Are Digital Textbooks the Future?

Those of us old enough to remember Dick Tracy were dazzled by his wrist radio. Now it looks like that same demographic might be dazzled by paper textbooks being replaced by digital ones, specifically on the iPad. Many school districts and colleges have already embraced Kindle-type technology. However, the bigger tidal wave of change is forming farther out to sea.

In a thought-provoking article in Campus Technology, headlined Is the iPad Ready To Replace the Printed Textbook?, we see this rather dramatic statement: "After trying out the Apple iPad for a short period--about three weeks--three out of four college freshmen said they'd be willing to purchase an Apple iPad personally if at least half of the textbooks they used during their college career were available digitally, according to the results of a classroom poll at Abilene Christian University."