EdgarRothermich

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EdgarRothermich
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  • Apple to discontinue iBooks Author in July, plans the same for iTunes U in 2021

    EdgarRothermichEdgarRothermich
    I was a big fan of iWeb. Made building modest websites fun and easy. . 
    Funny you mentioned iWeb. That is the first thing that came to mind when I got the email from Apple today.

    I use iBooks Author since it came out in 2012 and published 28 books, with the exception of one, all in the Enhanced iBook format.

    I can't believe that Apple is doing this messed-up decision again. Who is running the show? Remember the debacle with Final Cut Pro X that cost Apple the lead in the video editing? The disaster upgrade of Pages, when they downgraded the app and took five years to come close to a feature parity of the old Pages 4? And yes, same thing with iWeb. A great Apple product that was just canceled with no replacement.

    Now the same disaster with iBooks Author. Pretending that Pages will be a substitute is a joke. No mention of the interactive features or the Enhanced iBooks format at all. 

    Even if a future Pages will have some features, what is the rush? That makes no sense. Why not release the new Pages with the updated features and announce then the demise of iBooks Author. What happened to the Apple policy of not talking about future products or updates. The announcement and the support page doesn't say anything about the interactive features, nothing. No encouraging word, not a single word (that I could find) to the authors and publishers that this feature will still be possible. Maybe some marketing genius figured out to release that strange information now so people can let off their steam based on speculation, and when the final hammer comes down, it will not be that big of PR disaster.

    I'm afraid, this announcement from today is just a smokescreen to hide the bigger, more painful decision. 

    Apple seems to discontinue the Enhanced iBooks format.

    bonobobavon b7cornchip