Textbook publishers agree on iPad deals

Specifically, publishers are in talks with ScrollMotion, the company behind, among other things, the very well-done Iceburg Reader for iPhone, to develop text-prep and other study guides for the iPad. McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt K-12, Pearson Education and the Washington Post Co.’s Kaplan Inc. are named in the article.

John Lema, chief executive of ScrollMotion, called the iPad’s introduction “…the beginning of handheld education.”

Of course, the iPad’s reception and performance in the education market is unknown, and the device faces competition from inexpensive netbooks, systems fully entrenched in an existing system, or networks and budgets that don’t allow for new purchases.

Still, we imagine the average college student being able to purchase textbooks with an iPad, and carry only that device across campus. Plus, publishers would be able to dodge the resale of used books by campus bookstores — which doesn’t generate any money for them. Finally, we can imagine an app that allows professors to push notations or assignments to students’ iPads or even individual books.

Tags: campus campus bookstores company device Education education market houghton mifflin Iceburg individual books iPad ipads iPhone John Lema kaplan inc pearson education reader ScrollMotion study washington post co