Ask not for whom the bell tolls, because the bell is
tolling for textbooks. Amazon has announced that it is releasing
two new
Kindle devices and in doing so, may have killed the college
textbook.
Ah, the college textbook. So valuable, so hated, and yet, so
loved. I remember my favorite textbook – a complete history of the
making of the atomic bomb. It was red, had bent edges (from a
previous owner, but I wasn’t jealous) and weighed enough to serve
as a bludgeoning device. The idea that future generations might be
missing out on such a wonderful experience, sniff, just
breaks my heart.
But, despite our love of our hefty friends, time might be
running out. What will the new Kindle mean for students?
Higher Prices, Not Lower - Contrary to popular
sentiment, the annihilation of printed textbooks could actually
mean increased expenses for students. After all, the actual
textbook data will have to be encrypted better than most credit
card transactions. What stops someone from getting the latest
edition of Philosophy 101 off of uTorrent? Nothing.
It Must be Cheap - If there’s one thing to be
learned from the music industry, it’s that the price of the data
has to be low… or at least low enough so students won’t result to
illegal means to get their materials. Even the most secure textbook
will likely be pirated and made freely downloadable – an
irresistible temptation for students staring at a $500 per-quarter
textbook bill.
They Need to be Realistic - The pillaging of
the textbook industry (releasing three different editions a year,
with expensive supplements) might come back to bite those in the
printing industry if they don’t play their cards right. A company
offering textbooks online for half the price of a hard copy will
quickly reach the same status as Netflix or the iTunes store.
The fact is, if students are willing to give up paper textbooks
for electronic versions, it had better be cheap as well as easy to
use. Don’t forget students will have to be able to highlight
sections, write notes near paragraphs, display colors for graphs
and biology books, and have an easily accessible index (and you
should be able to doodle in the margins as well). The Kindle may
think it can wipe out textbooks, but without the right technology
and applications, it will never be of use to the busy student.
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