iBooks 2 To Reinvent the Textbook Industry, According to Apple

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 20, 2012

iBooks 2 could be Apple's first step in reinventing the education sector by introducing a new method of buying and using textbooks.

"Education is deep in our DNA, and it has been since the very beginning," said Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller at the company's recent education event on Thursday.

Apple chose the Big Apple to debut the newly interactive iBooks 2, a first wave of $14.99 school textbooks from the top educational publishers and a new tool for educators to create their own textbooks.

A newly revamped iTunes U was also introduced by the tech giant that will allow consumers to share multimedia educational material more effectively.

"It's not a big surprise that students get excited to learn on the iPad – it was No. 1 on teen's wish lists this holiday," said Schiller to The Verge's rapid-fire liveblog. Apple currently has 20,000 educational apps on the iPad and plenty of books to choose from in the iBookstore so the tablet is already quite popular in the education sector.

Schiller stated, Apple's focus is to reinvent the textbook that he feels is the most ideal learning tool. An iPad can give the platform to a new kind of textbook that is portable, interactive, durable and searchable. The company plans to put textbooks into the iPad eliminating need for print versions that can sometimes be an inconvenience to students.

Apple will use iBooks 2 to begin to put this plan into motion. It will also bring movies, multitouch gestures, links, lightning-fast searches, photo galleries, visual Q&A sections and 3D models to textbooks.

The iBooks 2 download became available this week. This application is free. Apple plans to offer textbooks for $14.99 each and has already enlisted publishers such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Hancourt.