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I'm no so sure about e-reading yet, but it's coming
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I am all for the lower cost. And I'm sure there will be some environmental impact, as well. My only concern is for people (like myself) who find it difficult to read long passages on a screen.
I have difficulties reading on a screen, mostly because I'm on the computer all day at work the printed page is easier on my eyes.I do see the usefulness in putting textbooks on e-readers. Not only will it be easier on kids' backs, instead of having to carry all those books in their backpacks, it will also be easy to update the textbooks. Even when I was in elementary school in the 80's we were always hearing that our textbooks were outdated.
My brother-in-law's significant other brought up a really good arguement for e-readers. He and my b-i-l went to Australia in the fall and he's a huge reader. If he were to bring enough books for him to read during their trip, he would literally need a whole nother suitcase. With the e-reader he was easily about to bring with him all the books he wanted.
I will still resist them to the very end. I need the feel and smell of a book in my hand. But for schools and traveling I see they are extremely beneficial.
I had a student tell me her books costs her 500 bucks this semester. I'm taking one class, for fun, and my two books are going to run about eighty. I'm all for electronic textbooks. Those textbook publishing companies seem evil to me. They have a captive audience. I don't require my students to buy many books...most of what I teach can be done without textbooks.
But I'd like to understand the pricing differential better before I just say ok everything needs to be digital. There's really no excuse for the vast difference in price. There's also no excuse for the excessive issuance of new editions - it's not rational that a new edition is needed every two years, UNLESS you are trying to gouge. We now have several statutory requirements relating to textbooks because of the pricing issues.
I don't know that digital textbooks will lower costs all that much. Some yes, in savings on materials and printing costs, but the content will still take the same amount of research, editing, and laying out on the page as a physical book.
Exactly. So what's going to happen is we're going to require this format that some people won't like as well as a book and then the prices will still be the same - though these statutes that are passing in various states are posited on the basis of lowering costs.What we should be doing if we're really concerned about textbook pricing is working on the reason why the prices are so high right now. One of those reasons is that publishers are trying to avoid a healthy used textbook market (which was definitely in play when I was in school) by issuing new editions all the time - then the students have to buy new.
OH! Mighty Digital Slayer!
Save Us!! from Final Digitation... puh leeze
Slight thread drift here: When I was in college I fondly remember Mr. Leavittt. When he passed out his list for class books he said, I tried to keep the humber of books down and to use texts the hopefully are available used. That was appreciated by all of us, let me tell you.Some professors had huge book lists, and some of the books that you had to buy you used only for a very short portion of the class. They acted as if THEIR class was the only one you had to buy books for!
I kind of love the idea of textbooks in digital format because they're so HUGE and HEAVY to tote around. It's not as if that will be the only option, right?
if that's the case e-readers need to become cheaper, otherwise textbooks will still cost too much.
janine wrote: "if that's the case e-readers need to become cheaper, otherwise textbooks will still cost too much."If you calculate the cost per semester over 4-5 years of college, that e-reader starts looking really cheap. Heck, an e-reader now cost about the same as a semester's worth of books when I graduated in 1993.
There was an article in the latest issue of Science and Technology on e-readers. It said that the main thing the tech needs to make it viable for textbooks is consistent pagination so they can be referenced properly. The same article also said that improvements are on the way for e-paper to allow for higher contrast between text & background. Color is in the works too.
those are some very expensive textbooks, i'm glad it's not that bad here.
A semester of USED engineering text books usually runs me $200 to $300 - and I don't always take full time credits. If I were at the beginning of my degree, rather than in my last semester, I would buy an e-reader for school. People I know who buy e versions of their textbooks pay about half price. The only problem is not all texts are available in e versions.
Well I don't like anything that is the only option. Not a bit.
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Califor...