Thursday, January 19, 2012

How green is your iPad? Update 1: Apple introduces the iPad Textbooks

We talked earlier this week about how green is the iPad, and we have two interesting updates about it. Here's the first one - Apple announced earlier today on a new software aimed at revolutionizing the way teachers teach, students learn and publishers create educational content.

Apple said, according to Mashable, that the iBooks store’s new textbook category will eventually include “every subject, every grade level, for every student.”For now, however, Apple is starting with high school textbooks from partners McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Apple’s Phil Schiller said that 1.5 million iPads are already in use at schools, including more than 1,000 one-to-one development programs.

How will textbooks look on the iPad? Check this report from Engadget:



What's our take on this move? We think it definitely helps in making the iPad a greener device. Textbooks are very wasteful given the fact that they're updated very often, many times only with minor changes. Then more copies are been printed and students can't use used copies anymore and need to buy new ones. This system doesn't make any sense from an environmental and social perspectives and is far from being sustainable.

Now, on the iPad, they have not only more features and added value, but also an option to be updated without wasting paper or other resources. So kudos to Apple and hopefully other and cheaper tablets will provide similar options so students who can't afford paying $499 for the iPad would still be able to reduce their textbooks' footprint and read them on a tablet.


For more information on how green is the iPad visit our iPad webpage at http://www.ecolibris.net/ipad.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!