I tend to agree - I also think these tools present new opportunities for how to create
program guides for events like Wikimania that transform into conference yearbooks by
including videos from the event in the weeks following. Perhaps releasing a developer
handbook that updates every month or so (or maybe when a new version is released) to help
with those education/outreach efforts, etc. Having a wBook open on my iPad with videos,
audio, slides and documentation on how to use something like ResourceLoader would be very
cool and helpful.
In general, I agree these tools help set standards for interactive e-books (especially
e-textbooks) supported by HTML5 that - while initially geared towards Apple platforms - is
done in a way they will no doubt be made available and replicated on Android, BlackBerry,
Windows Mobile, etc. pretty quick.
If this latest development means that education publications are transformed in the way
that music was transformed by iTunes - I think it would be wise to investigate ways to
utilize - or at least support - these new standards and tools.
-greg aka varnent
-------
Gregory Varnum
Lead, Aequalitas Project
Lead Administrator, WikiQueer
Founding Principal, VarnEnt
@GregVarnum
fb.com/GregVarnum
On Jan 20, 2012, at 11:23 AM, Dirk Franke wrote:
Yeah!
regards,
southpark
On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Magnus Manske <magnusmanske(a)googlemail.com
wrote:
(This mail is focused on books, but the topic is
of more general
interest IMHO, thus foundation-l)
Hi all,
I just saw the "iBooks Author" news:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/a-closer-look-at-ibooks-author-textbook…
Of course, all these pretty books will be only available in the Apple
paywalled garden.
So I thought: As they use basically HTML5 (plus a few proprietary
libraries), could we produce such interactive, tablet/phone-enabled
e-books ("wBooks" as in "Wikimedia":-) from free content? I believe
the answer is yes, though it might be quite a push technologically
(just to be clear, I am speaking of the books here, not of the
authoring software).
Also: Should we? I believe the answer is yes as well, for two reasons.
One, Apples work here might (yet again) set a new standard, which
means everything falling short of that standard will be neglected by
the target audience, which runs counter to our declared goal of
disseminating free knowledge; standing still might well mean falling
behind. Another reason is the opportunity that Apple creates for us
here: Once such e-books become accepted as general teaching tools in
schools, it will be much easier to switch from Apple-only, costly
books to run-everywhere, free books; they might just win the
"technology battle" for us.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Magnus
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