Apple announces special event, speculation begins
Summary: Apple has officially sent out invitations for media outlets to attend the Apple event to be hosted in New York on January 19th.
Apple has formally sent out invitations for the press to attend a "special event" being held in New York on January 19th.
Little is known about the secretive Apple event, apart from reports suggesting it will be education-focused. The venue has been officially released as the Guggenheim Museum.
Reports speculate that the specific developments to be announced at the event, with suggestions that it may involve textbook initiatives or potentially further development of iTunes U, the Apple system for classroom content distribution, currently available to iPhone and iPod Touch users.
The announcement is not thought to be hardware related, effectively ruling out an announcement for the upcoming and long-awaited iPhone 5 and the iPad 3.
It is well-known that Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs wanted to 'disrupt' the publishing industry. Hidden within the depths of Walter Issacson's autobiography, a particular excerpt read:
"If textbooks were given away free on iPads he thought the publishers could get around the state certification of textbooks. Mr. Isaacson said Mr. Jobs believed that states would struggle with a weak economy for at least a decade. “We can give them an opportunity to circumvent that whole process and save money,” he told Mr. Isaacson."
The location itself is a hint that steers speculation towards to the publishing industry. Technological announcements are generally reserved for Silicon Valley, whereas New York is a well-known hotspot for the textbook industry.
Rumours suggest that Apple is planning to use the event to promote possible development of educational content for iProducts, or a move to enter the e-book industry with a splash.
A move from Apple to disrupt publishing could spell disaster for those currently in the industry. According to reports, the event has been planned for some time, with the late Steve Jobs heavily involved in what is to be announced.
Image source: Apple.
Related:
- Mystery Apple event to focus on education, iTunes U, digital publishing?
- Between the Lines: Apple set to upend textbook distribution?
- What is Apple planning for its January 'announcement'?
- Europe begins antitrust case against Apple, e-book publishers
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Talkback
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
Let's hope Apple uses or releases open standards
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
I merely said that I hoped it would not be vendor lock-in
Let's put this another way: replace the word Apple with Microsoft. Knowing you, your attitude would change from cheering the possibility of vendor lock in to dreading it.
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
[b]I merely said that I hoped it would not be vendor lock-in[/b] Is the header of the post I'm responding to and yet below is you post that I originally responded to... where you mention students being locked into Apple's ecosystem.
[b]Let's hope Apple uses or releases open standards
If a student's education forces them to be locked in to Apple's ecosystem, that is not a good thing for anybody.
toddybottom[/b]
Let's continue:
[b]Let's put this another way: replace the word Apple with Microsoft. Knowing you, your attitude would change from cheering the possibility of vendor lock in to dreading it.[/b]
Please - my name is not toddybottom and I do not subscribe to any sort of tech religion... [b]
Let's put this another way: replace the word Apple with Microsoft. Knowing you, your attitude would change from cheering the possibility of vendor lock in to dreading it.[/b]
Replacing Apple with Microsoft would not change my point of view - the ages old textbook publisher scam has got to stop. Microsoft [i]could[/i] do it if they had a viable tablet option but so far a WP7 based or Windows 8 based tablet has been absent from the market. Hell I'd be okay with it if it was an Android tablet.
In other words no tech fanboyism here but an intense desire to see this scam by the textbook publishers and bought-and-paid-for university "reviewers" put to an end. My daughter is in her second semester of college and has already spent almost a grand for her books - most of them duplicates of the ones the semester before other than a few stylistic differences and a couple of photo changes.
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
really who cares if you are locked in? If it works good and its the cheapest option, then who cares who makes it? i dont know about you but if apple makes textbooks half price and it works just as well as anything else, il be happy to be "locked in". saves me a bundle of cash! :)
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
I don't see why you think this will lock people into Apple hardware.
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
if the iPad cured cancer, toddy bottom would oppose it!
You should care more about how you're locked into Windows running your electrical supply ecosystem and our defense departments 'Smart Ship' program. Talk about things that should keep you up at night worrying!!
ShazAmerica, the only thing that would keep one up at night worrying
would be people like you. Your irrational hatred of Microsoft, one that compells you to lie on such a regular basis, is disturbing.
I am sure many fear that as they continually dismiss you, or continue to expose your "FUD" campaign, that you may try a more physical approach.
We should be grateful that they do not post our home adresses for you to locate.
:|
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
RE: Apple announces special event, speculation begins
[b]if the iPad cured cancer, toddy bottom would oppose it![/b]
I can't argue with that... unless he's pro Apple this week - it's hard to tell.