Ars Technica has an interesting article today by Chris Foresman that predicts Apple will announce tools later this week to revolutionize textbook publishing. The new tools will help create "interactive e-books" which I would assume will be significantly different from static words as we have always published on paper. The new software tools will make it easy for publishers to create content for computer, iPhone and iPad users. Apple is also expected to announce support for the ePub 3 industry standard for iBooks going forward.
The announcement focuses solely on textbooks but I wonder what is the difference between a textbook and any other sort of reference information, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, or even the typical genealogy books? Will these tools be multi-purpose? or will they be useful only for true textbooks? We should know on Thursday when Apple is expected to make the announcement.
"There will be a spectrum of tools and consumers, and we will continue to fit on that spectrum," said Matt MacInnis, CEO of digital interactive textbook publisher Inkling. "I don't know if the publishing industry will react to it with fear or enthusiasm."
You can read the full article at http://goo.gl/Bs6Hr
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