Posted on 06/09/2009 10:15:41 AM PDT by yankeedame
They don't wear out, but colleges usually use a given textbook for only a couple of years. I myself am absolutely certain that there's quite a bit of payoff from the publishers to the state buyers that makes it necessary to get a "new edition" of a calculus textbook every five years or so.
Well, California and Texas are the most powerful states when it comes to textbook publishing, but most publishers produce a special edition for both of these states - as well as all the other adoption states. But you’re right, in that it’s easier to create a national edition that adheres to the specific guidelines as much as possible. There are national guidelines for most disciplines,as well, but those aren’t as detailed as the state-specific guidelines are.
There was a restriction in CA not long ago concerning the maximum weight of a textbook. Problem is that the books are heavy because the states set the standards regarding content!
California’s socialist experiment is the future of America.
Sorry but I know people on both sides of the issue, and it is most definitely always the publisher that is to blame. Most of the textbooks that are out are based on previous works, 90% of everything in them has been printed by that company before repeatedly. There’s very little new work that goes into a new edition, and meanwhile they charge 3 times as much as any regular book of the same size would charge. Because there’s actually very little competition (there’s only a few text book companies) they don’t try to undersell each other, they use “captive audience” pricing (like movie theaters and amusement parks), and the audience (teachers mostly) have been trying to get un-captive for a very long time.
I think you can make a pretty good argument though, that if a student isn’t introduced to computers pretty early, that they will be at a distinct disadvantage when they hit the job market.
I have faith that some enterprising manufacturer will come up with a “kid safe” laptop. It may have to be built of hardened titanium and bolted to the desk, but it will be kid safe.
School books are overrated.
He may trigger the beginning of the same type of plague that beset the music industry with the advent of MP3s.
In the book world you could see hundreds of thousands of students NOT BUYING text books because they can FREELY get a "File" copy of the text book in some popular file format such as PDF, etc. from a friend, BitTorrent site, etc.
But in college, the student buys his own books. He can choose to buy used and get a huge discount, or buy new and eat the mammoth price tag.
In public high school and down, the school district does the buying, and only when it’s strictly needed OR when the state board decides on a new edition.
In the education industry, merit means nothing.
Education is not the purpose of the education system.
Its purpose is to provide jobs for members of the teachers' unions, and revenue for all the ancillary industries.
“Sorry but I know people on both sides of the issue, and it is most definitely always the publisher that is to blame.”
Well, I’m going to challenge you here. I spent several years as in textbook publishing and many of my friends are still in that business, so I know it pretty well. 90% of everything in the book is repetition? Perhaps in the field of math, but in an area like history, government, or the other social sciences - please consider that these are dynamic fields. I’m not saying the publishers don’t make a profit - of course they do. I’m saying that they don’t just create textbooks willy-nilly. There are reasons behind what they do. It’s a business, after all.
“In the book world you could see hundreds of thousands of students NOT BUYING text books because they can FREELY get a ‘File’ copy of the text book in some popular file format such as PDF, etc. from a friend, BitTorrent site, etc.”
Fine. I found in college that, when it came to subjects with which I was generally familiar, I didn’t need to buy books anyway. i could rather rely on lectures, my previously-existing book collection, the library, and the internet to pass papers and tests.
Then again, that could be a commentary on the standards of my college.
I hear you but there are a limit to how many years they can be reused. They also seem to be becoming less sturdy as they are manufactured more cheaply. Textbook publishers have hit the limit that many states can afford to pay and new means of squeezing profit out have come from the production side.
There are several systems that are already cheaper; you could purchase a low-power laptop or tablet PC for about the price of two or three textbooks. Textbooks have been getting more expensive while electronics has gotten cheaper.
I love books, and my homes are filled with them. But the textbook industry, believing they had a captive market, have priced themselves out of that market. It is time to let them die if they can't offer their product at a reasonable cost.
You said — There’s a big problem, right there. Ain’t no free market in textbooks. No, sir.
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Well, that’s true — but by not going “hardware” with books and only going “software” (so to speak), you can save a lot of money. So, it’s not free, but it might cut the costs in half.
Just a subtle point...
Gov. S. did not RULE OUT tax hikes.
He already tried that. The PUBLIC, the CALIFORNIA PUBLIC, RULED OUT the tax hikes.
Folks are already tapped out. We can’t pay more.
You said — uh-oh. California drives the textbook industry. Say good-bye to tons of publishing jobs.
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Well, if it has to happen to the old Dinosaur Media (the MSM), then I don’t see why it doesn’t have to happen to the textbook industry...
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