As with any Apple product, the newly unveiled iBooks has generated a lot of interest and excitement. However, looking through the hype, it is clear that this could be a long shot even for Apple!
Although iBooks will have all kinds of books, Apple's primary target is textbooks (which is a $8 billion market). Getting school books on iPad will save students the effort of carrying around heavy bags! Also the price of electronic books is expected to be much less than their paper copies. And the books will be interactive with videos, animation, etc.
Although this all seems great, cost is a major issue that will hinder adoption:
1. Firstly, all of this is tied to the Apple ecosystem - which means that students will have to buy an iPad to use iBooks. Given the cost of an iPad (~500$) this will be a huge deterrent.
2. Schools are schools! iPads will get lost, broken, or someone will spill ketchup on them. That increases the cost further.
As computing and internet evolve, ecosystems and network effects will matter more than ever. Imagine the Apple ecosystem if every school child is using an iPad right from kindergarten! Apple has great incentive to make this work, so how to get over the cost issue??
One way to make this work would be for Apple to subsidize the iPad for schools. Another, far more interesting gambit, would be to launch an Apple book reader priced at less than $100! After Amazon's foray into the iPad market, it may be time for Apple to enter the Kindle market..
Interesting idea - iReader, good blog.. keep it up.
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