Hi Gerard, if you read my original email, I do emphasise Apple's "walled garden", and my proposal is specifically *not* to put our contents there. Rather, I would like us to take advantage of the breach in the "educational material" monopol that Apple will undoubtedly create, by generating our own pure-HTML5 books (which I call "wBooks" to differentiate from Apples "iBooks"), which would work on all tablets (and probably phones), not just the iPad.
Cheers, Magnus On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 10:42 PM, Gerard Meijssen <[email protected]> wrote: > Hoi, > The EULA currently in use prohibits the use of material that is offered > anywhere except in the Apple store. They have also broken the mold of the > standard. Consequently adopting the Apple model would technically support > Apple devices. > > Both reasons are enough not to use Apple at all in an education setting and > for material available under a free license. > Thanks, > Gerard > > On 25 January 2012 23:12, Gregory Varnum <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I'm confused by what you mean by "walled garden". If this were the same >> as the App Store model where they have a custom iOS app format and their >> store is the only place to get it - that would make sense to me. That >> doesn't seem to be the case here.. >> >> My understanding was the ebooks created with iBook Author works in any >> ebooks store that supports HTML5 standards. I've been testing some ebooks >> we threw together on lots of devices (almost all non-Apple) with no >> problems. We've even turned some of them into interactive web pages. >> >> I haven't heard of this software breaking the current standard so much as >> further enabling HTML5 within it - but I could be wrong. >> >> -greg >> >> >> On Jan 25, 2012, at 4:16 PM, Gerard Meijssen wrote: >> >> > Hoi, >> > I think we should not support Apple in breaking the standard and in >> > preventing us from using our work anywhere else. We take pride in being >> > freely licensed and there is no excuse for the walled garden approach >> taken >> > by Apple. There is also no excuse for us endorsing this behaviour. >> > >> > Obviously as what we do is freely licensed or public domain you can do >> > whatever as long as the license requirements are maintained. I am sure >> that >> > as a consequence you cannot legally publish in Apple's walled garden. I >> > hate to see anything done in this area that is endorsed by the Wikimedia >> > Foundation. >> > Thanks, >> > Gerard >> > >> > On 20 January 2012 10:46, Magnus Manske <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> >> (This mail is focused on books, but the topic is of more general >> >> interest IMHO, thus foundation-l) >> >> >> >> Hi all, >> >> >> >> I just saw the "iBooks Author" news: >> >> >> >> >> http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/a-closer-look-at-ibooks-author-textbooks-and-exclusivity/ >> >> >> >> Of course, all these pretty books will be only available in the Apple >> >> paywalled garden. >> >> >> >> So I thought: As they use basically HTML5 (plus a few proprietary >> >> libraries), could we produce such interactive, tablet/phone-enabled >> >> e-books ("wBooks" as in "Wikimedia":-) from free content? I believe >> >> the answer is yes, though it might be quite a push technologically >> >> (just to be clear, I am speaking of the books here, not of the >> >> authoring software). >> >> >> >> Also: Should we? I believe the answer is yes as well, for two reasons. >> >> One, Apples work here might (yet again) set a new standard, which >> >> means everything falling short of that standard will be neglected by >> >> the target audience, which runs counter to our declared goal of >> >> disseminating free knowledge; standing still might well mean falling >> >> behind. Another reason is the opportunity that Apple creates for us >> >> here: Once such e-books become accepted as general teaching tools in >> >> schools, it will be much easier to switch from Apple-only, costly >> >> books to run-everywhere, free books; they might just win the >> >> "technology battle" for us. >> >> >> >> >> >> What do you think? >> >> >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> Magnus >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> foundation-l mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ >> > foundation-l mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> foundation-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >> > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
