So Apple has a smaller iPad. The price is $329. This is what was predicted and this turned out to be the price. The question is why offer a product that is fairly close in price to the full size iPad and substantially different from other devices that offer a small form factor (the Nexus 7). I happen to like the Nexus 7 and see it as a quality device at a cost of $200.
Dropbox has announced an extra 3 gigs free to “.edu” users. The conditions are outlined on this promotional page. As I understand the “basics”, you must establish an account with an .edu or identify your existing account to Dropbox indicating you also have a valid edu address. Your institution must register at least 25 individuals in this fashion. I must say I had some difficulty comprehending the rules for the additional levels.
Each Eligible Higher Education Institution will be assigned three numerical thresholds. These numerical thresholds will be different for each Eligible Higher Education Institution because the number of points required to reach a threshold has been statistically normalized to account for the fact that schools with larger enrollments are able to earn points faster than schools with smaller enrollments.
I have 5 gigs already although I used a gmail address to register (must have been another promotion). I will make the effort because it will help get my institution past the minimum.
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This is the kind of business practice that drives me crazy. I purchase a copy of software (MacFlux from Smith Micro). It was a good price and I sometimes explore options to the more expensive products I use (Dreamweaver). Today, I have a task I think would give me a chance to try MacFlux so I launch the product. I am told there is an update so I install the update. Now I am told I owe more money for the update. I have a valid serial key for a product I never used and this product has been deleted and replaced with a product I must now pay for again.
I had a discussion with a rep from Smith Micro (the company I bought the software from, but not the company responsible for the upgrade) and we agreed on the difference between an update and an upgrade. Note the terms as used here – my system check for an automatic update and I was given an upgrade (requiring a new license).
You would think the ethical thing would be to warn the user that the update would cost them some money OR to install a second version of the product allowing the user to retain the copy that was functional and already paid for.
P.S. – Beware. I purchased MacFlux from Smith Micro for $19. The upgrade comes from MacWare without notice of cost and the working version now costs $130. You will not receive an email – the opportunity to update resulting in an upgrade is initiated when you use the software.
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The free image editing option we suggest seems to change. First, there was Picnik – available through several online photo storage sites (e.g., Flickr) and eventually purchased by one service (Google if I remember correctly). Our next recommendation was Aviary. A form of this service is still available through some other services, but the original development effort has been curtailed. At this point, our recommendation is FotoFlexer. I understand you cannot complain about free. it just turns out that free is a moving target.
This piece from the Atlantic indicates that California legislature and gov have signed two laws that will subsidize the cost of textbooks for lower-division courses:
The new legislation encompasses two bills: One, a proposal for the state to fund 50 open-source digital textbooks, targeted to lower-division courses, which will be produced by California’s universities. (Students will be able to download these books for free or pay $20 for hard copies.) The other bill is a proposal to establish a California Digital Open Source Library to host those books.
Having written a couple of textbooks myself, my first questions was – how much would the state pay? I assume this would be a summer project. Then there are the other costs – will the state hire editors, photographers, pay for copyright permissions? Who will determine if the products generated are “competitive”? Will authors “bid” for the opportunity? How will experienced authors view this “opportunity”? Will the “open source” agreement extend to other states?
According to one source (Try News360 for multiple takes on this story), The law requires that the digital titles be protected under Creative Commons licenses, which means they can be accessed and used by teachers or students outside of California. Hmm.. – maybe I will be able to assign a free Intro to Psychology text in the near future.
I think this is an interesting experiment, but would think the state might have made the commitment to a smaller number of projects to see how things go. The assumption here is that market forces have not encouraged less expensive textbooks and this is one of those situations in which the government can do a better job. Do you really thing that publishing companies have not considered digital books (see MindShift blog post)?
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