I selected this post from pats in this topic for discussion on its own:

pats - 21 March 2010 10:10 AM

Interesting discussion on Ebooks for the education market on the iPad from Wharton

While some students may be using notebooks or their more portable cousins, netbooks, to read textbooks, some experts predict that within the next 10 years, most U.S. college students—and many high-school and elementary-school students as well—will probably be reading course materials on an electronic device instead of in a paper book. And that will have a broad impact on students and teachers, not to mention the $9.9 billion textbook-publishing business.

Within days of the iPad announcement, a group of major educational publishers announced they all would use technology developed by ScrollMotion, a New York-based content technology company, to transfer textbooks to the iPad. The group includes McGraw-Hill Companies; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt K-12, which is a unit of Education Media & Publishing Group; Pearson’s Pearson Education, and Kaplan, the test-prep unit of The Washington Post Co.

This is what Scroll Motion has to offer.

pats, you’ve hit a couple of home runs this weekend. 

There’s a number of reasons to switch from paper to iPad beyond the obvious two (reducing weight and space, and saving trees). For example, the article mentions different bundling of chapters based on course requirements. I actually had a custom-bound hard copy text last semester with selected chapters, interlaced with chapter intro pages that were sometimes printed on a different paper (regular vs glossy). It just felt really awkward, like a patchwork. It also cost an arm and a leg, but that’s a different story. We also have casepacks - a couple dozen business cases per course that are either bound at the copy center or purchased electronically, but almost everyone still ends up printing them out. Bundling and its associated price structures will become both a headache and an opportunity for the publishers.

In general, when people talk about the publishing industry disappearing, I think it will evolve and adapt rather than just die off. The paper pulp and printing businesses are the ones to shrink, but the publishers’ fate is less certain. They can actually devise new ways to charge for content, such as bundling and price discrimination. For one, I give them credit for thinking much faster about the future of media than, say, TV networks. The publishers all lined up for the iPad, while the TV networks are still resisting.

Roman - 21 March 2010 01:33 PM

In general, when people talk about the publishing industry disappearing, I think it will evolve and adapt rather than just die off. The paper pulp and printing businesses are the ones to shrink, but the publishers’ fate is less certain. They can actually devise new ways to charge for content, such as bundling and price discrimination. For one, I give them credit for thinking much faster about the future of media than, say, TV networks. The publishers all lined up for the iPad, while the TV networks are still resisting.

Publishers have an opportunity to exploit through the iPad. Retail prices of packaged content can be reduced, margins increased and a much more efficient way to acquire customers.

The iTunes Store provides an excellent means to acquire new customers, reduce distribution costs while increasing net margins on products sold.

Check out this video for new magazine content on the iPad:  RIGHT HERE

I’ve seen some nice interactive books where pictures turn into videos and links, but I still haven’t some things I’m looking for. I’d like to see way of making detailed notes and stringing them together across chapters, and even across books and note taking applications by some tag or index. I’d like to see the graphs and tables come alive so I can ‘play’ with the examples in the book to take them well beyond what is shown. For example, if I was reading a book on options strategies, perhaps I’d like change the books example and plug real numbers for AAPL - now that would really bring the concept home in a meaningful way to me. Anyone spotted examples of this?

cranium - 21 March 2010 06:47 PM

I’ve seen some nice interactive books where pictures turn into videos and links, but I still haven’t some things I’m looking for. I’d like to see way of making detailed notes and stringing them together across chapters, and even across books and note taking applications by some tag or index. I’d like to see the graphs and tables come alive so I can ‘play’ with the examples in the book to take them well beyond what is shown. For example, if I was reading a book on options strategies, perhaps I’d like change the books example and plug real numbers for AAPL - now that would really bring the concept home in a meaningful way to me. Anyone spotted examples of this?

I think this is the key - digital content needs to be easy to annotate.  Think of how many notes you scribbled in the margins, how many pages you dog-eared or slips of scrap paper you used to keep your place.  If it isn’t easy to take in-line notes next to the content, and make it easy to find those notes later on, then I think digital textbooks will struggle.  It’s definitely the future, but I still think there are a lot of details to sort out.

