Apple-branded TV, digital textbooks possibly in works.
John MacDougall / AFP-Getty Images
And we thought the iPad was big. In his forthcoming biography on Apple’s founder, Walter Isaacson gives readers subtle hints about new technology and gadgets that may be in the works at the company. Jobs disclosed to Isaacson his ideas for reinventing television. “It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.” He also discussed plans for transforming textbooks, eyeing the $8 billion a year industry. Jobs thought the process of states certifying textbooks was corrupt and economically inefficient. “If we can make textbooks free, and they come with the iPad, then they don’t have to be certified,” he told Isaacson. “The crappy economy at the state level will last for a decade, and we can give them an opportunity to circumvent that whole process and save money.”