tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35428618.post6319268060885597314..comments2024-01-20T00:59:08.689+00:00Comments on Brave New World: Digital Textbooks Are Only Part of The SolutionMartyn Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02134633193540004531noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35428618.post-10935373298810367712009-05-19T20:32:00.000+00:002009-05-19T20:32:00.000+00:00In the digital textbook wars, the winners are like...In the digital textbook wars, the winners are likely to be the publishers who follow two critical principles.<br /><br />1. Don't 'own' the reader. Schools will want to either choose that for themselves, taking into account factors such as price and ruggedness, or allow parents and students to make the choice. Do try to dictate their decisions or lock them in. In the long run, they will resent that and rebel.<br /><br />For a publisher, that means going with an open standard such as ePub. Have textbooks the student can read on anything including their iPod touch and a home PC.<br /><br />2. License in bulk without DRM. Students will pirate texts because suing one person, particularly a child or student, isn't worth the expense. Schools are much less likely to pirate since they are worth suing. Market to schools not individuals.<br /><br />For a publisher, that means putting the stress on licensing texts to states (for state-wide textbooks), to schools (for standard classes), or to classes (where the teacher selects the texts as in college). Have no DRM and let students make as many copies as they want--for example, a reader for class and a PC at home for working on assignments. Even permit text to speech. <br /><br />No DRM means no hassle for school officials and licensing means no fears that through some slip-up they were violating the law. Sell in bulk and keep the price low enough to discourage cheating at the school level. And offer similar discounts to home schooling associations.<br /><br />Following those 'keep your customer happy' principles, a publisher should do well in the market, particularly in competing with Amazon. That will especially be true if the later wants to make Kindle the standard and stresses selling to individuals.Inklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05272203500649628022noreply@blogger.com