Piracy is a legitimate concern in the digital age, as more media becomes available at just the click of a mouse button. According to Softpedia.com via The LA Times, Apple is already taking steps to head-off piracy on its new iPad, introduced last month.

iPad textbooks are a buzz-worthy feature of Apple's new product. (photo via PCWorld)

While the product has yet to actually be available for purchase, one of the biggest buzz-worthy features will be the availability of iPad textbooks. College students will be able to access a number of textbooks from a number of publishers with ease. And while there will be an upfront investment of at least $500, the base purchase price of the iPad, textbook costs will be significantly lower for the download when compared to paying face value at the campus bookstore.

Even with a cheaper price tag, iPad textbooks could still fall victim to piracy, which is why Apple is employing the FairPlay digital rights management system (DRM) to ensure media in its new iBookstore are safe. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple unveils the iPad. (via Engadget)

Student might very soon be handing over a portion of their student loan checks to Apple. As if Macs, iPods and iPhones weren’t already wildly popular with the collegiate crowd, Steve Jobs’ announcement today of the company’s long-anticipated new product, the iPad, will surely be on the must-have school supply list upon its release sometime in 2010 (still unknown at this time).

McGraw-Hill’s CEO, Harold McGraw III, told CNBC that the company’s textbooks will be made available for the on the new iPad (previously thought to be called the Apple Table or iSlate). Additionally, during Steve Jobs’ live presentation, it was announced that other textbook partners would include publishers Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillian, and Hatchett Book Group.

While the Amazon Kindle has been considered to be the next big revolution in e-readers with a possibility of taking over the textbook market, it seems completely plausible that the new iPad from Apple could fulfill that role much more quickly.

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iPad iBooks and Kindle DX for Textbook Comparison

Curious how the budding fight between iPad and the Kindle will play out in regards to being used as an e-reader for textbooks? Take a look at this side-by-side comparison of the two devices, weighing the pros and cons for college students.

iPad Textbooks Protected by FairPlay DRM in iBookstore

Apple is already taking steps to head-off piracy on its new iPad, introduced last month. Even with a cheaper price tag, iPad textbooks could still fall victim to piracy, which is why Apple is employing the FairPlay digital rights management system (DRM) to ensure media in its new iBookstore are safe.

Within the next few days, Apple is expected to release its newest multimedia gadget, the Tablet. This device will allow users to play games, surf the web, watch TV, check out the latest headlines from The New York Times, or read their textbooks.

Supposedly, education publisher McGraw-Hill is discussing a partnership with Apple. The goal is to create e-book versions of its textbooks on the Tablet, similar to the textbooks that are now available on Amazon’s Kindle.

It is quite obvious why McGraw-Hill would want their books and services on the Tablet.

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The start of a new semester means brand new school supplies. And the best part of school supplies for me is the new notebooks. They are full of blank pages that I can fill up with doodles when I’m bored in class, or I mean blank pages to take notes on during class.

Either way, I like notebooks. I also use them to write down my thoughts before I go to bed at night. I usually look for interesting or unique notebooks. Sometimes I take a regular spiral-bound notebook and design my own cover.
I’m actually in need of a new journal for 2010. I went to a local bookstore where I usually get my journals, but I couldn’t find one I liked. I had decided to make my own, but then I found Attic Journals.

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Move over Chegg.com. Barnes & Noble is entering the textbook rental arena.

Barnes & Noble is the largest bookstore chain in the country and has been the top selling chain for the past six years. Barnes & Noble sells most of its books through its almost 800 bookstores. However, its quickly growing website also offers over one million titles, and a new line of campus bookstores called Barnes & Noble College Bookstores operates at 636 colleges and universities.

So obviously, Barnes & Noble is a big company. And now, in an effort to help students combat the rising cost of college textbooks, Barnes & Noble is starting to rent its textbooks.

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My favorite part of the semester is the end. Not because I am finished with classes – although that is a plus – but because I get to sell some of my textbooks back to the bookstore and get some of my money back. Sure, I still end up spending a ton of money buying my books and coming up with a deficit no matter how much money I get by selling them, but at least I get a little cash back.

But what if there was a way to avoid the whole spending-way-too-much-money-for-books-I-plan-on-only-using-for-a-semester-anyway thing? What if I could rent my textbooks for next semester? Well, actually, I can.

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Winter break is amazing. We sleep in until noon every day, catch up on the list of books we have wanted to read, spend most of our days with family and friends, and have absolutely no responsibilities. It’s the second best time of the school year, second only to summer break because summer break lasts three months instead of one.

Sadly, winter break comes to a screeching halt in late January and we have to go back to school. It can be quite a shocking experience. Sunday you are still sleeping in until noon and spending your days completely carefree. Then Monday rolls around: Your alarm goes off at 8:00 in the morning, your first professor passes out the thickest and most demanding syllabus you have ever seen, and you are left wondering what happened to your life?

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Obesity is considered an epidemic in America. Over 34 percent of adults are considered obese. How did this happen? They didn’t turn 18 and magically gain weight. Unfortunately, a large percentage of these adults were overweight or obese as children as well.

Now, one elementary school in North Carolina has started a program to combat childhood obesity and illiteracy.

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At the prestigious prep school, Cushing Academy, just about 90 miles from Boston, the library is getting a complete makeover. The once traditional library at the 144-year-old school has gotten rid of its collection of 20,000 books in order to make room for a new digital library, according to The Boston Globe.

Book stacks are being replaced with flat-screen TVs, laptop study cubes, and electronic reading devices. And you can’t have a digital learning center without coffee, right? So Cushing Academy is also shelling over $50,000 for a cafe that includes a $12,000 cappuccino and espresso machine.

“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus. “We’re not discouraging students from reading. We see this as a natural way to shape emerging trends and optimize technology.’’

Talk about keeping up with the times.

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The Bizzell Library at the University of Oklahoma might not be in the Top 10 Largest Libraries, but it sure is pretty!

I go to the University of Oklahoma and we have a big library! When you combine all eight of our libraries on campus, we have slightly under five million books. I have gotten lost in the main library, Bizzell Library, on way more than one occasion. Usually, I won’t even venture into the library unless I have a friend to go with me or a map to guide me to my location. I know it seems pathetic, but unfortunately, I am being completely serious.

Imagine my surprise when I found that the University of Oklahoma was not in the Top 10 Largest College Libraries. It’s not even in the Top 25. Personally, I’m terrified of what I’m about to show you, but…

I now present, for your viewing pleasure, a list of the Top 10 Largest College Libraries in the USA, complete with how many books they have in their collection.

1. Harvard University: 15,826,570 (Cambridge, MA)

2. Yale University: 12,368,757 (New Haven, CT)

3. University of Toronto: 10,536,868 (Toronto, ON) Read the rest of this entry »