Background: iPad
Apple has presented a new mobile device - the iPad - which caused a great stir.
A detailed description of its functionality can be found on the Apple website under www.apple.com/ipad
Challenges
Which challenges and potential does the iPad offer educational publishers? A few points should be emphasised.
A third marketplace by the name of iBookstore will join Apple's extremely successful itunes and app store sites. In its first 18 months, the app store reported 3 million downloads (source: Apple Keynote January 2010). The future potential of this market should not be underestimated if mobile devices with internet access continue to spread at the current rate. In addition, we are talking about a market which still only serves Apple products (iPhone, iPad, iPod). Competitors are also planning similar marketplaces for mobile devices (e.g. Google with its Android operating system or PALM).
The Apple marketplace must be taken seriously, because:
a) It provides access to the attractive target group of iPhone/iPod/iPad users
b) The purchase process is extremely simple (that is one of the main successes of the itunes store)
c) It offers totally new opportunities to market digital content
Educational publishers have the opportunity to present fee-based content to their target audience simply and quickly. The consumer attitude to the Internet that "everything is free", even premium content, is not so pronounced in the iBookstore.
Of course, some content will be free-of-charge. However, there is potential for attractive business models. In the case of a book or worksheet, for instance, part of the text could be free and a charge could be levied for the entire book.
Another advantage: Core issues have already been resolved, such as:
- Payment
- Copy protection
- Distribution
aventris eSales services
aventris eSales advises educational publishers on:
- How they can put new technologies like the iPad to profitable use
- How their content must be optimised for such mobile devices
- How they need to structure their business model for long-term success
