Marketing executives at Amazon must have been rubbing their hands with glee after hearing Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement of his state's first-in-the nation program to replace traditional paper textbooks with free online digital textbooks. This is not some vision of the future, the initiative is scheduled to commence in August of 2009. Science and Math textbooks will be the first subjects to be replaced with other areas to follow.
An initial list of standards aligned digital textbooks covering subjects such as geometry, trigonometry, calculus, physics, algebra, chemistry, biology and earth science course will be released in August. A number of electronic books have already been submitted and are in the review process. Academic publishers and content providers have been invited to submit further materials for review by the California Learning Resources network. The deadline for submission is June 15 to allow for review in time for the forthcoming academic year.
The second phase of the initiative, presently in development, will make the new digital textbooks available for all grades. Interactive content will be included and a state wide web site showcasing books available will be the long term goal.
The initiative has the potential to save Californian schools millions of dollars. It's estimated that a school district with around 10,000 high school students could save $2 million dollars by using free downloadable textbooks in just science and math classes. In 2008, the State of California spent $350 million on textbooks and other printed learning material. Upon the adoption of digital textbooks a significant portion of this money will become available for use in other areas.
Another advantage envisaged is that, because digital textbooks are more easily updated, it will be easier for students to learn about technological advances and current discoveries as they happen. Conventional paper textbooks tend to be updated, on average, every six years - which could meant that, at the back end of the cycle, students could be missing six years of information.
It also seems probable that alternative, interactive learning possibilities could be introduced once the scheme is up and running.
Now, it's probably worth noting that at no point in his announcement did Governor Schwarzenegger make any mention of Amazon's ebook reader - or any of its competitors for that matter. In fact he stated that it would be possible for schools to benefit even without computers or laptops as teachers could print out the material and that would still work out considerably cheaper than a conventional text book. So why is the internet buzzing about this "good news" for Amazon?
Well, the latest addition to the Amazon Kindle ebook reader family, the Kindle DX, launched on June 10 - just five days after Governor Schwarzenegger's announcement. It is a larger version of Amazon's recently released Kindle 2 having a 9.7" screen instead of a 6" one. Amazon has touted it as being ideal for reading newspapers, magazines and - wait for it - academic textbooks.
Amazon has already entered into agreements with at least three academic publishers and some higher education establishments have publicly announced that they make the Kindle available to their students. All things considered, Amazon is currently better placed to take advantage of a sudden introduction of new digital technology in the academic world than most of their competitors.
That's not to say that they will have things all their own way of course. Sony have partnered with Google to make Google's huge collection of public domain ebooks available to users of their PRS ebook reader, a clear sign that neither Google or Sony are willing to relinquish the potentially huge and lucrative ebook market to Amazon without a fight. Other competitors also exist and it will be interesting to see how they respond to developments in the market in general and the academic sector in particular.
In the meantime, it does seem as if Governor Schwarzenegger's innovative plan for California's educational future is likely to boost sales of Amazon's reader, Kindle accessories and books from Amazon's Kindle store. No doubt other states will consider similar schemes and the academic sector of the book market could hot up very quickly indeed. Of course, the academic textbook sector is only one market segment - but it does appear to be leading the way. It also offers Amazon and its competition an ideal chance to "get 'em while they're young" and establish brand recognition and loyalty which could influence buying decisions in later life.
Hamish Hayward
Kindle Reader
Learn more about Amazon's amazing Kindle reader - including how to get free e-books direct from the Amazon website.
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