Fraser Speirs on Apple's recent education announcements:
Apple already revolutionized education when it invented the iPad. While iBooks textbooks are a bridge from the past to the future—and we do need a way to get to the future—they are not that future. If Henry Ford had been an educational publisher, his customers would have asked for electronic textbooks instead of faster horses.
The recent announcement of digital textbooks, iBooks creator, and iTunes U is a move (mostly1) in the right direction. My feeling is that the best is yet to come. In some ways Apple's development of the iPad is like Guttenberg's invention of the printing press. All the benefits of the web, apps, and digital communication converge seamlessly in one device. The next ten years will be interesting.
- Except for the draconian licensing terms associated with iBooks creator. As John Gruber put it: "This is Apple at its worst". ↩