. watch the unveiling/presentation video.

Only thing bothersome about it is the terms of use....if you use their tool and publish in the store, supposedly it's the only place they expect that content, even reformatted for other devices, to be. Not sure how enforceable it is.


Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

[David]

Tidbits, the Apple news site posted some articles:

- Apple Goes Back to School with iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U
- Why iBooks Author is a Big Deal
- iBooks Textbooks: Not Exactly Innovation in Education
- Examining iBooks Author from the Publisher Perspective

[Jeppe]

Tidbits, the Apple news site posted some articles:

Thanks for sharing these, David. I've been following it a little, and I'm in the camp of people who are quite baffled by the EULA as presented now. I simply fail to understand how Apple could think anyone beyond a small and dedicated minority would sign on to it in it's current form. As Michael Cohen writes Apple will likely revise it in the future (and hopefully the near-future), but that they launched what seemed initially to be a great initiative with such a bad licensing agreement surprises me.

[David]

I've been following it a little, and I'm in the camp of people who are quite baffled by the EULA as presented now.

I saw some tweets when it was first announced and I wasn't sure why folks were carrying on really.

Why would a book made with iBooks Author that's only compatible with the iBooks app be available for other devices?  If I used Amazon's Kindle creator program, I wouldn't expect the book to be used on the Nook or in the iBooks app (or Stanza or Kobo, etc.)

Her post is linked to a topic in The Bullpen, but creator Dani Jones writes the following about the Legal Issues (and why they are not such a big deal)

I've seen a lot of hoopla about Apple's license agreement and terms. Mostly about this:

You cannot sell iBooks outside of the iBooks store.

BUT

They are not compatible outside of iBooks anyway.

iBooks Author is not only creating an ebook file, it is providing a way to add interaction, animation, video, and multimedia to your book. Even if you could take the file into another device, it probably wouldn't work quite right. You are going to be selling exclusively to iPad owners and the iBooks store is the best way to do that.

AND

Apple does not take copyright.

Apple isn't saying you can't sell your book anywhere else. It's just saying you can't sell the specific .ibooks file that you make with its software. You can still, say, sell a PDF made in InDesign or a Kindle version. Apple is taking no claims to the content itself.

This makes sense. Apple wants to be the exclusive provider of iBooks books, in the same way you can only buy Kindle books from Amazon. While I don't agree with it and find it a bit annoying to have to make separate formats for different stores, it's not unusual.

Amazon and Apple do this kind of thing to ensure they get their percentage of your sales. Yeah, that can be irksome. However, given that the software is free and the iBooks store is one of the biggest distributors of digital books on the market right now, I think that is a fair trade.

Considering that before iBooks Author I was avoiding selling in the iBooks store simply because it was too difficult to make and submit a file, I am considering iBooks Author a step UP, even with the annoying legal issues.