Apple Textbook: Thoughts of the Ignorant

Source: http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-462.html

Apple recently announced the release of their new Textbook and Author. These two releases aim at moving the school textbooks into a digital age. But since its announcement there have been quite a number of complaints on Apple's approach to take an entirely business approach to what, on the surface, seemed like a very sound marketing move.

At the moment school students who can afford are already using pdf versions of their textbooks on tablets. They are cheaper and easier to lug around. The only problem was they were not innovative, just a copy of the original bland book. The Author will allow books to be made and published with interactive picture and video capabilities, making learning so much more fun and attractive. The best thing is Author is given to all Mac users for FREE. But wait, there is more.

We will not talk about how cool the software is (should I be calling it Application instead?) but rather what Apple is going to do with it. Because this is what the outcry is about. Apple's End User License Agreement (EULA) states that all end products made using this software can only be circulated in iBooks and all sales will cost publishers a 30% royalty fee to Apple. I don't know how long this agreement will hold your Intellectual Property, but I don't suppose any writer in the right mind would allow anyone to have a share of your property for its entire lifetime. That's up to75 years after your death! So this is not good for publishers, not good for writers, and most importantly not good for consumers.

This special format will not export to any other platform, which will inconvenience publishers to writing for multiple platforms which will ultimately increase cost. This will then transfer the cost to consumers, namely the students who have to firstly own an iPad. The iPad which is still the most expensive tablet device in the market today. Then there is the possibility of publishers signing company loyalty like in cases in the gaming industry with Final Fantasy and Uncharted being available only to certain platforms. Okay that might not happen, but no harm in visualizing the worst case scenarios.

Some even go as far to argue that even the greediest corporations should not even think of approaching the education industry as a monopoly. It was in many ways a question of ethics.

This what I think about the whole issue.
Apple is a very greedy company and it will not change with the passing of the late Mr Jobs. Apple is a Marxist organization, that too is pretty apparent. So why are we all crying over this move made by Apple? We know for a fact this is something very typical of them. If we start questioning the company's policies based on Ethics, we wouldn't know where to begin.

I think it is okay for Apple to do this, so long as it makes them happy to continuously come up with new things. Honestly if it wasn't for Apple many things wouldn't even be possible today. Sony had their MP3 players stored in their vaults yeas before Apple released the iPod, but did it matter?

Apple will continue to spark evolutions in technology for many years to come before it's decline (again), but let's hope they don't this time. These sparks will eventually be absorbed into other more ethical companies that will actually make the world a better place for everyone.We need to understand that Apple is not a company that make devices for the future, rather make devices that the future can use. They do not have the same vision of liberalization a tech company should have.Competition will ensure consumers will always win in the end.

How It Should Be Said

There has been a lot of tussle over how our country's name should be pronounced. Until quite very recently everybody pronounced Malaysia as Malay(sh)ia. All of a sudden people start saying that's not the correct way to say it, and Malay(s)ia is the actual pronunciation. Let me enlighten you on why it should always be Malay(sh)ia, and by the end of this post you shall never again question it's validity.

1. Malaysia is a combination of Malay, our country's majority race, and Sia as in Part of Asia.
Malay is an English word, and in English Asia is pronounced as A(sh)ia. Put them together, you get Malay(sh)ia

2. Lets say you wanna argue the word Sia is pronounced (s)ia in Bahasa Malaysia, and since we're Malaysians we should pronounce it using the tone of Bahasa Malaysia. In that case we should not use Malay as it is an English equivalent of Melayu. So our argument will no longer be between Malay(s)ia and Malay(sh)ia, rather the latter and Melayusia.

3. If you insist on maintaining Malay instead of Melayu, you'd then have to adhere to the requirements of Bahasa Baku. This will mean you will have to start calling our country mAlAysiA.

It has always been Malay(sh)ia until very recently, maybe because some smart-ass realised that if Alicia Silverstone has to be pronounced as Ali(s)ia Silverstone Malaysia should also be called different. Let's not complicate things by claiming we know better and revert to the original.