Your next textbook may require non-free software.
Apple launches e-textbook tools with new iBooks (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16634097)
Seriously? I swear, if my online school forces us to use this...
It's bad enough that they force us to use Adobe Flash, and none of the free alternatives (Lightspark and Gnash) works with the interface because it uses the absolute latest version of Flash, and I refuse to install Flash on GNU/Linux so I have to keep Windows installed. But, I wouldn't put it past them that they'd make us use this software.
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You and me both. I had a sinking suspicion this was true of my school as well; turns out it is. Adobe Trash is truly a blight on the web; ironically, the refusal of Apple toys to support it forces web developers to reconsider relying on it and Adobe to start supporting more standards compliant technologies.
I really just wish that they wouldn't rely on Adobe Flash for something as important as school, especially since my school is completely online.
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On 1/21/12 7:09 PM, name at domain wrote:
> I really just wish that they wouldn't rely on Adobe Flash for
> something as important as school, especially since my school is
> completely online.
I couldn't agree with you more. I think its vital that educational
institutions resist the proprietary model and advocate for open
standards. I do not mind paying money for my textbook - I DO mind being
restricted on what operating system or software I am able to view it on.
This was a nightmare with the Course Smart software when I had to use it
in the past. Luckily most of the companies that sell eBooks do give you
a small grace period to make a return in case you are having system
compatibility issues.
In addition to ebooks, my school is really big on a lot of McGraw Hills
web based homework and assignments which also require a bunch of
proprietary plug in's its very annoying and I think it has a negative
impact on learning.
Ah, I see.
I'm stuck using American Virtual Academy's CoursePlayer, or what also seems to be called "FlipSwitch" or something. The day that Flash 11 came out, it was immediately updated to use the new version. The thing is, it seems to use the open source Adobe Flex framework, but that still doesn't help...
I dunno. If I was any good at programming, I'd see about getting Lightspark (since it's more oriented towards the newer ActionScript version) working with CoursePlayer.
I was an English Lit major in college, so the majority of books that I had were both classic and modern novels. On the other hand, I had friends who were business majors and they had to buy expensive textbooks every semester ($100+) and it was hard to sell because the author would change it every semester. Many times the professor wrote the book and would change the book every semester and require that edition.
The problem with the iPad is that it is the most popular tablet and publishers want to be able to go after the largest market. Apple doesn't care about its users or the future outside of their own ecosystem and profit margin. Even if Amazon's Kindle Fire was the market leader, they would do the same thing as Apple.
I'm not totally for moving things digital. Why? What happens if your battery dies or the file gets deleted? What if the company goes out of business and you are locked out due to DRM? The nice thing about a tangible object like a book is that it can sit on a shelf for a hundred years and doesn't require a power source.
Oh and with digital distribution, they promised to have cheaper prices due to the lack of a store selling it. For the majority of digital stuff I have seen, the price is the same as retail. They figure we are used to paying that price at the store and are content with paying the same. An example that comes to mind is the Games on Demand for Xbox 360 that has older games that are the same price as the ones I can get from the local store.
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Hell, I've already heard from the publisher themselves that the Oxford English Dictionary 3rd Edition may not see print. I can't say what digital format they have in mind, so no guarantee it'd be non-free but we'll have to wait and see.
Hopefully someone would file a class action suit or a monopoly suit against Apple and any educational facilities that required this.
name at domain wrote:
>Hell, I've already heard from the publisher themselves that the Oxford
>
>English Dictionary 3rd Edition may not see print. I can't say what
>digital
>format they have in mind, so no guarantee it'd be non-free but we'll
>have to
>wait and see.
The master of the OED 2nd Ed. is marked up in an SGML derived set of tags designed by Mike Cowlishaw (inventor of REXX an IBM Fellow like Wirth et. al.) as part of an IBM sponsored project. The current CD version comes with a proprietary reader for Windows and Mac. IIRC the Mac dictionary / spellcheck app/lib uses the same format, and it isn't DRMed or anything unpleasant like that. Because I have access to the 'OED online' free with my public library card (every UK public library I've checked does the same) I have never bothered looking to see if there are any free software readers for the format. That said if there was a free software project to build a reader for the CD ROM version I would buy a copy and take part.
You will note that the BBC article gives one of the problems with the e-book method as schools having to license per pupil rather than buy a copy and loan it to a different student each year. As the FSF points out DRM stuff offers a worse deal than the existing one. State schools have no incentive to take part in such things.
Leny
--
'If the public understood the banking system there would be a revolution tomorrow.' - Henry Ford.
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Complain complain complain! I've probably sent a few thousand emails over the last several years and I'd say you probably see companies/governments/others respond in a positive way about 1% of the time. The worst that happens is they send you free stuff in the mail and make false promosises not to do it again. Freequently though you do get companies/organizations to post odt versions of files and similar.
It would be nice to have a system to help organize people around these issues. A web site for instance that lists companies and recent issues you can get involved in. Something that makes it easy to send an email, phone, or fax. Just finding out where to send complaints can be time consuming.
Related to iBooks: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apples-mind-bogglingly-greedy-and-evil-license-agreement/4360
EDIT: Here is a follow up as of Jan 22: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/how-apple-is-sabotaging-an-open-standard-for-digital-books/4378
i'llPass.