That's not a size. 9.8" is a size. 7.85" is a size.
It's a size as far as coders are concerned. The 44 point minimum interaction size is the same size on the 7.85" tablet as they are on the iPhone. Meaning if you followed the HIG for your iPad app then your UI components meets the minimum physical size that Apple has set for iOS. A 44x44 point button on the iPhone is the same physical size as a 44x44 point button on a 1024x768 7.85" iPad Mini @ 163 PPI (this is a tautology...any 44x44 pixel button is the same size for any display with the same pixel density)
Same for any books.
Unless you'd like to assert that the iPhone is unusable because the controls or fonts are too small...
Why would a retailer intentionally trash their database with meaningless allocated item numbers on pure speculation?
So they won't be caught off guard. Often those systems are updated on a regular schedule and that is the only time new records are added. So they place holder rumors so they will be ready when it is truth. If it is ever truth
Live databases are backed up daily.You never want bogus data in your live database.
Why would a retailer intentionally trash their database with meaningless allocated item numbers on pure speculation?
I've populated databases with 100's and 1000's of fake records for the purpose of testing and then executed automated tests. Standard procedure.
So you think this is a screen from a test site? Why would they even mention IPAD MINI if it is just a test? Wouldn't you use FOO BAR as your test data?
But I think that Euro Price includes VAT. Or some other factor. I believe traditionally the Euro price listed tends to equal the dollar listed price, the way we in the US are used to seeing it.
Yes, I think it will be from US$249 as well. There are a couple of instances in the iPad pricing where the euro price matches the US dollar pricing (Germany), or very close to (within 10 euros, France).
At this point, the iPad environment is not available to build and support what is required for a fully integrated learning environment. No LMS (Learning Management System), no assessment tools, no individualized push technologies, and no content that would cover the educational standards, and no pedagogy and training to integrate the iPad into the curriculum. The future is promising but many years into the feature.
The thing about iBooks Author that we have come to realize is that there is no convenient way to observe what the student is doing or get any test results into a database. I would say that it is a dead end as far as education is concerned. Pretty, but not functional.
...any 44x44 pixel button is the same size for any display with the same pixel density)
That's the rub. It doesn't have the same pixel density as the iPad. Things have to be redone.
Not as urgent as some might assume. Once you are talking about high ppi the scaling effect is not that much of a problem. If the graphics are already available for a higher resolution the scaling has minimal negative consequences.
Actually I would have disagree with this assessment. If you have looked at your children's textbooks you might be able to understand that they would contain many gigs worth of data even in their static representation. Add the interactivity and video available through iBooks Author and you won't even fit one equivalent textbook in 8GB. One of two things need to happen in my evaluation. One: the textbooks need to be delivered via a web browser, or two the size of the onboard storage needs to increase dramatically.
Jeez people. Is it HARD to google ibooks average size?
Check out how big the first eight textbooks available through iBooks are:
E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth – 965MB
McGraw Hill’s Algebra 1 – 1.09GB
Pearson’s Biology – 2.77GB
McGraw Hill’s Biology – 1.49GB
National’s Chemistry – 959MB
Pearson’s Environmental Science – 793MB
McGraw Hill’s Geometry – 1.22GB
McGraw Hill’s Physics – 1.25GB
So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.
I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.
That's the rub. It doesn't have the same pixel density as the iPad. Things have to be redone.
No it doesn't because if it has the same pixel density as the iPhone 3GS so we KNOW that the physical size of ANY UI target will be large enough to meet Apple specs. Yes, it will be physically smaller than on the iPad but it will be large enough to meet the iOS UI spec.
Don't argue about stuff you don't understand please. This is called FUD. Every app properly designed for the iPad will work perfectly fine for the iPad Mini INCLUDING being large enough to interact with.
ONLY if someone violated the 44 point HIG recommendation might something be too small on the iPad Mini that could have snaked by on the iPad.
Actually I would have disagree with this assessment. If you have looked at your children's textbooks you might be able to understand that they would contain many gigs worth of data even in their static representation. Add the interactivity and video available through iBooks Author and you won't even fit one equivalent textbook in 8GB. One of two things need to happen in my evaluation. One: the textbooks need to be delivered via a web browser, or two the size of the onboard storage needs to increase dramatically.
Jeez people. Is it HARD to google ibooks average size?
