Sorry, U.S. accounts ONLY! |
Suitable for mathletes |
What's the Motive behind the Ban?
Several reasons have been conjectured online as to why locals can't access e-books from the world's biggest bookstore. It looks like some decision-makers in Singapore and Malaysia are behind this ban to protect their vested business interests. If this is truly the case, then this augurs badly for the writing community or local publishing industry, especially for Singaporeans and Malaysians who plan to publish e-books under Amazon or iBooks. Interestingly, such a restriction doesn't apply for apps, though.
No Singapore! |
Few Value-for-Money Apps
With all these restrictions in place, one wonders whether this is the main reason why there have been few decent Singapore math apps (and far fewer math e-books) on both Amazon and iTunes so far. Presently, most math apps by locals on App Store are of little value—most just give away a sample chapter, or the Contents page, of their printed textbooks, unlike the paid Singapore math apps produced mainly by non-locals.
Singapore Math iBooks
Last week, I released two Singapore math books on iTunes; again, students, teachers, and parents in Singapore are unable to purchase them, because the titles are not available in the Singapore store. They need to have a US account to buy them.
App Store: https://itun.es/us/JCU84.l Google play: http://tinyurl.com/pqfeh9s |
It's an irony that our own local math students and teachers can't purchase Singapore math e-books, when others outside the country can freely and conveniently do so. The last thing we want is another ban that forbids us to assess mathematical knowhow, which has zero correlation with politics, democracy, or terrorism.
Google Play as a Last Resort
However, all isn't lost for those who still wish to access their free or paid Singapore math e-books online. They could download or buy them from Google play, if they are available there.
App Store: https://itun.es/us/fP384.l Google play: http://tinyurl.com/my8q3dt |
At a time when the days of printed boring math books are numbered, and more students and teachers are switching to smartphones and tablets as a new platform for learning and teaching, restricting them to buying or downloading math e-books online is simply a dozen steps backwards to encouraging local writers—often stifled by politically correct local publishers and faux math editors—in reaching out to a wider local readership and global audience.
Math and math education must be free and be freely available, not to be dictated by some folks with a profit agenda.
Math and math education must be free and be freely available, not to be dictated by some folks with a profit agenda.