College books are a scam and here is the answer

A small, digital book startup thinks it has a solution to the age-old student lament: overpriced textbooks that have little value when the course is over. The answer? Make them open source -- and give them away.

blog.wired.com...
the link explains in more detail. My only question is this: why didn't I think of that? It makes too much sense. And on the hinge of that: does it make so much sense that the idea is destined to fail?

I think the answer does make sense. But-- I must advise caution when you use these kinds of websites-- all of these websites offering things for free might not have what you want/what you need on there so don't waste your time looking on their website if they don't have a text-book you want/need. That's just my personal advice.

damn.. yeah books are so over priced. i hate it. i hate the cost of education it bums me out
i had to drop my forensic photo class because i couldnt afford to develop all the rolls of film

The prices are high for 3 reasons (okay there are more, but 3 big reasons):

1) Text books require tremendous amounts of work and time to write, edit, and layout - plus they are only used/sold for a few years to a VERY SMALL market.
2) There is a limited amount of customer sales to cover those expenses
3) The students have to read that book

So, really, even if they make these books "digital", they would still be expensive (like software). Not to mention, you can't make the content of text books 'open source' like Wikipedia because the quality would be questionable.

It may work well for literature classes when you have to read classic books, but not for text books.

Originally posted by TheBadge

i had to drop my forensic photo class because i couldnt afford to develop all the rolls of film

Film?

What's that?

Just kidding.

Why aren't you using digital?

Any processor at or above eight megapixels rivals 35mm film.

Just curious.

[edit on 2008/9/7 by GradyPhilpott]

Universities make money from Professors writing required reading. It's worthy content. If you think people should pay for music, people should pay for knowledge too.

Of course, if you're a music pirate, to heck with it. Open source baby.

reply to post by GradyPhilpott



they do use digital on the field but for educational purposes they want us to know the fundamentals and learn about the types of films and the process it goes through etc. and im also guessing its kinda expensive for the school to have all those digital cams. In class we used the canon rebel G camera. it was nice.

[edit on 8-9-2008 by TheBadge]

I passed 4 years of college without much noteworthy help from the books.

I was a 3.+ without aid from the college books.

If you go to classes, stay awake, listen to the lectures, and take good notes, you'll never have a problem passing a corse with flying colors.

It has to do with the authors and editors of the book getting a fair amount of revenue.

By the way I have a friend whose college teacher wrote a book, and now she assigns it to her classes so they have to go out and buy it. Of course she doesn’t say that directly but anyone can see that scam.

reply to post by Incarnated


Yeah, but how much did you learn?

If you’re looking for cheap college books, you have to check out www.cheapesttextbooks.com... I used to buy used from one of the stores at UDEL until I found this site, they had every textbook I needed for this semester for like half the price. Then, you can sell them back to the stores for the same price. Can’t beat it.

reply to post by rapinbatsisaltherage


A professor at my school wrote the book for his class with the promise that it would be cheaper than the other books that could have been used. He then found out that the bookstore was selling it for more than twice what he was told it would cost. He then proceeded to leave class, walked to the bookstore, and started yelling at them until he was almost kicked out. Now he doesn't require his students to have a book.

In this day and age, only the suckers or desperate buy at the university bookstore. Take this one for example, which I am buying right now for my course this semester:

Essentials of Economics (for an Econ 101) class...my final GE class...
This book is ~12" x 8" x .6" Softbound...Teaching an overview of Economics. Not exactly the kind of text that one would expect to need constant updating and revisions. At my school bookstore (Idaho State University) this book is priced as follows:

NEW: $161.00 (newest edition, can be sold back)
USED: $120.00 (older edition, cannot be sold back!)

Just for argument's sake I used the link provided above (cheapesttextbooks.com), but most online pricing is comparable:

NEW: $100.00
USED: $33.96

Using the mad skillz I have learned thusfar in my Economics class...Who the hell would buy from the bookstore?! Spending 34.00 for a textbook that probably is not returnable is a fair investment in my education. If it turns out I *can* sellback to the bookstore, I may even make a buck or two!