Check out how big the first eight textbooks available through iBooks are:
E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth – 965MB
McGraw Hill’s Algebra 1 – 1.09GB
Pearson’s Biology – 2.77GB
McGraw Hill’s Biology – 1.49GB
National’s Chemistry – 959MB
Pearson’s Environmental Science – 793MB
McGraw Hill’s Geometry – 1.22GB
McGraw Hill’s Physics – 1.25GB
So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.
I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.
I believe these are really dumbed down versions as we have already examined the comparison between the actual print versions of middle school science textbooks from both McGraw and Macmillan and there is no comparison to the richness of the data. The digital versions are significantly less comprehensive in terms of illustration, photographic content, graphic design and typography.
The thing about iBooks Author that we have come to realize is that there is no convenient way to observe what the student is doing or get any test results into a database. I would say that it is a dead end as far as education is concerned. Pretty, but not functional.
I don't see why that's an issue since it's considerably more interactive than a regular book. You determine if a student has read a book by testing them on it so you don't need to have the app run up a counter for the average time the app is open, average time on each page, results from chapter quizzes, etc. That is not to say it would not be a nice addition to the iBook model for textbooks and you can include URLs that could take a student to a webpage that could test their knowledge as they progress, but it's not a requirement for a text book.
<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;">So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.</p>
<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;border-top-width:0px;border-right-width:0px;border-bottom-width:0px;border-left-width:0px;">I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.</p>
How many classes do students have per semester that would require the extra large textbooks? For literature I recall having several smaller books, some classes no books, and only for the sciences were their beefy textbooks. I suppose i you are a hard science major in university and taking 6 classes for 18 credits you might find 8GB not enough for your digital textbooks as those would tend to have lots of diagrams, 3D views, and perhaps videos but should Apple consider the most advanced and obscure scenario they can for the start of this trend or should they start small and build up to it? I'm going with the latter. By the time digital books become the norm in a scholastic setting 128GB will probably be the minimum size you can get with your handheld device. Institutions are so to change.
…so we KNOW that the physical size of ANY UI target will be large enough to meet Apple specs.
iBook text sizes will need redone. They're designed with a larger screen in mind. Yes, I know you can resize much of the text, particularly with simple ePub files, but when it's a set size and the formatting depends on that size, making the book smaller requires them to be redone.
At this point, the iPad environment is not available to build and support what is required for a fully integrated learning environment. No LMS (Learning Management System), no assessment tools, no individualized push technologies, and no content that would cover the educational standards, and no pedagogy and training to integrate the iPad into the curriculum. The future is promising but many years into the feature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
The thing about iBooks Author that we have come to realize is that there is no convenient way to observe what the student is doing or get any test results into a database. I would say that it is a dead end as far as education is concerned. Pretty, but not functional.
If you guys don't believe that the usual suspects are not porting their LMS to iOS...well...I dunno what to say. If you think Apple never thought about tests as part of iBook textbooks...well...I think you give Apple too little credit.
A good number of LMS suites are depending on their existing web clients but it doesn't take much foresight to guess that many are developing native iOS and Android apps. Blackboard bought TerriblyClever for $4M way back in 2009 and piloted their Blackboard Mobile Learn last year and it's now live.
Why would a retailer intentionally trash their database with meaningless allocated item numbers on pure speculation?
So they won't be caught off guard. Often those systems are updated on a regular schedule and that is the only time new records are added. So they place holder rumors so they will be ready when it is truth. If it is ever truth
Live databases are backed up daily.You never want bogus data in your live database.
Yeah, but every major corporation I've ever dealt with used "shadow databases" to prototype new schema changes -- and often to model performance where new content or structure will have a major affect on activity.
Also, it is common practice to include "inactive" records in a database that beome "activated" at the throw of a switch -- like the Apple Store database after an announcement...
I suspect that an Apple mini iPad will churn the database servers -- and any new SKUs are already in the database as "inactive" records.
I don't see why that's an issue since it's considerably more interactive than a regular book. You determine if a student has read a book by testing them on it so you don't need to have the app run up a counter for the average time the app is open, average time on each page, results from chapter quizzes, etc. That is not to say it would not be a nice addition to the iBook model for textbooks and you can include URLs that could take a student to a webpage that could test their knowledge as they progress, but it's not a requirement for a text book.
