I'm watching Steve Jobs' interview for the Smithosian Institute.
He makes the point that eduction is preceived as "free" and, thus, parents don't pay much attention to the product (the schooling); they don't do comparison shopping. This is in contrast to automobiles, which is a large expensive, and for which vats amounts of information exists. Also, the automobile companies makret 24/7 about how their products are better than the competitors, unlike the schools. So, what I realized is that the iPad and its marketplace are partly an attempt to subvert the eduction system.
The iPad is the school and the (educational) apps and books are the education materials. And they surely are, and this is why iPads are being used as such. They are replacing--or, at least complimenting--the educational system.
I wouldn't be surprised if this was partly his intention with the products. Oh, hey, and it totally side-steps the political system; that is, educational reform via politics.
Y'all oughtta watch the video. I've linked to where the good stuff begins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=121ofj_l6vM&feature=player_detailpage#t=735s
To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process. Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!" Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."
Clever. Ironically, schools (and the branches of the military and government bureaus) are major buyers of iDevices.
As I argue here:
Regulation: Private Versus Public. This Week in Liberty, Episode 4. Guest: Rob (Autolykos)
Highly regulated government sectors 1. are harder to inspect because they're in a privileged position, so they don't open up and 2. because they are top-down regulated (instead of bottom-up) there is less of a point to shop around because the product is mostly the same, because the people are all trained the same way, use mostly the same materials, have the same procedures, etc.