iBooks 2 Is It The 21st Century Digital Textbook Revolution ?

In its first major announcement since the death of Steve Jobs, Apple Inc has recently released iBooks2 and iBooks Author.It seems like Apple is planning to radically transform the digital textbook market. iBooks 2 which is an updated version of the company's iPad e-reading app that supports interactive textbooks, is a complete reinvention of the textbook as we know it.

There are several reasons why Apple is trying to revolutionize the textbook world and among these :

•  1.5 million iPads currently used in education
•  more than 20,000 educational apps are now available
•  Traditional textbooks are expensive and not interactive
•   Major educational publishers including Pearson,, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have already partnered with Apple to develop iBooks Author.

This is Apple's video to promote iBooks 2.

Educational technology experts and curriculmum designers see this move as the beginning of the end for the " big backpack" and a major step in taking advantage of the device's portability and cost-effectiveness. Roger Rosner, VP of Apple's iWork, said " Clearly, no printed textbook can compete with iBooks2 interactive digital texts."

Some features of iBooks 2

Here is a list of the main features that iBooks 2offers to its users:

• It is free
• It has a user friendly interface
• It is easy and simple to use
• It allows for highlighting and note-taking
• Books can be owned forever and re-downloaded at any time from the cloud
• It offers a more dynamic user experience

This is all awesome and promising and yes iPad with its ability to play video and combine informatio from many resources has definately positioned it as the lead of the evolution of the digital textbook but the question that remians unanswered is that both Students and schools will need  iPads to use iBooks but who is going to afford the cost of this digital transformation ?

Here is a hands-on video to learn more about iBooks2

Head over to iTunes Store to download iBooks 2

Here are some screenshots of iBooks 2