The iPad as specific platform is immaterial here. Nobody in their right mind is going to lock their students in on one vendor for the hardware. And no publisher in their right mind is going to cede control of their business model to Apple. The iPad will be one of many platforms they support with their content, and will not dictate the terms of their pricing.

This is just another big problem with trying to apply the video game console model to what are effectively general purpose PCs. It adds tremendous friction to the process of getting content that is or needs to be available elsewhere onto the platform. You’ll get a lot of home-grown solutions for iPad, just like you have for iPhone. But the ubiquitous apps and content that would make the iPad more than a niche device are more expensive to put on iPad than on Windows 7 or Android tablets. That’s expense both in development and deployment dollars and flexibility in doing business.

There are many reasons why electronic books on electronic readers are good, but course work isn’t one of ‘em.

dc930 - 21 March 2010 08:53 PM

I think this is the key - digital content needs to be easy to annotate.  Think of how many notes you scribbled in the margins, how many pages you dog-eared or slips of scrap paper you used to keep your place.  If it isn’t easy to take in-line notes next to the content, and make it easy to find those notes later on, then I think digital textbooks will struggle.  It’s definitely the future, but I still think there are a lot of details to sort out.

The Scroll Motion link above shows that their e-book app for the iphone does allow annotations/ notes. If Apple’s (confusingly named) iBook app doesn’t, then third party apps will fill that void. I think that’s the reason Apple didn’t include the iPhone basic apps on the iPad — better versions have come along for Stocks, Weather, etc. And many of them are free.

If the iPad is to be used for ‘traditional’ passive education then, like a Windows tablet, it will fail to inspire. Successful technology in education is not about replication (ie/ doing things that are usually done ‘without’ technology) but about creation. In the education space, Apple is successful due to iLife. The wonderful suite provides opportunities for creative solutions BY STUDENTS. Learners should not always be consumers of content but creators.  Therefore iPad version 2 will have a camera, iChat AV plus a Pod version of iLife.  iWork for the forthcoming iPad is Apple’s trial. Text books? Teachers will love ‘em but not exactly inspiring learning is it??
Michael Vallance
http://web.mac.com/mvallance/DRVALLANCE/BLOG/BLOG.html

I think Apple should buy scroll motion before Google or Amazon does.

daemon - 22 March 2010 09:50 AM

There are many reasons why electronic books on electronic readers are good, but course work isn’t one of ‘em.

Yes, current the current incarnation of electronic textbooks isn’t useful - but I think the potential is great as others here are pointing out. There are endless ways to make content interactive and stimulate active learning.

As the medium changes, content needs to adapt, and it takes time to find what really works. I bet when Gutenberg introduced the printing press in the 15th century people were saying “oh this is so inconvenient, you’re supposed to flip pages on this? I’m just used to reading my scrolls rolled out top to bottom!”

As a former technology educator, the opportunities provided by the iPad extend beyond digital editions of text books. It opens up curriculum opportunities otherwise not available is static materials.

To glimpse the opportunities one must step beyond the confines of text books and their inherent limitations. It’s not only about textbooks in digital form. It’s about accessing information wherever it may be stored and made available.

DawnTreader - 22 March 2010 12:52 PM

It opens up curriculum opportunities otherwise not available is static materials.

It’s a good time to be an entrepreneur in the educational software space, I’m happy for those folks. And as investors, we should be on the lookout for startups that may usher this new wave.

Roman - 22 March 2010 12:58 PM

DawnTreader - 22 March 2010 12:52 PM

It opens up curriculum opportunities otherwise not available is static materials.

It’s a good time to be an entrepreneur in the educational software space, I’m happy for those folks. And as investors, we should be on the lookout for startups that may usher this new wave.

This is one of the reasons textbook publishers will embrace the iPad. Better to move into the market now than chase lost market share later.

Roman - 22 March 2010 12:25 PM

As the medium changes, content needs to adapt, and it takes time to find what really works. I bet when Gutenberg introduced the printing press in the 15th century people were saying “oh this is so inconvenient, you’re supposed to flip pages on this? I’m just used to reading my scrolls rolled out top to bottom!”

Nice hyperbole. Let’s go literal. Codexes were in use for centuries before Gutenberg introduced the printing press. In fact, it was during the first centry that the form factor of books changed when Martial started experimenting with codexes, up until then all books were scrolls.