Another Media Revolution?

Last Thusday Apple held a small press event in New York City focused on some education initiatives. They had several announcements, including a new digital textbook format, a revamped iTunes U, and an updated iBooks app for the iPad. The part of the announcement that I'm most excited about, and want to focus on here, is iBooks Author, Apple's new tool for creating interactive ebooks.

Like most Apple software, Author makes what was once a difficult, frustrating process and makes it so easy to create a polished ebook with interactive elements, it's fun! Author is right at home with Apple's iWork offering, especially Pages and Keynote, and can in fact use existing Pages and Keynote files so you can incoporate them in to a book via drag and drop. There are a few shortcomings, but they are minor, especially for a first release version of software, and do not stop you from completing the task at hand.

A completed book can be previewed on an iPad, exported as a PDF file, or published to the iBookstore, where, similar to the App Store, Apple takes a 30% cut of your sales for hosting the files, handling the money exchange, and the downlaod bandwidth. There has been a lot of talk about the licensing agreement, as books finished in Author cannot be sold anywhere except in the iBookstore.

So what does all of this mean? I believe this is the first shot in yet another media revolution. The video and music industries have been totally upheaved over the course of the last decade. Somehow the print and publishing industries managed to keep their lock-in intact. With iBooks Author and the iBookstore, anyone can be an author and publisher. Ever want to create and sell a book of your photography? You can now, practically for free.

Media creators should be jumping for joy, as these interactive books aren't just PDF files that you slide across your mobile device screen. No, they include video, audio, HTML5 code, slideshows that can have interactivity and feedback built in, quizzes, and an open toolset so you can build your own widgets.

I agree completely with Alex Lindsay and his take on all of this. This is an exciting time - an individual, with very little money (did I mention iBooks Author is free?!) can create stellar books (or apps, or music), have them on the iTunes Store or iBookstore, and be making money. That means more individual voices are heard, which provides us with rich views of the world as even more people can share theirs.

I'll be sharing the start of mine tomorrow.

My Top 5 Mac OS X Lion Features

Alongside with iOS 5, Apple also unveiled Lion, their next revision to Mac OS X. Lion is of course the codename for Mac OS X 10.7 and it brings a lot of cool new features sure to make your computer feel like a whole new machine.

1) Air Drop - As someone who interacts with multiple users and has multiple computers, getting files from one to another is a pain. Air Drop makes it dead simple to share files from computer-to-computer, and does it seamlessly.

2) New Mail App - I'm in mail a lot. Apple has taken the feel of Mail in iOS and adapted it to the desktop version, making it feel like the apps go together.

3) The Price - $30 - I still can't get over how little they are charging for this. Does delivery over the internet via the Mac App Store really save that much money (usually $129) and heartache? I guess so. Good for us though!

4) Resume - I love this idea - anytime your computer restarts, it leaves you right back where you were. All open apps, windows in the Finder, etc. It even keeps highlighting of words .

5) AutoSave / Versions - Another idea that is awesome but will count on developers to take advantage of it. Will the big players, like Adobe, go through the extra programming steps it takes? I certainly hope so, because this feature will save users, especially beginners, a lot of time and heartbreak. I doubt they will though, at least short term.

iPad 2

Unless you've been hiding under a rock the last few days, you are probably aware that Apple on Wednesday announced an update to the iPad - iPad 2. A lot of people say that this is just an evolutionary update rather than a revolutionary update. They are right. Apple released the iPad less than a year ago to great success, much more than any one anticipated, even Apple. A revolution was not needed at this point.

That said, this is a pretty big update - faster dual core processor, double the RAM, same battery life out of a 1/3 thinner package that keeps it's same amazing battery life. Add in two cameras, one of which is capable of recording 720p video at 30 frames per second and full 1080p playback. Oh yeah, they also added a gyroscope and full screen mirroring output - more on that in a minute. About the only thing unchanged in the new iPad is the display. While some people are disappointed, myself included, the cost on these higher resolution displays plus the toll they take on the battery, cannot justify their use quite yet.

Apple also announced two new killer apps they've created that you're not going to find on any other tablet - Garageband and iMovie. I'm sure Android tablets have music creation and movie editing software, but there is no way they compare to what Apple has created. In the brief demo given in the keynote and what is available online, I say that these may be the two best apps written for mobile platforms, ever.

iMovieGarageband recordingGarageband Drum Kit

Full screen mirroring and 1080p video output.The added gyroscope coupled with full mirroring video out via and HDMI cable might create a really good presentation platform, but it will create a killer home gaming system! I can already imagine playing driving games sitting on my couch on the big screen.

The design geniuses at Apple have also created a new cover that latches to magnets that are built in to the iPad. At first I thought this was a tad gimmicky, but when I saw how it worked, and the utility of it folding in to a stand, I began to change my mind. The key that convinced me that you would want one of these is when the cover's far right flap is opened just a little, the iPad wakes from sleep instantly, and does not require the somewhat annoying swipe-to-unlock motion. Brilliant! You simply must watch this video to see how cool it is.

New covers.

So the bottom line is: will I be updating? Absolutely yes! I had considered waiting for an iPad with a higher resolution display, especially to display my photography, but this version of the iPad addresses my main concerns with version 1 - speed. Every now and then it will slow down, and I find it not quite as responsive as I'd like. Yes, I will be getting a black 16GB wi-fi only version on March 11, along with a cover and the HDMI adapter, and purchasing iMovie and Garageband from the app store. Now you know what I'll be doing next weekend!