But I think this could be massively significant.
All wags are waxing on about Apple launching into the education books business or the textbook business on 19 January at an event in the Guggenheim in New York. It is being tabled as a minor event because it’s about content rather than any shiny new device. But I think this could be massively significant.
Anyone who cares about technology ultimately cares about education, because it is where everything begins. Anyone who is in any way associated with technology also knows that the education system today in most countries is out of date and also knows there is a better way.
It’s a no brainer when you think about it – Apple could easily sell mainstream education book titles in most countries via iTunes or iBooks and editions can be updated via iCloud for access devices from iPads to MacBooks.
I feel sorry for children in the back-to-school season when you see them lumbering up the road with massive bags on their backs full of heavy books, when one light device can carry it all.
Not only am I thinking of the damage to their spines, but I’m also thinking of the damage to their parents’ wallets each and every year as education systems force families to buy new editions of old books along with uniforms and gym kits.
By making schoolbooks available in this way, firstly, the book titles could be cheaper.
Secondly, families who need support from the State in buying school books need only be given a redeem code coupon and can download the books as apps.
The digital divide
But this does not solve the overall problem of the digital divide – not every family can afford to give their children expensive new tablets or notebook computers and not every town or region has top quality broadband.
But by making this move, Apple is starting a revolution that could be as pervasive as the mobile device revolution has been in the last decade.
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