Open Source Textbooks from Sun Microsystem's founder to drive the cost of education down

Source: www.nytimes.com...

It is nice to see a rich guy taking care of a real problem on his own,m without trying to profit from it.

Scott McNealy for president!

For those interested, here is a link to the project's website : www.curriki.org...

I am not sure I qualify to teach Maths, but I'll give it a try.

I hope this works and actually does cause the cost of books to go down. Went to order books for my classes this coming fall the other day and new they would've cost me over $200 for three books if I hadn't found them used on Amazon. It's ridiculous when they have the same thing last years editions had in them just with the chapters in a slightly different order.

It's nice to see a glimmer of hope in what sometimes seems to be a world of dismay. This is great news on a number of levels. We're in a transitional phase and people need to think differently and businesses need to alter their business models if they're going to succeed. I'm not business minded enough to know who needs to do what but I'm logical and open minded enough to analyze information and come to a logical conclusion.

There's money to be made but it may not be in the same traditional ways that we're used to. Give a little here and take a little there. The example that “Ten plus 10 has been 20 for a long time” along with "their price keeps rising while the core information inside of them stays the same" says a lot to me. Things change and times change and if you can't change then you may go the way of the dinosaur. I could follow this along to other aspects of business but this isn't the place for it but I do see the similarities.

I don't follow the acquired subjects enough to prove my point to specifically give examples but we've been "here" before. Things are changing and we aren't sure how to handle them. There is change going on and people aren't sure how to react, what to do or how to progress. We've had the new "printing press" for over a decade and are slowly learning how to develop a business around it.

Great article that shows some positive change.

This is a great article...I have always thought that education needs to improve for there to be any relevant use of the political system and for anything to improve by way of the core population having access to information that the affluent take for granted.

I sincerely hope that this makes a difference...

It's all about consumerism even in education. Textbooks must be updated to keep jobs and make transactions occur to get tax dollars. If we did things the smart way, built things to last and not fall apart, our system would come to a halt. Everything in our society that seems ridiculous is the result of someone realizing if we did things the right and fair way their business would not survive. Our system of capitalism based on consumerism, taxation, and non accountability of corporations drives this model.

Be prepared for what is to come out in the next few years. People are waking up. There is no need for endless taxation through keeping people employed. Give all the basic necessities of life, and if they do not have a job they will contribute back to society in whatever way they can. We allow this system to keep going because we need work, and work means profit for some and poverty for others. It's time to start chipping away one component at a time. Let's build something magnificent together, that will benefit everyone.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


Where can sign up to make that utopia happens?
I really tried to make things happens many years ago, and it ended being a painful experience. You can read more about it on my presentation thread : The Life of a French Canadian

I do not want to scare anyone, just share my experiences so it will not repeat.

reply to post by gagol


It happens with you. Challenge the minds of others. Make them see one step at a time. You said in that post you were working on some really groundbreaking ideas. Start working on them again. Push the envelop. The next few years will be interesting and Utopia is the default when these ideas start to come forth.

As a young adult just starting out in college I can say that this is a good idea, but won't have the effect they think it will. In my technical school (post high school not vocational) we did not have a choice of what books to buy or who from. All our books had to be brand new and bought from the school, some of the books i didn't even use!
Nonetheless now I am in community college; I have numerous classes where I can buy an array of editions. (in example, pychology I could buy the 9th edition brand new or anything from 5 and up my professor stated they all contain the same information but on different pages, not as many or more pictures, and etc) I have found this also applied to many of my other classes EXCEPT my MATH class. Our math books where custom made for the college and only for our college. It is a pain to buy them, 125 dollars, for it is a recent (past year if not a little longer) that they decided to do this and it is nearly impossible to find a used copy at the library. Mainly due to most people getting there before me but still a pain.

IMHO this is a brilliant idea and would save many students money on math books when their major is say history and the college still wants them to know math.