iBooks 2 and iBooks Author
Posted by Today Apple introduced a new version of their iBooks iOS application alongside a new content creation tool, iBooks Author. This move was focused entirely on bringing textbooks to the iPad. After analyzing both Apple's announcement and the two newly released pieces of software, I have some interesting observations.
Why the iPad?
I think it is important to take a minute and ponder why Apple seems to be having success in the educational sector with the iPad, and why the biggest textbook publishers are on board with this. First, the lack of fragmentation with the iPad had made pixel perfect design possible on mobile. A tool like iBooks Author could not exist in the same way for Android because it would need to support a prohibitive number of resolution and pixel density combinations. In addition, school districts only have to worry with a single device. They buy from one company, handle all maintenance and repair inquiries with the same company, and frankly Apple is spending a lot of money to get many school districts and legislators on board.
In the end, the Apple ecosystem is seeing a lot of success in getting their devices in students' hands. Because of this, this move to empower these same students with textbooks on the device is extremely strategic and powerful.
What is a Book and What is an App?
While I was watching Apple's presentation, I couldn't help but express my feelings about how things are changing on Twitter:
I think we're about to see some of the lines blurred between 'Apps' and 'Books'.
— David Tucker (@mindmillmedia) January 19, 2012
It is true that lines are blurring. What differentiates an app from an iBook? In short, integration points and visual customization.
For now, there are few integration points with iOS in an iBook, and I think that is very intentional. There is no traditional provisioning and deployment process for an iBook, because in the end there is no way that an iBook can execute code that could cause negative consequences for the end user. This brings a tremendous amount of freedom to the content creators. Teachers can create an interactive textbook experience for a new topic they are covering, export it from iBooks Author as an iBook, and email it to all of the students. In turn, the students could install it in a single click from their iPads. The app deployment process is infinitely more complicated because of the risk to the user that is inherent. By allowing easy sharing of iBooks, Apple has actually made themselves an optional (not required) distributor of the content.
As for visual customization, there are certainly limitations with the initial release of iBooks Author. For example, when creating a custom HTML widget, you cannot customize the 'preview' display (beyond just placing an image) and the full version of the widget has the default chrome around it. At this point, those are limitations that designers will have to live with, but unlike the technical limitations described above I think the visual customizations will continue to become more full featured with the upcoming versions of iBooks Author.
Ownership
One sticky issue that has popped up on various blogs in the past day is the nature of the terms of service around iBooks Author. In short, if you develop content with iBooks Author, the presentation of that content (through an iBook) can only be sold through the iBooks Store. Many have decried this as evil, but this seems to be falling in line with Apple's past moves. In this case, they developed a piece of software (iBooks Author) and distribute it for free in order to make money on iBook sales. Undoubtedly, many will not use the software because of this issue, but it doesn't seem to have deterred the 'Big 3' textbook publishers.
Desktop for Content Creation
One interesting trend that we see with iBooks Author is that content creation still resides on the desktop. Over the past year we have seen both web based solutions and tablet solutions start to venture more heavily into content creation. In this case, Apple has reaffirmed their view of where serious content creation should occur. This does however mean that currently only Mac users can participate in the iBook creation process as iBooks Author is only distributed through the Mac App Store.
There was another interesting fact that hit me while watching the presentation:
It is interesting that the tools we see for digital publishing are looking more like Keynote/PPT and less like InDesign/Quark.
— David Tucker (@mindmillmedia) January 19, 2012
I think this reveals that Apple is doing its best to lower the barrier to entry, and get the average user more engaged in the creation process. Traditional page layout tools offer an extremely high level of customization, but Apple is betting that users and designers will give up some of that customization just to be able to get the content to devices.
Extensibility
Not surprisingly, Apple is allowing for a level of extensibility to the overall experience. This will be done with HTML and JavaScript. This allows organizations to easily reuse content that they have used in other mediums. At this time, the development process for these extensions uses Apple's Dashcode to create widgets that can be dropped in an iBook. No official word has been given on any native integration through these extensions. In addition, Apple clearly states in the user guide for iBooks Author that "In iBooks Author, video and audio files used in HTML widgets are not DRM (digital rights management) protected." Presumably most publishing companies will stick with the widgets that Apple has created.
This does bring up one interesting point. Apple has now joined the ranks of the companies who are reaffirming HTML and JavaScript development and its role in their ecosystem. That certainly isn't to say that Apple hasn't done this before, but Apple certainly reaffirmed their support.
The Design and Development Process
Overall, I was impressed with the ease of creating an iBook with the authoring tool. There is no SDK to download or developer portal to login to, but instead a single free application that is downloaded through the Mac App Store. Once this application is installed, you can start from one of six templates for your first book. After selecting a template, it is extremely easy to edit test, add images, and add in widgets.
Once you have made your first edits, you can easily preview your book on your iPad. You will first need to update to the newest version of iBooks. Next, you will need to launch iBooks and connect your iPad to your computer. The preview process is fairly straightforward and quick, but it isn't a live preview. I certainly hope that in future versions you can get a near realtime view of your current book on the device as you make edits on the desktop. After the authoring tool has been deployed to your iPad, you can interact with it just as you would any other iBook.
Because iBooks have somewhat limited integration points with iOS, you don't have to go through the provisioning and deployment process that you do with a traditional app.
Conclusion
I really think that iBooks Author and the new iBooks 2 will create a splash in the classroom. Apple is using the high school market as a testbed, but if it does well I would expect to see it expand quickly into colleges and universities. By creating an amazing ecosystem and quality content creation tools, Apple has set itself up for a big victory.
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