eBook

Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto

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I have been following PressBooks for a while now and this is a beautiful option for publishing eBooks.  They just published a manifesto on the future of publishing. Essays from the bleeding edge of publishing.

About this book:

The ground beneath the book publishing industry dramatically shifted in 2007, the year the Kindle and the iPhone debuted. Widespread consumer demand for these and other devices has brought the pace of digital change in book publishing from “it might happen sometime” to “it’s happening right now”—and it is happening faster than anyone predicted. Yet this is only a transitional phase. “Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto” is your guide to what comes next, when all books are truly digital, connected and ubiquitous.

Through this collection of essays from thought leaders and practitioners, you’ll become familiar with a wide range of developments occurring in the wake of this digital book shakeup:

* Reexamine your assumptions about the role of a book publisher, as we move from container to context

* Understand the kinds of things we can start doing with digital books

* Look inside some of the publishing projects that are at the bleeding edge of this digital revolution

* Learn how some digital books can evolve moment to moment, based on reader feedback.

With “Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto,” we at O’Reilly Media are actively practicing what we preach. Written and edited on PressBooks.com, a new web-based book-production system, this book also invites reader feedback throughout its development.

Read the chapters from Parts 1 (The Setup) and 2 (The Outlook), and tell us what you think. Part 3 (due out in Spring of 2012) will focus on living examples of publishing projects that are pushing embracing the new possibilities of digital.

This second release of this ebook — containing Parts 1 and 2 — is priced at $9.99; the final version of the book, including all three parts, will be priced higher. Buy this release now and you’ll receive all updates at no additional cost. Naturally, it will be available in multiple formats, including a print edition when the book is complete.

iBook Author by Apple

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There are times in an instructional designer’s life when the game changes and Apple has just changed the game-again. This time it is with their iBook Author.  Those who are considering an elearning situation, should consider using this new tool. The ability to interact with the content built in iBooks is amazing for all types of learners. Integrating audio and video right into the iBook allows the learners to integrate with the content.

Anyone who needs a workbook, textbook, manual. job aid, even a magazine, or newsletter should consider this type of learning aid. I will be getting mine soon.

This amazing new [FREE] app iBook Author allows anyone to create beautiful Multi-Touch textbooks — and just about any other kind of book — for iPad. With galleries, video, interactive diagrams, 3D objects, and more, these books bring content to life in ways the printed page never could.

This application has the ability to drag and drop text, images, graphics, video, movies and more into the template.  Apple’s Widgets add Multi-Touch magic to books with interactive photo galleries that bring images to life, engrossing 3D objects you can’t help interacting with, animations that burst off the page, and more.

Another beautiful thing about iBooks Author, it lets you create books that people with disabilities can read and experience. The table of contents, glossary, widgets, main text, and more are built to automatically take advantage of VoiceOver technology. Add accessibility descriptions to any widget or media — including movies and quizzes — so even those with vision impairments can use them.

And you can publish it to the iBookstore or iTunes U or share it with anyone with an iPad.

Inkling

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Now here’s another twist on the textbook Inkling. It appears they are incorporating the Adobe Digital Publishing functionality with a few of their own details.

One thing I really like is the Social Learning feature which allows users to interact with classmates.  So, you could ask each other questions and discuss ideas and questions.

You can download the Inkling app, for your iPad, then buy chapters or full books.  There are a few chapters, that are free, so I suggest you give them a try. Happy reading and learning.