
College Students Can Now Rent Textbooks Electronically From Amazon - tathagatadg
http://mashable.com/2011/07/18/amazon-textbook-kindle/
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keiferski
Speaking as a student, I'm still confused as to why we need the textbook
industry _at all_ for certain subjects. Is it really necessary to make an
annual book for subjects that don't change significantly from year to year?

I've personally seen new editions feature nothing but shuffling of the
contents. They've even started selling "loose-leaf" editions, meaning that
it's just a collection of binder-punched pages. Why? No new textbooks = no
used textbooks = no competition from third party vendors selling used
textbooks. No one wants to buy a bunch of pages in a binder.

Seems to me that an open-source textbook should be written once and updated
incrementally as needed. Up-to-date information could be available online for
those with slightly dated textbooks. Of course, the universities, McGraw Hill,
Chegg, Amazon, and numberless other interests wouldn't gain much from this
situation.

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reemrevnivek
Speaking as a student, I'm confused as to why you think your predecessors will
give you their textbooks in good condition, or even at all!

Some students mark up their textbooks. Others (like me) have a lot of books
that will be valuable long after I graduate.

The problem isn't that we don't need new textbooks every year, it's that we
don't need new editions every 3 years with updated numbers for the homework
problems and a new picture on the front. That system invalidates used books
that are in perfectly good shape, and should be abolished by professors who
will stand up to the bookstore and let them know that they don't want the new
edition.

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burgerbrain
As a former student, I don't think I've _ever_ acquired a single textbook that
_wasn't_ used. The vast majority of them were in flawless condition, the
others just had some highlighting that I found actually quite nice.

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sorbus
As a college student, I see a few problems with switching purely to electronic
textbooks. 1) I would have to verify in every class that it's okay to be using
a laptop or tablet - that's been the case in most of the classes I've had, so
it's unlikely to be a huge problem, but still. 2) It is extremely unlikely
that a laptop or tablet would be permitted in open-book tests (which, while
uncommon, do occasionally show up, and are invariably more difficult than
close-book tests). I would have to rent a textbook during the test, or arrange
to borrow one from another student taking the same class at a different time.
3) Physical textbooks are really, really good at random-access. This has often
been very useful when looking for constants without losing track of the pages
equations are on. While electronic textbooks do let you skip randomly between
pages, it would end up being a mixture of memorizing page numbers and looking
at the table of contents.

EDIT: removed issue four, because I completely missed that this is an addition
to the current kindle system. (Text was "4) Renting. There doesn't seem to be
an option to buy the electronic copy and have it forever. I might be unusual
in that I'm keeping several of my textbooks that are either directly related
to my major or very good, but still.")

On the other hand, there are some classes where I've hardly used the required
textbooks, or where I know I'm not going to need to review them, so electronic
textbooks could be useful for those. The problem is knowing in advance which
classes are which.

(I just checked how much my textbooks for the next semester will cost. Around
$700, used. Ouch.)

~~~
jamesbritt
_I just checked how much my textbooks for the next semester will cost. Around
$700, used. Ouch_

No kidding!

Years back, in college, I hunted around and bought a copy of the textbook
required for a course on discreet math. It was small and very expensive. Later
I learned that some enterprising students had gotten a copy from the school
library and, at $0.10/page, photocopied it (or at least the parts needed) and
saved an ass-load of money.

I have no idea if an open-book test would allow for bringing in a stack of
photocopied pages, but ...

~~~
ivan_ah
A friend of mine once brought a photocopied version of a 500p book to the open
book final exam. The prof was the author of the book and went up to the
student during the final exam.

"You photocopied my book???", and the student was "Yes, that is exactly what I
did." Then they had a bit of skirmish.

In the end, the prof backed off -- and that is a good thing. He made us buy
his 100$ book and, essentially, do proofreading for him. He was also a
visiting prof, so none of this 100$ was going to be recoverable next year...

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acabal
Nice idea, but the problem for me would be the screen. I used to spend hours
staring at my textbook back in the day. Hours spent staring at a backlit
screen like a laptop would give me a headache (and does today, when I spend
hours programming). But the e-ink offerings aren't there yet in terms of
usability for textbooks. They're great for novels, where progress is linear,
and bookmarks are search are rarely needed. But for a textbook, where I'm
often flipping to the index, back and forth between subsequent pages rapidly,
need color diagrams or big tables and diagrams (600x800 is often not enough
room for a large table or diagram), or flipping to one of the hundreds of
bookmarks that I've color-coded, e-ink and specifically the Kindle UI just
can't do it. Tablet-type hardware might have a better chance, but at the cost
of the backlight.

