Eddy Cue is at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in lower Manhattan testifying in the Department of Justice’s e-books antitrust case, and he’s been sharing more information on the work that went into developing iBooks prior to its launch in 2010.
Cue reveled that Steve Jobs, then Apple’s CEO, chose to give away a free copy of Winnie-the-Pooh not just because he liked the book, but because its colorful illustrations showcased the capabilities of digital e-books in the iBooks app.
“It had beautiful color drawings, that had never been seen before in a digital book,” Cue said, and of course, Apple’s new iPad was the perfect device to read them on. Cue also revealed that Jobs chose to demonstrate Ted Kennedy’s True Compass memoir on stage during the iPad event because the Kennedy family “meant a lot to him.”
Jobs was also heavily involved in the design of iBooks, and it was his idea to add the virtual “page curls” that give the illusion of turning real pages when flicking through a book, Cue said. Unfortunately, those could disappear before the end of the year when Jony Ive’s new vision for a “flatter” iOS begins to reach Apple’s other iOS apps.
Source: AllThingsD
