This will only benefit kids at the richest schools, which will not fix America's education problem.
Schools can loan out iPads that they get at a discount from Apple, or colleges can even include them in the cost of tuition. I know quite a few people in college right now that receive a Macbook Pro as part of their college tuition (with no option to decline it and save on tuition). So an iPad would be significantly cheaper than that, and arguably just as useful for most college curriculums.
Only if you assume that iPads never break, all textbooks will be published with iPad versions (otherwise you'd need an iPad and some normal textbooks), you can't buy used textbooks, and you can't sell your textbooks when you're done with them.
Damaging the iPad is a concern, so is theft. But there are too many scenarios there to analyze the economics of each. For instance, say an iPad + eBooks replaces a laptop with textbooks, the iPad is cheaper to replace than a laptop. What if you lose your book bag full of 5 new 80 dollar text books, then it's a wash. The cost of 8 semesters worth of textbooks might be more expensive than the cost of 3 499 iPads + eBooks. So forth.
Textbooks + iPad versions. More of a problem in college than high school where the schools often have long term contracts with the publishers.
All in all, it seems like a step in the right direction. Also, one can imagine that Apple is going to keep the iPad 2 on the market at a reduced cost when the iPad 3 comes out, similarly to what they've done with the iPhone. So over time it'll become even more cost effective.
I'm sorry but, what the hell are you talking about? Many schools require students to have laptops in high school now. Teachers are constantly being told that then need to use more and more technology in their classrooms to better engage their students. If there aren't students who can afford machines then they are given one in class.
My mom is a 7th grade reading/writing teacher in a small (around 18K in the county) west-TN town. Her little school has an ipad cart. Every student does their writing (typing really) on an ipad. Both kids and teachers love it. The news today will probably thrill all of them.
I'm jealous of the kids - I remember lugging around 30 pounds of books and a bulky binder everywhere, and even then making frequent locker runs. And I have few fond memories of textbooks in technical subjects, where a few simple demonstrations (now embedable!) could often go further than a mountain of diagrams and words.
But now that I think about it, if you actually have a keyboard attached to the device this is a solved problem. Just port emacs or vi.
edit: source http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/live-coverage-of-apples-...
The richest kids can already go to private schools and get a great prep education.
The poorest kids are stuck in terrible public school districts because of their zipcode, yet the per pupil spending can be as high as private schools.
Now if these kids are given a choice, say, here's a voucher for $10k, enroll in a virtual school, get an $500 iPad loaded with $100 worth of material. That's a BARGAIN! And it will only get cheaper.
The future of education is choice and private schools. It can still be public in terms of it being funded by public funds, but there's no reason to have the government running schools. They're doing a terrible job, and it has to stop because it's so important that we have good schools.
Most high school students don't have to buy textbooks at all. The school provides them. And nowadays, most schools already have iPads and laptops (school-owned, the parents do not buy them) that the students use in the class room. I imagine this is something that the schools will be interested in buying.
A close friend of mine is a 4th grade teacher, and it is amazing how much technology they have in the class room now. Laptops and iPads for almost every single student. This is not a school for "rich kids" either. It is an elementary school in a small town in Iowa, and not a "rich" area in any way.
I just laugh and roll my eyes when I read all the comments here that act like someone is going to hold a gun to a poor parent's head and force them to go without buying food because they have to buy iPads and "thousands of dollars" worth of books. Where is this coming from?
Can a school district buy 1,000 iPads ($500,000) and purchase one iBook to put on all devices ($15)? (total $500,015). The original cost of those books, which would last about a decade, is about $100, so the textbook investment seems a lot cheaper ($100,000).
Or are kids supposed to bring their own iPads ($500 is a lot for some families expecting "free" eduction) and the district provides licenses for the books ($15,000 for one subject per year for the above example, $150,000 over 10 years). That's still more expensive than paper books.
Here is the main take-away from today's event: Apple made some cool tools to enable people to use really neat educational materials, and also simplifies the process of producing said material. Why are we going off on all these other tangents?
For college students, I think this makes complete sense from both an economical and practical standpoint. The iPad is a useful device beyond being a textbook reader and $15 to buy a textbook for class would be fantastic (I might pay $15 to get rid of some of the textbooks cluttering my shelf).
I don't think this college textbooks are an interesting space, however, since individuals are largely responsible for purchasing their own books. Disrupting institutional buying is game changing especially in a world where many if not most school districts are facing budget pressure year after year. This is who Algebra I, Geometry, and Biology textbooks are for, not college students. If they are the primary customer of these resources, I would expect a clear advantage in both the product and the price - similar to how digital encyclopedias and wikipedia completely eliminated the business model of the multi-volume, hard copy encyclopedia. The product appears, at face value, clearly better: up to date content, interactivity, multimedia, zero weight and volume. As far as I can tell, the price, however, is significantly higher than the incumbent product with no "results" to justify the increased price.
As someone who is interested in selling software solutions to customers, I find pitches like this interesting. I also come from a family of teachers (wife, parents, in-laws, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) and feel I can empathize with school's position as a potential customer.
This would give predictable costs and allow schools to outsource work they aren't as good at - tech support.
Not sure how this would play with Apple's hardware-focus sales strategy however.
Try four or five books, and you're close to the cost of an iPad.
In some subjects, that might not be important. In others, like science or math, it might be useful to have up-to-date information presented with the latest pedagogical techniques.
Hell, being able to update textbooks to references the latest internet memes would probably do wonders at raising entertainment value.