[Athen] iPhone app for CourseSmart e-textbooks

[Ron Stewart]

At this point they are totally inaccessible as well as all the apps to read
them.

 

Ron Stewart

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Shelley Haven
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 1:09 PM
To: Alternate Media; Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] iPhone app for CourseSmart e-textbooks

 

Hi, all!

 

Of possible interest: CourseSmart's subscription e-textbook service now has
an iPhone app.  While this may not be significant immediately, it could if
Apple releases their much-anticipated "media pad" product later this year or
in January, as it's expected to use the same operating system as the iPhone
and iPod Touch.  So, how accessible are CourseSmart's e-textbooks?

 

2 links below, copy of article follows.

 

- Shelley

 

_____________________________

Shelley Haven  ATP, RET

Assistive Technology Consultant

www.TechPotential.net

 

 

Company:

http://www.coursesmart.com/go/iphone/index.html

Article:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/08/10/electronic_textbooks_mobile_ch
eck_depositing_come_to_apples_iphone.html

 

e-texbooks from CourseSmart

CourseSmart, a subscription e-textbook service, released its
<http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=325230226
&mt=8> App Store software last week. The program, entitled "eTextbooks for
the iPhone," offers 7,000 different textbooks for college students from 12
different publishers. It is free for subscribers, and the company states
that students save an average of 50 percent on books.

In an interview The Wall Street Journal Monday, CourseSmart Executive Vice
President Frank Lyman said the application is
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124985423101217817.html?ru=yahoo#mod=yahoo_
hs> more of an asset than a textbook replacement.

"Nobody is going to use their iPhone to do their homework, but this does
provide real mobile learning," he said. "If you're in a study group and you
have a question, you can immediately access your text."

The service, created in 2007, is a collaboration between six
higher-education publishers. The subscription model allows students to rent
textbooks, typically for 180 days. When the subscription expires, students
lose access to their e-texbooks.

Amazon has attempted to break into the digital textbook realm with its
larger e-book reader, the Kindle DX. The books available on the iPhone are
not on the Kindle. Earlier this year,
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/11/amazon_introduces_iphone_opti
mized_kindle_book_store.html> Amazon released its iPhone-optimized Kindle
store, which allowed users to read books on the go. Similarly, the
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/21/app_store_additions_include_m
edical_marijuana_e_books_call_recording.html> Barnes & Noble eReader also
debuted on the platform this year.

As software makers vie for a share of the e-reader market, Sarah Rotman
Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research, told the Journal that the
CourseSmart offering could be a breakthrough for e-textbooks.

"Textbooks are the missing link in the e-reader content base," she said.
"The problem so far is that college students haven't really been interested
in reading on their laptops. The iPhone will help create excitement and
generate awareness of e-textbooks."

 

 

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