iBooks Author EULA Sparks Controversy
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iBooks Author EULA Sparks Controversy
Apple's newly introduced apps, iBooks 2.0 for iOS devices and iBooks Author for Mac, have managed to excite a huge section of the web. But it's thunder, at least a part of it, was taken away by the iBooks Author licensing terms, which states that books created through the tool can be sold only through the iBookstore. Authors do, however, have the liberty to distribute their books for free through any means, not just the iBookstore.
Comments
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Really...I don't get this.....Cafe Scribe has been doing what Apple has just introduced for some time now on college campuses. Amazon offers some similar functionality as well, but perhaps not quite to the same extent. Either way, there does not appear to be anything new with Apple's service, other than it is limited to iOS devices.
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Here we go again. The nazi in Apple shows its face again. Are they ever gonna learn? How do you take such a great idea and just shoot it in the foot?
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Microsoft and Android defenders are saying the same thing about Siri, because both of those platforms already had voice recognition. It wasn't the newness of Siri, it was the quality. Same may apply here.
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Okay, at first I thought, WTF Apple? BUT - this software isn't aimed at formatting a novel for digital distribution, it allows the textbook publisher to structure the format of various types of content into a single file, and do so in such a way as to facilitate the knowledge acquisition/retention experience.The strategy works for Apple as long as it's the 600-lb gorilla in the tablet market. If another player - Amazon, Samsung, whoever - becomes truly competitive, publishers will pull their product from Apple's digital shelves if they think there's a better deal to be had elsewhere.Also, the big textbook publishers do have the resources to build their own software for this function. They may go with Apple's software until they're up to speed, then migrate their product over to their own software. They also have other motivations to do this - there's more than one college textbook publishing house, and they compete by product differentiation.
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You think Apple is a charity? Free tools to change the world? Xcode is free to write software for Apple products only. Actually, Microsoft Visual Studio Express is under similar terms. So what's wrong with limiting iBook Author to do the same?If you want just any epub publishing tool, buy a copy of Pages, which is kind of iBook Author Pro.
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Consider this: should apple be successful in getting schools to use iBooks for ALL text books then all text books have to be approved by apple before they can be sold in ibookstore. Do you really want a corporation with that much control over what is taught?
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Microsoft has a free software pieces that does this too. The Learning Content Development System Would be a great product if the license didn't limit its output to Microsoft-related training pieces. You can't use it to create courses for Common Cartridge or other LMS's, just for Microsoft Training.
