Kindle versus Apple Tablet

Following along on my previous post, there’s quite a discussion going on about the rumored Apple  Tablet (the “IPad), and how it will or won’t compete with the Kindle, for example here and here. We’ll have to see if Apple really does release a tablet.  And we’ll have to see if the big Kindle catches on.  But the world of textbook publishing seems ripe for disruption, and someone is bound to succeed. The first step will be getting students to carry around their tablet/reader instead of a huge backpack full of books. But then in the long run the real revolution can start – as the line between printed textbooks and online curriculum blurs. Basically textbooks are long and detailed, whereas most applications, even the so called educational ones, have in comparison relatively small amounts of content.  Go compare a typical math textbook at almost any grade level with the typical math oriented applications on almost any platfom at the same grade leve, and you’ll see what I mean. But once textbooks are really online, I would expect the two to finally merge – bringing detailed and rich content combined with interesting interactivity.