Hello all, I've been looking at the iBooks Author software and was wondering what any users thought of it. From my reading it appears to work something like iWeb in ease of operation.

Any worts with the thing?

Hello all, I've been looking at the iBook software and was wondering what any users thought of it. From my reading it appears to work something like iWeb in ease of operation.

Any worts with the thing?

Do you mean iBooks Author (http://www.macworld.com/article/1165172/ibooks_author_fashions_multimedia_books_for_the_ip ad.html)?

Thanx Screature, I do mean iBooks Author .... didn't Apple have a lap top many years ago called the iBook? In any case, its the publishing software not hardware I'm asking about.

Thanx Screature, I do mean iBooks Author .... didn't Apple have a lap top many years ago called the iBook? In any case, its the publishing software not hardware I'm asking about.

Yes they did. There is also iBooks now which is their book reading software.

I haven't used it but this article points to a significant potential reason why you might want to think twice.

Apple's iBooks Author Software: Just Say No (http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/productivity_apps/232500227)

Buried in the iBooks Author software license agreement is a contractual requirement that gives Apple considerable power over content that you create using the software...

The end-user license agreement for iBooks Author, Apple's new tool for creating electronic textbooks, stipulates that works created with the software can be sold only through Apple--free titles are exempted--unless Apple provides written consent. It also states that Apple may refuse to sell electronic textbooks created with its software and that content creators cannot claim lost profits for rejected works....

So if they for whatever reason don't want to publish the authors work... then its for nothing? You can't turn around and use the rejected material elsewhere? Or did I miss the point?

Is the real issue here what Rps wants to do with the content he creates?
I believe iBooks Author lets you output in most of the common out formats (.epub and .pdf etc.) which allows you to use it anywhere anytime without any "hooks" or obligations.

The potential issue that can come into play is if you wish to publish the material for commercial purposes, and then only if it is in the "Apple proprietory format" which allows interactivity and embedded media such as audio and video files. In this format the requirement is that you publish your content thru the Apple iBook Store, they get 30% for hosting the content in their Store and because they are hosting they have some rights to the content as the Electronic Store selling it for you.

If you dig deeper I think you will find the use of this application may not be an issue, depending on how you wish to use the content.

DavidH

Thanx Screature, David, Chimpur for your replies. It would seem there are few technical issues if I live in the Apple world. My idea is to create an archive for my masters studies in a book format. The question then is what constitutes publishing, as any prepublishing before my review would violate student protocols. I need to research this further.

So if they for whatever reason don't want to publish the authors work... then its for nothing? You can't turn around and use the rejected material elsewhere? Or did I miss the point?

That's what I gather at least not in the iBook Author format.

Thanx Screature, David, Chimpur for your replies. It would seem there are few technical issues if I live in the Apple world. My idea is to create an archive for my masters studies in a book format. The question then is what constitutes publishing, as any prepublishing before my review would violate student protocols. I need to research this further.

Pages will export into a more standard (but less bells and whistles) epub format. If what you're dealing with is mainly text (I haven't tried this with more complicated documents containing illustrations and charts etc.) it will make a nicely compact .epub file that you can load onto whatever ereader you have that will permit it.