There are lot of unknowns. For example we really don't know which Apple ID is going to be used to download the textbook and trying to integrated it with a different website for quizzes and progress evaluations is just another layer of complexity. The fact that most of the animations in iBooks is already using javascript you could just as easily deliver it within a web browser. I see the iBooks format as a compromised format to appease the publishing companies who have millions invested in hard cover print. The whole thing needs to be delivered over the web in a browser in my opinion.
If the font size is an issue for the books then every iPad app will also be unusable. This strikes me as highly unlikely.
It strikes me as highly unlikely that "every iPad app" will be unusable, but it doesn't preclude the need to change set font sizes in either books or apps.
Are you 2 years old? Did you really think that changing my username in the quote is clever or funny? GTFU please.
Why not calm down? It's called Mountain Lion auto-correct. I don't touch a thing.
Also, it is common practice to include "inactive" records in a database that beome "activated" at the throw of a switch -- like the Apple Store database after an announcement...
Yeah but in those cases they know that the switch will be thrown, which is my point.
So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.</p>
I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.</p>
Paper textbooks suck because they weigh a ton and you have to carry the entire thing from August to June... even if your class doesn't use the entire book.
Digital textbooks solves the weight issue... and downloading only the chapters you need would solve the capacity issue.
I'm not sure how elementary school textbooks are now... but when I was a kid... we used the same English book all year. If they just split the book in half by semester... that would reduce file sizes by a large margin.
In college it was quite different. I had to buy a Calculus book... but I only used the first third of the book for my Calculus I class. I didn't need to take Calculus II and III but I had to carry the whole damn book!
It would have been nice to buy a smaller Calculus book that only covered just what I needed for that particular class. Or in the digital world... have a digital book here I could download each chapter as needed.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
That's not a size. 9.8" is a size. 7.85" is a size.
It's a size as far as coders are concerned. The 44 point minimum interaction size is the same size on the 7.85" tablet as they are on the iPhone. Meaning if you followed the HIG for your iPad app then your UI components meets the minimum physical size that Apple has set for iOS. A 44x44 point button on the iPhone is the same physical size as a 44x44 point button on a 1024x768 7.85" iPad Mini @ 163 PPI (this is a tautology...any 44x44 pixel button is the same size for any display with the same pixel density)
Same for any books.
Unless you'd like to assert that the iPhone is unusable because the controls or fonts are too small...
Originally Posted by nht
...any 44x44 pixel button is the same size for any display with the same pixel density)
That's the rub. It doesn't have the same pixel density as the iPad. Things have to be redone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Why would a retailer intentionally trash their database with meaningless allocated item numbers on pure speculation?
So they won't be caught off guard. Often those systems are updated on a regular schedule and that is the only time new records are added. So they place holder rumors so they will be ready when it is truth. If it is ever truth
Live databases are backed up daily.You never want bogus data in your live database.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waldobushman
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Why would a retailer intentionally trash their database with meaningless allocated item numbers on pure speculation?
I've populated databases with 100's and 1000's of fake records for the purpose of testing and then executed automated tests. Standard procedure.
So you think this is a screen from a test site? Why would they even mention IPAD MINI if it is just a test? Wouldn't you use FOO BAR as your test data?
Quote:
Originally Posted by doctrsnoop
But I think that Euro Price includes VAT. Or some other factor. I believe traditionally the Euro price listed tends to equal the dollar listed price, the way we in the US are used to seeing it.
Yes, I think it will be from US$249 as well. There are a couple of instances in the iPad pricing where the euro price matches the US dollar pricing (Germany), or very close to (within 10 euros, France).
Quote:
Originally Posted by waldobushman
At this point, the iPad environment is not available to build and support what is required for a fully integrated learning environment. No LMS (Learning Management System), no assessment tools, no individualized push technologies, and no content that would cover the educational standards, and no pedagogy and training to integrate the iPad into the curriculum. The future is promising but many years into the feature.
The thing about iBooks Author that we have come to realize is that there is no convenient way to observe what the student is doing or get any test results into a database. I would say that it is a dead end as far as education is concerned. Pretty, but not functional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Originally Posted by nht
...any 44x44 pixel button is the same size for any display with the same pixel density)
That's the rub. It doesn't have the same pixel density as the iPad. Things have to be redone.
