“Apple knows that to make this textbook project work they need the publishers,’’ said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge. “Apple learned that with iTunes and the recording companies.’’
Now Houghton and Pearson have dedicated teams working with Apple’s new software tools to create textbooks for the iPad, similar to how music companies agreed to let Apple digitize songs for iTunes. These are not the first digital products the publishers have created, but they’re the first that must reflect Apple’s signature style. “They will be more interactive, have more video, and be really, really easy to use,’’ said Forsa.
Between them, Houghton, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill Cos. in New York command 85 percent of the $3.2 billion core K-12 textbook market - serving 50 million students - in the United States, according to the website paidcontent.org, which covers digital media.
Just 46 cents of every $100 spent on overall K-12 education is spent on digital texts, according to a September federal report from the White House. How fast that share will grow is an open question, said Josef Blumenfeld, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Houghton.
One barrier: price. An entry-level iPad costs $499. “In the case of Apple and the iPad, for example, the cost is a very high hurdle for most schools to overcome,’’ Blumenfeld said. “We believe it is likely that there will be a hybrid print/digital model in most schools for years to come.’’
Melissa P. Dodd, chief information officer of the Boston public schools, said the city has at least three pilot iPad programs going in specialized areas. The Apple effort to partner with major textbook publishers “shows that Apple is thinking more broadly,’’ she said. “I think iPads have a lot of promise in the classroom.’’
