Let's start with the Apple app. It was always going to happen and is already happening with other initiatives but when Apple set their sights on something, you know it's going to be done properly. Remember the good old days when you had to lug a bag full of textbooks around campus. I was lucky because I was in hostel and I could get my books during breaks but the dayboys literally had to carry up to 10 kilos of former trees on their backs. Now imagine walking around with just an iPad which has everything from a calculator to all your textbooks and notebooks all installed in that piece of metal. Not only does it preserve resources and your back structure but it will also turn out to be cheaper. Textbooks electronically are much cheaper than hard copies.
href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/apple-unveils-tools-for-digit
al-textbooks/" target="_blank">This New York Times article summarizes the announcement quite nicely if you want a closer look. From an investor's point of view, if Apple gets this right, it will print money. Not only will they get royalties for every textbook sold (it's a massive industry) but if it becomes the norm, every single school and student will have to buy an iPad. It's the hardware where Apple make their big bucks.