On 1/25/2012 8:32 PM, Dave Sherlock wrote:
>
>
> The ones retained for reference or review could be left on the iCloud
> and not take local space.
> Do remember we are talking about K-12 textbooks which are now turned in
> at the end of the course.
>
If that's all the marketplace they're aiming for, then it's a dead deal
before it even gets off the ground, in my opinion -- most public schools
have zero money to provide their students with $600 handheld electronic
devices and they certainly don't have the money to buy new sets of
textbooks every year or two, so there will be very little sales
potential. Most public schools are using textbooks which are at least
10 years old, at least in my state, which has a horrible record of state
aid to local schools.
And assigning individual $15 books for each student to buy for each
course along with an expensive and somewhat fragile electronic device to
read them on just won't cut it in public schools, and I doubt there is a
large enough private school marketplace to make it worth textbook
publishers' efforts.
I'm sure the bean-counters at Apple have investigated this, though, and
somehow they feel there will be a marketplace for such textbook sales.
I wonder if the bean-counters at the publishers feel the same way . . .
--
David H. Bailey
dhbailey@davidbaileymusicstudio.com