Not as urgent as some might assume. Once you are talking about high ppi the scaling effect is not that much of a problem. If the graphics are already available for a higher resolution the scaling has minimal negative consequences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Actually I would have disagree with this assessment. If you have looked at your children's textbooks you might be able to understand that they would contain many gigs worth of data even in their static representation. Add the interactivity and video available through iBooks Author and you won't even fit one equivalent textbook in 8GB. One of two things need to happen in my evaluation. One: the textbooks need to be delivered via a web browser, or two the size of the onboard storage needs to increase dramatically.
Jeez people. Is it HARD to google ibooks average size?
http://www.cultofmac.com/141364/most-ibooks-author-e-textbook-download-sizes-are-between-one-and-three-gigabytes/
Quote:
Check out how big the first eight textbooks available through iBooks are:
E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth – 965MB
McGraw Hill’s Algebra 1 – 1.09GB
Pearson’s Biology – 2.77GB
McGraw Hill’s Biology – 1.49GB
National’s Chemistry – 959MB
Pearson’s Environmental Science – 793MB
McGraw Hill’s Geometry – 1.22GB
McGraw Hill’s Physics – 1.25GB
So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.
I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
That's the rub. It doesn't have the same pixel density as the iPad. Things have to be redone.
No it doesn't because if it has the same pixel density as the iPhone 3GS so we KNOW that the physical size of ANY UI target will be large enough to meet Apple specs. Yes, it will be physically smaller than on the iPad but it will be large enough to meet the iOS UI spec.
Don't argue about stuff you don't understand please. This is called FUD. Every app properly designed for the iPad will work perfectly fine for the iPad Mini INCLUDING being large enough to interact with.
ONLY if someone violated the 44 point HIG recommendation might something be too small on the iPad Mini that could have snaked by on the iPad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Actually I would have disagree with this assessment. If you have looked at your children's textbooks you might be able to understand that they would contain many gigs worth of data even in their static representation. Add the interactivity and video available through iBooks Author and you won't even fit one equivalent textbook in 8GB. One of two things need to happen in my evaluation. One: the textbooks need to be delivered via a web browser, or two the size of the onboard storage needs to increase dramatically.
Jeez people. Is it HARD to google ibooks average size?
http://www.cultofmac.com/141364/most-ibooks-author-e-textbook-download-sizes-are-between-one-and-three-gigabytes/
Quote:
Check out how big the first eight textbooks available through iBooks are:
E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth – 965MB
McGraw Hill’s Algebra 1 – 1.09GB
Pearson’s Biology – 2.77GB
McGraw Hill’s Biology – 1.49GB
National’s Chemistry – 959MB
Pearson’s Environmental Science – 793MB
McGraw Hill’s Geometry – 1.22GB
McGraw Hill’s Physics – 1.25GB
So, an 8GB iPad mini can hold around 2-4 textbooks. Pearson's Biology blows past the 2GB limit that Apple has on iBooks so the McGraw Hill Biology textbook is probably more representative of the beefier textbooks.
I guessing that dynamically downloading the desired chapters from iCloud/school servers when needed will solve the issue of 3GB textbooks clogging up even 16-32GB iPads. It's recommended to keep chapter sized reasonable for performance. That works nicely with on-demand chapter downloads too.
I believe these are really dumbed down versions as we have already examined the comparison between the actual print versions of middle school science textbooks from both McGraw and Macmillan and there is no comparison to the richness of the data. The digital versions are significantly less comprehensive in terms of illustration, photographic content, graphic design and typography.
I don't see why that's an issue since it's considerably more interactive than a regular book. You determine if a student has read a book by testing them on it so you don't need to have the app run up a counter for the average time the app is open, average time on each page, results from chapter quizzes, etc. That is not to say it would not be a nice addition to the iBook model for textbooks and you can include URLs that could take a student to a webpage that could test their knowledge as they progress, but it's not a requirement for a text book.
How many classes do students have per semester that would require the extra large textbooks? For literature I recall having several smaller books, some classes no books, and only for the sciences were their beefy textbooks. I suppose i you are a hard science major in university and taking 6 classes for 18 credits you might find 8GB not enough for your digital textbooks as those would tend to have lots of diagrams, 3D views, and perhaps videos but should Apple consider the most advanced and obscure scenario they can for the start of this trend or should they start small and build up to it? I'm going with the latter. By the time digital books become the norm in a scholastic setting 128GB will probably be the minimum size you can get with your handheld device. Institutions are so to change.
