Apple may have done it again. In what appears to be yet another textbook game-changing move by the company, Apple has laid the groundwork for reinventing the school textbook and forever changing how they’re published, sold, and interacted with. As long as you have an iPad or iPhone, that is.

Yesterday, Apple released iBooks 2, a potentially revolutionary update to its primary reading application iBooks. The application, available for download in the App Store for iPad and iPhone (but not, disappointingly, for Mac or Windows) offers something very special in addition to standard fare, like the ability to highlight and annotate text by swiping or simply tap words to get definitions.

For the first time, a dedicated e-reader will be able to display full-color, interactive, multimedia content. Imagine, if you will, a textbook that has hundreds of pages of written content interspersed with supplemental audio, video, and three-dimensional diagrams that can be touched, rotated, and explored.

For many students, this could be the last breath of the traditional printed textbook and the first step on a remarkable journey of affordable, immersive, and fully-engaged interactive learning.

If that’s not enough, iBooks 2 also adds some familiar iOS gestures for textbook interaction, including tapping to select, pinch-and-spread to zoom, rotation to switch between text and multimedia. The upgrade also adds the ability to turn notes, highlights, and annotations into an interface that resembles a series of browsable index cards.

(The irony of Apple’s decision to use old-school visual interface metaphors to make things look and feel more recognizable and accessible — for example, index cards for iBooks notes and, in Mac OS X Lion, a paper desk calendar for the iCal app and a paper address book for the Address Book app — is duly noted, though not universally appreciated.)

iBooks 2 Simplifies E-Book Publishing, Gives Authors More Power

New iBooks will be published with iBooks Author, a free layout and presentation application only available for Mac (sorry, Windows) that gives authors unprecedented editorial control unavailable in competing e-book platforms. Designers with some coding chops can also build widgets in HTML5 and JavaScript.

Apple’s grand plan will draw individual authors and textbook presses alike — including education publishing giants Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — into a development and publishing ecosystem that begins and end with Apple. And, as with everything it does, that’s just how Apple likes it. After all, it’s not just about engaging students, it’s about engaging everyone involved in education and publishing, winning their hearts and minds, and getting them to buy into Apple — and their Macs, iPads, and iBooks.

For critics of Apple, this is yet another reason to avoid the hungry corporate giant and decry the company that tells people how they should work, play, and live their lives. For Apple supporters, this is yet another master stroke, conceived by Steve Jobs before his death, that promises to make life better by making learning a more comprehensive, effective, and enjoyable experience.