Apple and iBooks 2 – It’s the Strategy Stupid

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I was scratching my head this morning after the announcement of iBooks 2 and Apple’s major play into the textbook arena. It struck me that they were already going in this direction and, as a result, this was an expected evolutionary step forward, not something worthy of an announcement. Having thought about it a bit more, however, I think there is actually a bigger story here. I’ll leave it to Carly to address the actual textbook aspect of this and instead, look at what is really the bigger picture that is key to today’s Apple announcement. You see, this isn’t about textbooks. It is not about Apple in the educational arena. This is about strategy and positioning. It is about Apple playing a long game and moving as fast as possible to lock people and institutions into its eco-system. Today shows that Apple, unlike the stock market, is thinking more about five years down the line than they are about immediate gratification.

Let’s step back a bit and look at the larger picture over the last few years.

When the iPhone was first announced it was a generalist consumer device. It combined a music player with a cell phone and a web browser. There were no apps, no streaming Bluetooth audio. Heck, it didn’t even have 3G at the time. When the iPhone was announced it had no target demographic other than people who are willing to shell out $500 for first generation hardware that ran an operating system that relied on the web.
A lot has changed since then and Apple has moved to not only expand their market but to also target specific markets in the process. Take a look at Apple with regard to business. As iOS has matured Apple has specifically targeted business people and enterprise, thereby making it increasingly possible for companies to let their employees choose to use an iPhone in a work setting. It has been bad news for RIM but great news for Apple and they are just getting started.

The same goes for the iPad. Apple has positioned the device so that it isn’t just a generalist consumer device, but, rather, it is something that can be adopted by companies and other institutions for use in a variety of ways. And in fact, it is working. A huge percentage of small businesses are expected to adopt the device this year.

Which brings us to today’s announcement. There’s no question that the iPad is an incredibly powerful educational tool. Just go to a restaurant and watch a three-year-old being entertained while their parents eat and you’ll quickly see the potential for using the device for learning and growth. The educational market is a huge potential market for Apple (or any company for that matter) and as kids are now growing up with touchscreen devices is inevitable that touchscreen tablets will play a significant role. They will, of course, eventually replace dead tree textbooks. Apple knows this. They want that market and they want it now. More importantly, and more to the point, they want it in 5 years and 10 years and 20 years. They know the market it in its infancy– It is really pre-infancy if we are being honest– but they see the potential and want it. So how does Apple get into the educational market and ensure that they remain there for the foreseeable future? Simple, get in early and get as many schools, universities and students onto your platform as quickly as possible. Get them in now and you will keep them in later. That’s what Apple set in motion today.

By getting publishers on board early Apple sets the stage for educational institutions to adopt the iPad now. And once any given institution has begun using the iPad the cost of moving to anyone else’s tablet becomes prohibited. That means they can sell textbooks at just $15 or less now and ensure they own the market going forward. It is exactly what they’ve done with device components and it’s what they’re doing in other areas as well. It is smart. It is aggressive. It is the long game.

Let me give you one practical example. One of the things I am doing over the next week and half is developing a program for teaching my bar mitzvah students their prayers. Once it is completed they will have access to each of the prayers they need to learn with each sentence of each prayer accessible to them both visually and audibly. To accomplish this I’m using the IOS application of MentalCase. It is an advanced flash card program that lets me add the text and the audio to each prayer line by line. It is a hugely time-consuming endeavor but it is one that is worth the effort. But here’s the thing, once I’ve completed the program I’m going to be locked into using iOS devices. The application doesn’t exist on any other platform and, even if it did, the amount of effort it would take to port the work I’m doing now over to other platforms would be prohibited. Therefore, at least for the foreseeable future, my synagogue’s educational process is going to be tied to the iPad and the iPod Touch. Now with that as a backdrop step back and look at what Apple did today.

Schools will see the availability of textbooks that are interactive and engaging. Students will see that the textbooks are less expensive in their electronic form than they are in their dead tree form. As a result, the expense of the iPad is, to a large extent, made up for by the savings in textbooks. Students will buy an iPad and the textbooks and teachers will increasingly design their curriculum around the interactive textbooks. And in the process students, teachers and institutions alike will become locked into Apple’s products and their echo system like never before. It is a brilliant strategy but that’s no surprise.

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

5 Comments on "Apple and iBooks 2 – It’s the Strategy Stupid"

  1. Thomas R. Hall | January 19, 2012 at 7:42 pm |

    I was wondering if you would possibly use iBooks 2 instead of Mental Case for some of the things you do for your students, Dan. I really like the possibilities that this brings. Yes, it is lock-in, but for textbooks, I am “okay” with that. If a school were to supply an iPad for a student to use, it really isn’t that different than supplying the books. (If the students have to buy their own iPad, okay, different story).

    I am curious how my brother, who teaches in a Physical Therapy undergraduate program, would find the new iBooks 2 textbook useful. I can imagine interactive content for medical programs being quite helpful.

    When you see how naturally young children can learn navigating an iOS device, including interactive books like the Dr. Seuss titles, it makes me think they will quickly adapt to using an iPad for textbooks too.

    I’m curious to see if iBooks Author will allow export into plain ePub without Apple’s DRM wrapped around it (for personal content). Haven’t been able to try it out yet.

  2. Also if we get regional experts to add up-to-date content to the e text, then we rid ourselves of the outdated information that is sometimes present in paper copies.

    This would where the real value would be.

    • Back to back sibling comments… A GD first!!!=D

      Sent from my Windows Phone
      ——————————

    • Thomas R. Hall | January 19, 2012 at 8:36 pm |

      Good point. I like the ability to send updates. I can’t count how many of my books, in college specifically, which had typos, incorrect answers, etc. That is a great feature.

  3. I wonder what the future will be like if one company has pure control over media and education.

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