
“The $300 textbook is dead,” says the CEO of textbook maker Pearson - respinal
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/8/2/20750863/john-fallon-pearson-education-textbook-digital-aida-teachers-kara-swisher-recode-decode-podcast
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4ensic
Granted it's a rental, but at least a hardbound book could be resold. The
rent-seekers at Pearson cut their supply chain to almost nothing and still
make a handsome profit from their captive audience.

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situational87
Not sure that's better, when I was a college student living in poverty I was
expected to buy $100-$300 books and at the end of the semester I would sell
them back for $5-$20. Used pricing was never different than new, and the "17th
edition" scam meant you often couldn't sell books back at all.

I just started stealing textbooks shamelessly, and have zero regrets about it
because I would not have finished college without those small crimes.

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todd8
Did that mean that other people didn’t get to finish? Or did it mean that they
simply had no choice to pay for the book you stole and then again for one of
their own?

Is this that different from picking a victim and demanding that he or she hand
over the money you lack for a textbook?

~~~
NahJustDeadpool
It is probably more along the lines of downloading/pirating a pdf version, or
scanning and printing an entire textbook.

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Causality1
Gotta have a new math textbook every year. Wouldn't wanna miss out on all the
new math.

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dev_dull
“If you have an old version you’re good on all of the content, except the
questions at the end will be different. So you’ll need a new book to do the
homework.”

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tsomctl
Or go to the library and photocopy the questions. I had a math instructor
literally tell us to buy the old edition and photocopy the questions from the
library.

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rasz
The usual trick is your math teacher was commissioned to write/update one
chapter of said book, incentivizing him to push new versions every semester.

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szaroubi
Seems like an interesting model and platform. I mean, the digital version is
really accompanying the student throughout his/her journey. and if the
publisher can not only tap into it, but be part of the ritual of studying. the
student will then go back to it. the publisher can easily upsell extra
services (correction, tutoring, exam prep, you name it).

~~~
respinal
Yes, plus apps so that students can participate in different activities. I
personally like the electronic version of books. It is portable and
convenient. Specially in the STEM fields. Those books are massive, so carrying
them around isn’t an easy task. Also, you can search thing faster with an
electronic version. This is good for the new students. Unfortunately, I had to
buy the expensive books back when I was studying.

