Where will HMH Riverdeep EMPG WhatHaveYou go, now that Barry O'Callaghan is no longer the biggest fish in the sea?
John Paulson, the man who saw a bargain in EMPG debt and sucked it up on the cheap, does not need to know a great deal about publishing educational materials. There are plenty of people already in place at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who can handle the business.
And handle it they are.
The iPad is but newly born, and already HMH is on board with ScrollMotion Inc. to develop software applications for the tablet device. They are banking on the iPad doing far more than the Kindle ever could. Seeing a possibility for the iPad in the classroom, perhaps replacing bulky textbooks, HMH will do what it takes to make their materials iPad ready.
No one can predict what the future of textbook publishing will be. Perhaps the iPad will be rejected by students who prefer hardbound books that can hold bookmarks to note key pages, and bright yellow highlighter that springs off the page when it's time to cram for a test.
Yet students are welded to their iPods, and it isn't much of a stretch to imagine that they are loyal to Apple devices because Apple meets their needs in very cool ways. If any company is going to have a shot at attracting the school-going public, it would be Apple.
A business has to take risks if it is to grow and survive into the future. HMH is only doing what a well-run firm would do in the same situation, and it's no surprise that their competitors are swimming in the same lane.
1 comment:
I think it is fascinating to imagine what possibilities the iPad will bring to the classroom, but question its immediate impact. Read more at
http://www.ededco.com/technology/ipad-in-the-classroom/
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