With the new iBooks and iTunes U app, I’m missing a piece of the puzzle. Just as truckloads of schools have given the kids MacBooks, Apple rolls out the new textbooks to iPads only. Are we supposed to switch over the schoolkids to iPads now, and lose the OSX apps they use?
It would seem logical that iBooks and iTunes U would be available in versions for OSX as well, but there’s no sign of that. Or is Apple planning on running iOS apps on OSX in something like the iOS simulator? What’s going on here? As it stands now, it makes no sense.
While it may be a developer’s heaven and a dream to use, this highlights the danger of one company having a vertical monopoly over the platform as a whole.
Is there an architectural opening for FOSS to come along and make the Mac an alternate for iPads to use these books? Not unless Apple decides to tolerate it.
It’s not the OS, it’s the DRM!
David,
The problem here is that one company isn’t covering its different platforms consistently and you call for third parties to do that instead? Just like they do with, um, exactly what? Nobody else has a similar setup, not because they’re not allowed to, but because they either didn’t think of it, or couldn’t be bothered. DRM has nothing to do with that.