校園生活:蘋果引發教育新革命
Apple has entered the textbook market. The tech giant introduced iBooks textbooks a couple of weeks ago when it announced its iBooks 2 platform.
幾周前，蘋果公司在iBooks 2平臺的發佈會上正式推出iBooks，此舉表明這一科技巨頭正式進軍教科書市場。
They are digital books in a variety of subjects from astronomy to zoology taking in science, maths, history and geography.
電子教科書涵蓋了從天文學到動物學等多種主題，包括科學，數學，歷史和地理等科目。
Apple developed its iPad-based textbooks in conjunction with major textbook publishers. The company offers a collection of textbooks for high school students.
蘋果同一些知名教科書出版商展開合作，研發基於iPad平臺的教科書。目前蘋果已經推出了一套高中電子教材。
Apple claims it offers a "new textbook experience" and suggests its interactive iBooks textbooks are "the next chapter in learning".
蘋果表示將創造一場 “教科書新體驗”，並暗示這種互動式的電子教科書將會“開啓學習的新篇章”。
It sounds like good news for pupils and students. Think of it. No more carrying heavy backpacks full of textbooks. Every textbook you require can be stored on your iPad.
這聽上去對於中小學生來說是個好消息。想想看，不用再揹着裝滿課本的，沉甸甸的書包，因爲所有書都可以儲存在你的iPad裏。
No more having to buy expensive textbooks which you will only use for a year or two and then sell or give away.
也不必再去買那些昂貴的課本，這些課本只能用一兩年，之後不是賣掉，就是送人。
Of course there's a catch. You need to own an iPad and as you know, it is not cheap. You also need to buy digital textbooks, mostly priced each at $14.99 (94.74 yuan) or less.
當然凡事有利就有弊。你需要擁有一部iPad，衆所周知其價格不菲。此外你還要買電子課本，大多數定價不高於14.99美元（合94.74元人民幣）。
Textbook publishing was worth $8.7 billion in the US alone last year. Will digital books take over completely in education?
去年，單是美國的教科書出版業的市值就達到87億美元。那麼電子書將會徹底搶佔整個教育市場嗎？
Is learning going to evolve into something we do on an electronic tablet computer? You can appreciate the attractions.
我們正步入用平板電腦的學習時代嗎？你可以感受到這其中的魅力所在。
Instead of boring old textbooks which are quickly out of date you can have an interactive learning experience.
隨着那些無聊又陳舊的課本被迅速淘汰，你便可以體驗到互動學習的樂趣。
You can play videos, examine geometrical problems in 3D, listen to music and commentary, make notes and mark passages electronically. You can also share stuff on social networking sites with fellow students.
你可以播放視頻，利用3D來解析幾何難題，收聽音樂以及評論，在電子屏幕上記筆記，做文章註釋，還可以與同學在社交網站上分享資料。
The book is dead; long live the tablet computer.
傳統課本短命，平板電腦萬歲。
But wait a minute. Not so fast. Let's consider the evolution of learning. Thousands of years before books, man was depicting hunting scenes on the walls of caves.
但先等一下，別這麼快！我們先回顧一下學習的演變過程。在書籍出現前的數千年裏，人類一直都是在洞穴的牆壁上描繪捕獵場景。
As early as 2700 BC Egyptians were converting papyrus into thick forms of paper or parchment ready to receive markings from reed pens.
早在公元前2700年，埃及人便開始把紙莎草紙改進爲較厚的紙張或是羊皮紙，以便用蘆葦製成的筆記錄文字。
In the Middle Ages in Europe monasteries became centers of learning. While some monks ploughed and grew crops, brother monks laboriously copied and illustrated bibles by hand on vellum or parchment.
到了中世紀的歐洲，修道院成爲學習中心。當一些僧侶耕種農作物時，另一些同伴賣力地在牛皮紙或羊皮紙上抄寫聖經，並手繪插畫。
China developed printing, using signs cut into wooden blocks. Books were printed rather than written out by hand. Every candidate for the civil service boned up on Confucius' precepts in printed form.
之後，中國利用篆刻木塊製成字體模板發明了印刷術。至此書籍已可印刷出版而並非手工抄寫。所有文官的候選人都要用功研讀印刷成冊的孔子訓詞。
In 1273 a handbook for Chinese farmers and growers of raw silk was printed, according to Geoffrey Blainey, writer of A Very Short History of the World. Soon 3,000 copies were in circulation, at a time when the same task would have called for a year's labor by a monastery full of Italian monks writing out the books by hand.
《世界簡史》的作者傑弗裏?布萊尼表示，1273年，一本爲中國農民和養蠶者編寫的印刷手冊問世。不久，便有3000本書流通於世。當時，若是同樣一本書，則需要一間修道院裏所有意大利僧侶花費一年時間才能抄寫完。
The great leap forward in learning came thanks to the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz in Germany was perhaps the first European to print a book using not only a printing press but also metallic type.
人類學習歷史上的一大飛躍要多虧了印刷機的問世。來自德國美因茨市的約翰內斯?古滕貝格可能是第一位不僅使用機器印刷，還使用金屬字塊來印刷書本的歐洲人。
His techniques were copied and adapted. Thanks to the printing press, cheap books were possible.
他的技術被廣泛採納應用，因爲有了印刷機，書本纔會變得這麼便宜。
And the rest, as they say, is history. Will Apple revolutionize learning? That remains to be seen.
常言道，剩下的事情地球人都知道了。那麼蘋果會引領一場學習的變革嗎？讓我們拭目以待吧！
