Well the news is out. It’s not mind-blowing but it’s very respectable. Apple is selling textbooks through the iBookstore for $US15, books can be created using iBooks Author on Mac, and there is useful integration with the now separate iTunes U app. If you buy the cheapest iPad and all your school or university textbooks in the iBookstore, you will definitely come out in front. Well, unless you buy all your textbooks second hand. But then you have two disadvantages. First, you have to carry them all. Second, they’re at least one year old/out-of-date. You would probably still be paying at least $US20 for them anyway.

Apple’s digital textbook solution is good. I can’t imagine a product of equal quality coming to Android tablets any time soon. The only way it might work is if the textbooks reside in the cloud and you purchase access subscription. Android is too open for a non-piratable offline solution. DRM is critical but only Apple seem to have found the right price-point for their walled-garden content stores.

I’m probably not going to be buying any textbooks for myself and by the time I have children in high school and university it will be a whole other ball game. But, as someone very interested in publishing, information and communication technology, I am well impressed with Apple’s newest products.

Update: Only 8 textbooks on launch is a bit lean.

Update: Matt’s post on TechCrunch is useless hyperbole and he makes few reasonable points behind the tirade. Greg’s post is far more balanced.