So if I was back in college, even though today I do all of my pleasure reading
on a Nook Simple Touch, I would still buy paper textbooks.

~~~
kellishaver
My problem is the exact opposite. I can't see to read _unless_ I'm looking at
a back-lit screen. For this reason, all of my books for the past year and a
half have been ebooks, read on an iPad.

I'm not sure what I would have done in college had I had the problems reading
then that I do now. At the time, my only option would have been a book on
tape, which is an absolute nightmare for random access and complex subjects,
or braille, which I don't know (though, admittedly, should probably learn).

Not that any of that is to discount what you're saying at all. I guess more
than anything i just wanted to share my experience. I can certainly see the
appeal of having a physical book over a digital copy, and that may well be the
preferred choice for the average person, but for a certain demographic, just
having the option of a digital version can be an almost life-changing
experience.

I remember the first night I got my iPad, after a year of not being able to
read a book unless I was tied to my computer/desk. I sat comfortably on the
couch and read a novel. I cried, I was so happy.

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greenyoda
An even better idea that's starting to gather momentum is free, open source
textbooks:

<http://creativecommons.org/tag/open-source-textbook>

The textbook industry definitely deserves to be put out of business for their
sleazy practices, like publishing new editions of basic textbooks every couple
of years so that students can't resell the old ones. (Are there really new
developments in basic calculus every couple of years?)

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joe_bleau
As a leach, I don't like it. This could be the beginning of the end of cheap
obsolete used textbooks. For years I've enjoyed going through bookstores,
especially in college towns, just to pick up interesting looking textbooks
dirt cheap.

~~~
neovive
One has to wonder how much longer the typical bookstore (in it's current form
factor) will be around. The large book retailers are already retrenching, but
hopefully a market still exists for the small, independent, bookstores that
add so much character to Main Street.

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jamesshamenski
This is a really strong back-to-school campaign. I can see this really
improving the sale of Kindles and igniting Amazon's Q3 results. Under ideal
scenarios, this could save a college student hundreds of dollars each
semester.

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tnip
I think it's a great idea, but at the same time, I'm wary to start jumping on
eTextbook renting simply because of my tech ADD - and because it's easier to
use a regular textbook. Sure, your textbook might be heavy, but you don't need
to be connected to a power source/be dependent upon an electronic device for
your materials.

~~~
farnsworth
I had to charge my Kindle one night every couple weeks with heavy usage. It
was never a problem at all.

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scrrr
I'm not very sympathetic towards the rental of DRM-locked text books. It just
seems wrong. Yes, I understand it takes money and effort to write and compile
a book, but since currently the prices of ebooks are way too high (after all
print, shipping and retail are mostly left out) I feel that the publishing
industry is moving towards what the music industry is today.

Everyone that has specialized knowledge, enthusiasts, professionals,
professors etc. should write their own books and articles and sell them
cheaply or give them out for free. Cut out the middle-man that is a publishing
company. They are no, longer, needed. They just aren't.

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alexmr
This seems like a great program. One friction point for e-textbooks seemed to
be the inability to sell them back at the end of the semester like normal
books. The reduced cost of a rental should help assuage that.

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candre717
Chegg, for many students, is still a better option. Great customer service.
Simple Process. Wide-spread adoption and availability of titles. Granted, I'm
a chegg user, but Amazon surely has a run for its money.

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maguay
If they can undercut CourseSmart's prices, this would be huge. I just paid
CourseSmart over $100 for a semester virtual rental of a textbook, and that's
way too expensive for an eBook. I don't mind paying for quality content, and
purchase apps and eBooks. But $100, and I don't even own the book, when the
paper copy costs only 20% more and you could keep it forever or resell it?
That doesn't make sense.

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0wnr
I expect we will also be seeing more cloud-based ebooks in the future, such as
those the bottom of the article indicates McGraw Hill has introduced. The same
way that gaming companies increasingly push a subscription-based service over
a singular single-player experience, a continual subscription to a cloud-based
ebook service would help avoid the inevitable mass piracy of the materials.

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kennethologist
I think this is brilliant! I wonder how many textbooks are available.
Something like this can really displace chegg.com, bookrenter et. al.

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derrida
STARTUP GODS: Deliver a solution that will smash the evil exploitative
textbook industry, whilst rewarding the authors and teachers.

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derrida
Protip: Buy from India. It's illegal, but you get a paper copy of a textbook
at about 10% of the price.

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shriphani
Thank you so much. Now, if only people begin releasing .mobi versions of their
books along with .pdfs

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Evgeny
I don't own a Kindle yet.

But this may be the last straw that will drive me to buy one.

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Apocryphon
Would this work on Kindle 3, or is Kindle DX the best for viewing such
textbooks?

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desigooner
This is a good sign of Amazon gearing up the Kindle store before the release
of their rumored tablet lineup.

