Filed under: EDUC 685
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-books26-2008aug26,0,6565128.story
This story raises the issue is e-textbooks really worth the price. Our class deals with technology and I thought it would be nice story to share. A study was done which examined the price difference between buying the hardcopy and downloading online. I wasn’t aware of the fact once you buy the electronic version of the book it will eventually expire and typically in 180 days. If you buy the hardcopy of course you can keep that forever and possibly reference it again. Electronic books are roughly half the price but you can’t sell it back to the bookstore and hopefully get 50% back. Once you print the book you’ve almost paid the price for the amount of money you saved buying the book electronically, so you should go ahead and buy the hardcopy. Unless, we see a change and prices lower I would buy the hardcopy but it would depend on your situation.
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There are HUGE problems with the ebook publication business model. This article underscores several of them.
There is *no* reason that the book should expire. There is *no* reason that the book couldn’t be sold as used. This is all just artificial restrictions placed on the ebook version by an industry that doesn’t understand its own product.
Sad really.
I would prefer the hardcopy too. Some of the textbooks I use I keep for future use. If you get an ebook, like you said it will expire so how is that really going to help you in the future. Also like you said if you buy the hardcopy you can sell it back if you will not use it or do not want to keep the book. It may seem tempting to buy the ebooks because of their lower prices, but in the end its not that great of a deal.