Apple Targets Textbooks with New iBooks Service

Apple iBooks | BCBusiness
Apple Inc. has set its creative sights on revolutionizing the textbook industry with its new iBooks 2 service.

The innovative tech company has plans to tackle an insurmountable problem in the U.S. – public education.

As someone who went through the public education system in the U.S., I can attest to the severity of its shortcomings.

In addition to acute underfunding and crippling teacher shortages in certain regions, one of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles public education faces is the use of textbooks.

Growing up, there were never enough textbooks to go around in our classrooms, and those we had were outdated and falling apart.

Teachers were only allowed to order replacements every few years because the per-textbook cost was an outrageous expense to the school district.

But Apple Inc. has set its sights set on revolutionizing how public schools use textbooks. And, to be honest, the change doesn’t come a moment too soon.

Thursday the company unveiled its digital textbook service, dubbed iBooks 2, which will offer digital versions of textbooks for $14.99 or less each. Apple has partnered with textbook publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson PLC and Houghton Mifflin, which print 90 per cent of textbooks in the U.S.

Students and educators can access the free iBooks app via their iPads. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller estimates 1.5 million iPads are currently used for educational purposes, and the digital textbook partnership will encourage more iPad use in the classroom.

Assuming Apple works the same innovative magic it has with its other products, I’m delighted at the news. There’s no downside to cheaper and more interactive textbooks. Here’s hoping Apple’s big vision will help revitalize a failing system down south.