iEmpower

Last week's announcement of Apple's new publishing program iAuthor (for Mac) sparked a lively debate on the internets about the role of technology, specifically tablets, in the classroom.  While I found most of the discussion to be supportive of what many called the 'evolution' of education, I also saw within my own social network a small, but vocal group of people that chose to highlight the negatives, specifically, Apple's power to censor and profit from the creations of others. While I can certainly understand this perspective, my opinion is that Apple has found a new way to empower people to create and share their own personal works of 'art'.  Apple did this with music, then apps, and now with books - the progression makes sense.

Yes, I admit, there is a cost to doing business, and the potential for Apple to censor content is not exactly an American value, but the technology they are providing with iAuthor may also give millions of people the ability to tell and share their story using technology in a way that was previous not possible.  For example, think of elementary school teachers who could create interactive lessons, or help their students write a creative story that could be shared and downloaded by friends and family.  Or consider a small business that wants to publish a product manual or other documents via the tablet.  There are so many ways that people can use this tool to build something new or better, and it's because Apple's platform lowers the cost of business by putting technology into the hands of the masses.

By no means am I an Apple fanboy (though I do own an iPhone and iPad), but I do respect and admire how they have chosen to design their products with the 'average' end user in mind.  iAuthor is just the next step in the evolution of usable software, and the intent of products like this are worthy of emulation.

~Marc