When Apple announced both the release of their iBooks 2 and upgrades to iTunes University, I was curious to see what kind of integration they had between the two. If you do a web search on the subject, you will find plenty of articles that tell you that iBooks textbooks “fully integrate with” iTunes U—but […]
Apple-Inc.
Apple and Textbooks, Part 1: The War on Paper
Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of good coverage of the Apple announcements already. I’m partial to Phil Hill’s pre- and post-announcement write-ups here at e-Literate as well as Audrey Watters’ analysis at Hack Education. Nevertheless, I do think there are a few more things that can be said about the announcement. From a functional perspective, […]
Why OER Advocates Should Be Happy About the iPad
I got some comments on my Blackboard iPad post specifically regarding the push toward native—and therefore proprietary—apps and away from standards-based web apps. This concern is just one example of a constellation of complaints about how Apple is too closed. I understand those complaints and am not going to argue with them here. But whether […]
iPhone U
According to Apple rumor site AppleInsider (which has a good reputation for accuracy as far as these things go), Apple is getting ready to launch a pilot of something called iPhone U with Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, and Abilene Christian University (ACU). (“One of these things is not like the other, One of these things […]
eBooks on the iPod Getting Closer?
A while back, I predicted that the logical conclusion of the whole iTunes U thing would be eBooks on an iPod. It would, I think, dramatically impact the textbook market (for the better) and open up all kinds of opportunities for alternative content (including free/libre content). Well, Engadget claims that the day is nearing: We […]
What I'd Like to See Next in iTunes University
Update: Although you can’t copy and paste the podcatching URL from the iTunes client, it is apparently possible to expose the podcatching URL from the administration interface. I have no direct information about why this is so. However, it is consistent with Apple’s general approach to DRM. It may be that by making it […]
Why iTunes University is a Game Changer
This is part 5 of a series of posts documenting a vist to Apple headquarters in February, 2005. For the full series, see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6. In my last post, I made the case that we should feel reasonably safe taking Apple at their […]