Originally Posted by nht
…so we KNOW that the physical size of ANY UI target will be large enough to meet Apple specs.
iBook text sizes will need redone. They're designed with a larger screen in mind. Yes, I know you can resize much of the text, particularly with simple ePub files, but when it's a set size and the formatting depends on that size, making the book smaller requires them to be redone.
Edited because tirade, apparently.
What $50? It's $100 and might and rumor has it Google is bumping up for 8/16GB to 16/32GB which will make it a $150 difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waldobushman
At this point, the iPad environment is not available to build and support what is required for a fully integrated learning environment. No LMS (Learning Management System), no assessment tools, no individualized push technologies, and no content that would cover the educational standards, and no pedagogy and training to integrate the iPad into the curriculum. The future is promising but many years into the feature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
The thing about iBooks Author that we have come to realize is that there is no convenient way to observe what the student is doing or get any test results into a database. I would say that it is a dead end as far as education is concerned. Pretty, but not functional.
If you guys don't believe that the usual suspects are not porting their LMS to iOS...well...I dunno what to say. If you think Apple never thought about tests as part of iBook textbooks...well...I think you give Apple too little credit.
A good number of LMS suites are depending on their existing web clients but it doesn't take much foresight to guess that many are developing native iOS and Android apps. Blackboard bought TerriblyClever for $4M way back in 2009 and piloted their Blackboard Mobile Learn last year and it's now live.
http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Mobile/Overview.aspx
Note: I'm more aware of higher ed than K-12 stuff...
Yeah, but every major corporation I've ever dealt with used "shadow databases" to prototype new schema changes -- and often to model performance where new content or structure will have a major affect on activity.
Also, it is common practice to include "inactive" records in a database that beome "activated" at the throw of a switch -- like the Apple Store database after an announcement...
I suspect that an Apple mini iPad will churn the database servers -- and any new SKUs are already in the database as "inactive" records.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I don't see why that's an issue since it's considerably more interactive than a regular book. You determine if a student has read a book by testing them on it so you don't need to have the app run up a counter for the average time the app is open, average time on each page, results from chapter quizzes, etc. That is not to say it would not be a nice addition to the iBook model for textbooks and you can include URLs that could take a student to a webpage that could test their knowledge as they progress, but it's not a requirement for a text book.
There are lot of unknowns. For example we really don't know which Apple ID is going to be used to download the textbook and trying to integrated it with a different website for quizzes and progress evaluations is just another layer of complexity. The fact that most of the animations in iBooks is already using javascript you could just as easily deliver it within a web browser. I see the iBooks format as a compromised format to appease the publishing companies who have millions invested in hard cover print. The whole thing needs to be delivered over the web in a browser in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
iBook text sizes will need redone.
If the font size is an issue for the books then every iPad app will also be unusable. This strikes me as highly unlikely.
Are you 2 years old? Did you really think that changing my username in the quote is clever or funny? GTFU please.
Originally Posted by nht
If the font size is an issue for the books then every iPad app will also be unusable. This strikes me as highly unlikely.
It strikes me as highly unlikely that "every iPad app" will be unusable, but it doesn't preclude the need to change set font sizes in either books or apps.
Are you 2 years old? Did you really think that changing my username in the quote is clever or funny? GTFU please.
Why not calm down? It's called Mountain Lion auto-correct. I don't touch a thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
Also, it is common practice to include "inactive" records in a database that beome "activated" at the throw of a switch -- like the Apple Store database after an announcement...
Yeah but in those cases they know that the switch will be thrown, which is my point.
Paper textbooks suck because they weigh a ton and you have to carry the entire thing from August to June... even if your class doesn't use the entire book.
Digital textbooks solves the weight issue... and downloading only the chapters you need would solve the capacity issue.
I'm not sure how elementary school textbooks are now... but when I was a kid... we used the same English book all year. If they just split the book in half by semester... that would reduce file sizes by a large margin.
In college it was quite different. I had to buy a Calculus book... but I only used the first third of the book for my Calculus I class. I didn't need to take Calculus II and III but I had to carry the whole damn book!
It would have been nice to buy a smaller Calculus book that only covered just what I needed for that particular class. Or in the digital world... have a digital book here I could download each chapter as needed.