E-books?

Textbooks are expensive.

I know, I know--so what's new?

My daughter, a first-year student at VCSU, spent $287 and some change for two books. Thank heavens she has a mom in academia who was able to let her borrow her desk copies for English and for Speech (YES, I actually let her do this! Sorry, but a teacher needs to save a buck here and there...).

And thank heavens she was able to test out of her computer class.

Why do we, as instructors, do this to our students?And why do publishers do this to the students?

Well, when an author signs a contract to write a textbook, they are signing their life away.

Okay, that may be an exaggeration.

But often the authors promise to update the books every two years. This means a new edition to the books every two years. And yes, this means that used books become obsolete every two years.

Why? Well, publishers are for-profit businesses. Used books don't provide any income for the publishers. New books, do.So do the authors get rich? No, for each book sold, they get about 10% of the cost of that book. Do bookstores get rich? No, they get about 30% of the cost of that book.That means 60% goes to the publisher. But remembr that part of that goes to editors, printers, binding, promotional materials, reviewers, and other expenses.

As the world becomes more digital, though, online textbooks are becoming more popular.

E-textbooks, which can be read online or on such devices as Kindle, are accessed for a short while, but then access can be limited after a specific amount of time.

The benefit to textbook companies is that the books are not sold back to the bookstore--thus there are no used books in circulation. Publishers will make money with every "book" sold.E-books.

Hmmmm... There's something about the feel of paper between my hands. There's something about the feel of a cover, the size of the letters, the tangible touching of a book.

For textbooks, I write in them! I react! I underline and highlight! I circle and cross-reference. I am used to reading text on a screen. I have become quite adept to it in the ten years I have been teaching classes online.

But again, there is nothing like having that paper in my hands.

Will I be making the switch?

I have learned that when it comes to technology, never to say "never." And right now I feel like my mom probably felt when she was my age and I was trying to teach her how to program her VCR.

But for now, give me paper. Give me ink. I'll continue to "pay the price" in purchasing books...

...well, at least for this year....