Apple’s Media Event to Focus on Textbooks and Education?

Yesterday we reported that Apple was going to be having an event at the end of January. Now, multiple sources have chimed in, claiming that the focus will be on education and possibly digital textbooks.

AllThingsD recently reported on an iBooks and publishing-centered event that Apple is planning on holding at the end of January. Now, multiple sources have added more information to that rumor.

Clayton Morris of Fox News claims that according to his sources the media event could be about iTunes U and textbooks.

"Here is what I know from sources involved:

• This event will focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
• I learned of the event back in September when it was originally scheduled for late Fall in New York but it was eventually postponed. 
• The event will be in New York rather than in the Silicon Valley because New York is more centrally located for textbook and publishing. 
• This initiative has been in the making for years. 
• The announcement will be small in size but large in scope: a big announcement in a demure space. 
• I expect at least two large project announcements as they relate to Apple in education. 
• Steve Jobs was intinimately involved with this project before his passing. He gave a hat tip to the textbook side of this project in the Isaacson biography. 
• This will not be a hardware-related announcement."

9 to 5 Mac adds that the iTunes team may have a lot to do with the event as well:

"We have independently heard that the iTunes team is on “lockdown mode” ahead of the announcements, which have been delayed before as also reported by Morris. This affirms that whatever Apple announces will be connected to iTunes in some fashion. Keep in mind the iTunes team runs the actual iTunes Store, the App Store, and the iBookstore."

This definitely supports the idea that iBooks will be front and center at the event. As to what publishing has to do with things, Ars Technica contributes some ideas.

"Apple has recently highlighted the ability of its iBooks platform to include sound, video, and other features by offering a free eBook of The Yellow Submarine. And based on information from our own sources, we believe the announcement could likely involve support for the EPUB 3 standard, which enables a wider variety of multimedia and interaction features. Amazon recently announced its own similarly improved eBook standard using HTML5 and CSS3."

If Apple adopts the EPUB 3 standard, it would be a big step forward for the possibility of electronic textbooks on iOS devices because of the added multimedia support. Getting in on this now would definitely keep Apple competitive with Amazon in this regard as well. Ars Technica also mentioned that this is definitely a nascent market that Apple could get into and "upend" as it previously did with music, apps, and - for a brief time - video rentals.

One of the big reasons e-textbooks seem to be coming is the fact that Steve Jobs himself was set on changing textbooks. MacRumors points out to a quote from Isaacson:

"His idea was to hire great textbook writers to create digital versions, and make them a feature of the iPad. In addition, he held meetings with major publishers, such as Pearson Education, about partnering with Apple."

We can't wait to see what Apple has in store for us at the media event as it is high time someone revolutionalised textbooks.

[via Clayton Morris, 9to5Mac, Ars Technica, MacRumors]