At an event packed with several hardware announcements, Apple's iBooks Author application for Mac also got an update today adding new templates and the ability for authors to use their own fonts and add mathematical expressions and multi-touch widgets.
Authors can also publish updates to their ebooks through iBooks Author. Users will be notified of available book updates through the iBooks iOS app.
iBooks Author was first released in the Mac App Store in January and allows users to create electronic textbooks or books of any other kind for publishing in Apple's iBookstore. The app is free and requires a Mac running OS X 10.7.2 or later.
The updated iBooks Author will be available for download starting today through the Mac App Store [App Store].
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Is there still no Preview App? I was expecting some sort of announcement in regards to this. In short I want to be able to view/edit pdf's saved on the Preview application on my iMac/Macbook. This is a major oversight....
There are many instances where access to an iBook on a Mac is needed. This is particularly the case for students who might be doing multiple things and need to reference the iBook on the Mac while writing a paper, designing a poster, working on a science project, code, etc.
But it is not only students. If you are using an iBook to learn a new piece of software or do other things on a Mac, you are out of luck.
I view this lack of iBook access from the Mac, along with other non Mac accessible apps, as a lack of insight on the part of Apple in how people actually use Apple products.
The snide remark during the 10/24 presentation for the new iMac about how - 'for those customers who still need it, we make a portable CD player - is a little window on how Apple is floating in its own bubble more and more.
Before Apple fans get all over me on this, I am an Apple fan, have owned or worked on dozens of Macs since 1987 and have owned or do own many other Apple products over the years from digital cameras to iPods and Apple TV. I say this because I want Apple to succeed.
I have seen this before. Apple and Adobe did the same thing for many years. If you made something in an Adobe product, the only formats it exported to were previous Adobe formats of the same software. It took a decade but, Adobe figured out that, people needed to export work they made to other formats and it was a good thing. It made Adobe look good. Look at Adobe now. It dominates.
Apple just does not seem to realize that printed matter (or whatever we are calling digital now) can be read in many places on many devices. If Apple wants to dominate that world, iBook Author made books need to go to all of Apples products and all the other major players too. Kindle, Android, et al. Even if it means making an iBook reader app for those other formats.
Hallelujah.
EDIT: Not so hallelujah. Support is incredibly weak (see attachment). I'll be sticking with LaTeX.