So which textbook would you want?

[sleigh]

I mentored an Honors student's capstone project -- which was a study of the state of e-publishing. Jeff gave his presentation yesterday, which went very well, and during the Q&A period, one of the students in the audience mentioned that in his chemistry class, he'd been given the choice of either buying a printed copy of the textbook or an e-book. The printed textbook was $150; the e-book was $100.

Yeah, yeah: textbook prices are insane... but that's another topic. When you can get a textbook for $50 less, you'd obviously jump at the chance, right?

Not so fast. The student went on to say that it was far easier to get to the charts and tables at the back of the book in the print version, that it was faster to move to a particular page in the print version, that he could mark up the page if necessary. He also noted that the e-book was essentially a 'rental' -- for his $100, he had access to the book via a password through a web server for the semester. After the semester ended, his password would be retired and he would no longer be able to access the book. Nor could he download the file directly to his computer; it resided always on the server, and to access it also meant that he had to have internet access.

He said that the first semester he chose the cheaper route; for his second Chem course, he chose to get the book -- since he then had a book he could either choose to keep for future reference or sell as used and recoup some of his money.

Don't know how common that experience is in the textbook industry, but that singular experience doesn't seem to be much of a bargain to me. I'd take the book every time, myself, given those two choices.

What about you? Are there better e-textbook options out there?

Comments

[parsleigh.livejournal.com]

Another advantage of the printed copy is that it can be resold as a used book.

[gundo.livejournal.com]

Is that a used or new textbook? Seems I could get a used textbook close to what they wanted for the e-book.

However, let's assume I couldn't. If this was for a gen-ed that I had no interest in beyond the class, I might consider the e-book. If this was my major? There's no way I'd buy an e-book I didn't own completely.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

In this case, it was a Chemistry major, but yeah, I'd do the same if it were a one-time, gen-ed course. And yep, I'd be looking for used copies.

[casaubon.livejournal.com]

I'd get the printed copy. Probably a second-hand copy for less than the price of the e-book.
If second-hand prices are more than the cost of an e-book, then it makes even more sense to buy the printed copy.

The only way such a 'rental' approach could work is if a publisher made *all* their texts available for a one-cost deal. I might go for that. So long as I was allowed to print out a reasonable chunk of each book.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

As I recall, the student mentioned that you could print out one page at a time if you wanted to do so -- which means that theoretically you reproduce the entire book that way... thought that'd probably cost as much as or more than the textbook and wouldn't be anywhere near as convenient.

[spaceoperadiva.livejournal.com]

I had some upper level classes that required several expensive specialty textbooks. We only used certain sections of these books. They were not easy to sell back because the demand was so low. Ebooks that allowed printing of sections would have been great.

[slaynsoul.livejournal.com]

When I can manage it, I actually prefer both. A lot of the time I like to have the book with me on campus, but would rather not have the extra 20 lbs of textbooks in my bag. An ebook is perfect for that type of situation where you only need to look at a few things, or will only be using it conveniently for a few hours. I, too, prefer the actual book for studying and reading, but those I tend to do at home, rather than hauling the text where ever I go.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I certainly understand that, but isn't having to buy both print and e-book versions of the same textbook outrageously expensive?

[slaynsoul.livejournal.com]

I find ways around buying the ebook. Usually a friend already has a copy. I still buy the print tho.