
Apple unveils iTunes U for iPad - gadgetgurudude
http://www.bgr.com/2012/01/19/apple-unveils-itunes-u-app-for-ipad/
======
moxiemk1
This announcement in particular stood out as meaningful to me, because it
seems with the iTunes U app, Apple is taking on Blackboard.

There are few products that, as a student, more directly inhibit education
than Blackboard. Ripe for disruption? More like rotting on the ground.

~~~
Groxx
We can only hope. My university use(d|s) a competitor (sorry, name escapes me,
though I supported it for a year or two) that was also crap. It's _terrifying_
just how horrible these systems are.

~~~
mdwrigh2
Was it Moodle by chance? That's the only competitor to Blackboard I've ever
seen.

~~~
mminer
The university I attend recently switched to using Desire2Learn, a competitor
which for many years was fighting a legal battle with Blackboard. I haven't
used the software extensively yet, but my first impressions are that it's
considerably better than the embarrassingly poor system employed before.

~~~
Groxx
D2L: That was the one, thanks :) It did a lot, but we also had to do an
_enormous_ amount by hand because it was simply impossible to automate <x>.
And rather mind-numbing pain whenever someone got married, and their name
and/or email address changed.

------
algorithms
I think Apple has the potential to change the way we handle information in
both schools and hospitals (and of course private practices). Both of these
are usually still using outdated Hardware/Software from ~2000 so they will
have to be replaced in the near future.

I just don't know if it's good for a school to buy into a closed environment,
like the one Apple provides.

~~~
ceol
Don't most schools already buy into Microsoft's closed environment?

~~~
unreal37
Does Microsoft charge you a fee to develop and sell an app? No. But once
you're locked into the iApps, iBooks, iTunes U, iUniverse - Apple gets its 30%
off the top. And no alternatives are allowed.

~~~
redrobot5050
Uh, yes, Microsoft DOES charge you a fee...it's called "paying out the ass for
your tools".

What did Visual Studio Enterprise cost last time I looked for a small company
(like a start up)? $1600 a pop. More than what's needed for a Mac Mini, an
iPod Touch, and a Apple Developer License/Cert.

The same tools (XCode) cost $5.

(And you'd still have to pay for your hardware/OS on top of that $1600). And
that's not counting MSDN fees, either.

Make no mistake: Microsoft milks its marketshare of developers just as much as
anyone else. It's just a different way of pricing.

~~~
frankPants
Mircosoft is also working towards launching it's own walled garden with a
70/30 split, from what I hear, due in late 2012. So then, they'll be a double
stab

------
teeray
So, who else just downloaded more courses than they can possibly manage to
watch?

------
bipartitegraph
Wasn't this always there?

~~~
teeray
The video lectures were there, and the UI was the same as watching a podcast.
Abstracting iTunes U into its own app allowed Apple to add course materials
without it cluttering up the "Videos" app.

------
tikhonj
Now we just need iTunes U for Linux... Or better yet, the universities using
it should provide the lectures in some open format as well.

~~~
frankPants
So write it.

