Right now, all across the web, bloggers are commenting on Apple's new iBooks Author. Specifically, many of them hold issues with Apple being _______ (replace blank space with your choice of term: greedy, evil, hypocritical, deceitful). The long and short of it is that Apple appears to have modified an open standard in the eBook industry known as ePub (.epub), and added beautiful multimedia and layers of interactivity rarely seen in an eBook.
This is where things get confusing.
Apple has not yet claimed that the aforementioned modifications (which produce files that don't have a proper name, but carry the extension .ibooks) form a file with anything proprietary. Rather, by means of a EULA within iBooks Author, they have told the public that for a book created/edited/compiled in iBooks Author to generate profit, distribution must be done through Apple's seamless, one-click-purchase-enabled iBookstore. Hence, just like a proprietary file would have fees due to the holder of the proprietary intellectual property, Apple keeps the iBook publishing experience feeling proprietary by limiting its means of distribution, and takes its fees in that way.
Issues are streaming in from several different sources, including authors, publishing houses, and the W3C consortium (who wants the web 'open').
My question to those involved is really at the root of all of this. Look at the way people read eBooks or textbooks two weeks ago. Black text, white background. Now look at the way Apple wants you to read eBooks today. Embedded videos, games, study tools (if necessary), photo albums... It is a mind-bogglingly innovative refresh of what a book can be. Within two weeks, Apple has changed the image of what an eBook can be; and I would say it is closer to an App than an eBook.
If we're looking at dedicated eBook readers, the common candidates for the best products to read an eBook on are generally focus on a few things, based on what an eBook was, which is all based on what a book is. A book is something one can bring out for any period of time. People will read a book for two minutes, or people will read for four hours. A book is convenient, accessible, puts little strain on your eyes, and provides a very traditional experience of black text on white paper.
According to dedicated eBook reader manufacturers, a reader ought to have the experience of a real book recreated on their device flawlessly. This means:
a) No frills. Black text, white background. For night time reading, allow an inversion perhaps, which has been shown to reduce fatigue.
b) Always there. Small, portable, large battery life. Just like one wouldn't expect their book to die mid-sentence, neither should their eBook reader.
According to Apple, reading black text on white paper, while timeless in itself, is not always the way a book should be - especially when it comes to teaching through a book.
Let me go off on a bit of a tangent here.
When I was about ten, my parents wanted to test the theory that Jews don't do sports (I proved that theory correct), so they signed me up for T-ball. I was in the outfield (is that what they call it?) and the ball was coming in my direction. I can't remember that far back, but apparently, I had no idea the ball was coming in my direction. Fifteen seconds ago I was told to focus because the batter was up, but ten seconds ago a blimp flew across the sky. I had my priorities straight - I watched that blimp 'til it was out of sight. This sensory overload is prominent everywhere in society, and can not be escaped. We like to look around, to hear, to experience, to interact. And we don't like to do one thing for very long. My baseball/blimp conflict very closely mirrored my education/everything-else-around-me conflict.
Try and tell me that an interactive textbook wouldn't have benefited me greatly.
Now try and tell me that the interactive textbook as imagined (and delivered) by Apple would work on a monochromatic, no-frills eBook reader.
Finally, try and convince me that interactivity on a 'slab' (not tablet - just something of that form factor. Could be a laptop, could be a tablet, could be an eBook reader) has been made closer to perfect than Apple's attempt with the iPad.
Whether iBooks Author produces a proprietary format or not, until any other product in existence can mirror the sheer interactivity of the iPad, there is no better (in fact, no other) way to deliver the iBook as envisioned by Apple. So... Proprietary? Who cares.
This is where things get confusing.
Apple has not yet claimed that the aforementioned modifications (which produce files that don't have a proper name, but carry the extension .ibooks) form a file with anything proprietary. Rather, by means of a EULA within iBooks Author, they have told the public that for a book created/edited/compiled in iBooks Author to generate profit, distribution must be done through Apple's seamless, one-click-purchase-enabled iBookstore. Hence, just like a proprietary file would have fees due to the holder of the proprietary intellectual property, Apple keeps the iBook publishing experience feeling proprietary by limiting its means of distribution, and takes its fees in that way.
Issues are streaming in from several different sources, including authors, publishing houses, and the W3C consortium (who wants the web 'open').
My question to those involved is really at the root of all of this. Look at the way people read eBooks or textbooks two weeks ago. Black text, white background. Now look at the way Apple wants you to read eBooks today. Embedded videos, games, study tools (if necessary), photo albums... It is a mind-bogglingly innovative refresh of what a book can be. Within two weeks, Apple has changed the image of what an eBook can be; and I would say it is closer to an App than an eBook.
If we're looking at dedicated eBook readers, the common candidates for the best products to read an eBook on are generally focus on a few things, based on what an eBook was, which is all based on what a book is. A book is something one can bring out for any period of time. People will read a book for two minutes, or people will read for four hours. A book is convenient, accessible, puts little strain on your eyes, and provides a very traditional experience of black text on white paper.
According to dedicated eBook reader manufacturers, a reader ought to have the experience of a real book recreated on their device flawlessly. This means:
a) No frills. Black text, white background. For night time reading, allow an inversion perhaps, which has been shown to reduce fatigue.
b) Always there. Small, portable, large battery life. Just like one wouldn't expect their book to die mid-sentence, neither should their eBook reader.
According to Apple, reading black text on white paper, while timeless in itself, is not always the way a book should be - especially when it comes to teaching through a book.
Let me go off on a bit of a tangent here.
When I was about ten, my parents wanted to test the theory that Jews don't do sports (I proved that theory correct), so they signed me up for T-ball. I was in the outfield (is that what they call it?) and the ball was coming in my direction. I can't remember that far back, but apparently, I had no idea the ball was coming in my direction. Fifteen seconds ago I was told to focus because the batter was up, but ten seconds ago a blimp flew across the sky. I had my priorities straight - I watched that blimp 'til it was out of sight. This sensory overload is prominent everywhere in society, and can not be escaped. We like to look around, to hear, to experience, to interact. And we don't like to do one thing for very long. My baseball/blimp conflict very closely mirrored my education/everything-else-around-me conflict.
Try and tell me that an interactive textbook wouldn't have benefited me greatly.
Now try and tell me that the interactive textbook as imagined (and delivered) by Apple would work on a monochromatic, no-frills eBook reader.
Finally, try and convince me that interactivity on a 'slab' (not tablet - just something of that form factor. Could be a laptop, could be a tablet, could be an eBook reader) has been made closer to perfect than Apple's attempt with the iPad.
Whether iBooks Author produces a proprietary format or not, until any other product in existence can mirror the sheer interactivity of the iPad, there is no better (in fact, no other) way to deliver the iBook as envisioned by Apple. So... Proprietary? Who cares.
