January 19th 2012, saw the launch of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author, both free Mac apps that promise to revolutionize the way we access and also learn from textbooks. iBook 2 is a new and improved version of iBooks, that was launched a year prior, that allows its users to download textbooks directly onto their iPads, enabling students to store their textbooks on their iPad rather than having to purchase physical copies. iBooks Author is an app that allows authors and textbook publishers to create their own interactive textbooks using Mac computers that can then be purchased from the online iBook store and downloaded onto students iPads.

This launch has proven to be extremely successful, with over 350,000 textbooks being downloaded from iBooks 2 and over 90,000 versions of iBooks Author downloaded within the first three days of their launch. The internet has been abuzz with these staggering figures, and many have been speculating how this will affect and change the way we learn.

One thing for certain is that downloading textbooks onto iPads has the potential to cut students textbooks costs dramatically. Although iPads themselves are on the pricey side, textbooks sold on iBooks 2 are all priced at $14.99 or less, which is significantly cheaper than the average paper textbook. Whether students are studying at an online school or a traditional brick and mortar school, they often complain about the heavy costs of textbooks. Many textbooks are sold brand new at well over $100 each and even second hand books often aren’t that much cheaper. iBooks 2 can therefore potentially save a student thousands of dollars over the course of their degree.

In addition, another bonus of iBooks 2 is that students that utilize this app will no longer have to suffer back ache or injuries from carrying hefty textbooks around with them all day. They will be able to store all of their educational tools and documents onto their iPad, with it’s heaviest version, the iPad 2, weighing only 3 lbs. This also has potential positive environmental implications, as the reduced demand for physical textbooks will mean less demand for paper.

iBooks Author enables authors to design textbooks that incorporate all of the iPad’s features and advantages over using a traditional paper textbook. Authors can incorporate multimedia aspects into their textbook, incorporating interactive elements such as sound and video. These multimedia facets have the potential to make textbooks a much more interesting and engaging way of learning for students. A textbook no longer has to be a dull but necessary component of education but rather a mentally stimulating and visually stunning learning experience.

The launch and immediate success of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author clearly indicate the rapid changes and developments in the way we learn and utilize textbooks. The future of education will undoubtedly see even more advanced apps such as these launched and the traditional paper textbook will likely soon become a thing of the past.