CourseSmart Brings 7,000+ Textbooks to the iPhone and iPod Touch

[tgc]

50% of a retail, physical textbook?
this is outrageously expensive.

and then the material disappears after 180 days?

if there is a market for soft copies of textbooks then this company has set up its business model for failure. waaaaay too expensive. what are their competitors doing? where will their competitors be with their pricing in 6 months time?

Agreed. Kinda smells like the DRM point of buy your music or rent it and lose it later.

Sure, I don't reference my textbooks from school now ... but I did for a few years.

I don't think 180 days cuts it.


I think this is on it's way to a killer iTablet app, but let me keep my purchases, let me mark them up with virtual high-lighter pens and give me an automated index to this and other virtual bookmarks and all the other reasonable functionality (pick your own font size, automatic zoom, etc., etc.) and we'll have something compelling.


Oh, and the tablet can't crack like some of the iPhone 3G's I've seen! ;-)

 

[frankly]

Seth Godin has written a post that pretty much sums up my opinion on textbooks:


I typically pay $50-100 for a new textbook. As long as no major updates are released in a new edition the resell value on my university is typically around 50%. So if a new book costs $100 I can buy a used one for $50 and sell it for $50 the year after.

Let´s say the cost to print a textbook is 50% of the retail price. If a textbook is $100 you pay $50 for the knowledge in the book and the rest to cover the cost of printing. So paying $50 for the electronic version and then being forced to return it after X couple of days is far from a fair deal.

Textbooks are way too expensive relative to the value they bring. Most of the info you find in a textbook you can find for free on places like Wikipedia. I´ve played with the thought that the Swedish education system would embrace the internet, get rid of textbooks, and instead spend a couple million dollars on compiling open source 'textbooks' that are free for all. They could then lower the monthly grant($370) that all >200,000 university students in Sweden get. If each student buys books for $200 each semester the Swedish government would save ~$80 million per year with this new model. That´s $80 million that now (mostly) ends up in the publishers hands.

As for paper vs ebooks, I hate reading books on the computer. I want to hold something in my hand, underline it with a marker, have something to put in my bookshelf. I think a tablet would kick ass though. I love the thought of being able to carry with me all my favorite books where ever I go.

A drawback to digital books: Imagine if we only had e-books. Then imagine some maniac blowing up an EMP bomb that covers the whole world. Then all written knowledge would be destroyed in a second! Not a likely scenario, but still..

It is bad form to quote an entire blog post without the author's permission and especially without a link back to the original post.

His post was ridiculous. If the part about an author making enough simply from the sale of a textbook to buy a $20,000,000 house is true then it is definitely the exception. Do you have any idea how many textbooks someone would have to sell to make that kind of money? I know several textbook authors and none of them have been able to quit their day jobs, even though one of them has written textbooks that are used all over the world.

Personally, I have kept many of my textbooks as a reference.

When I was a student I took several courses where instead of a textbook we had material that the professor made available to us for free as handouts or downloadable material. I much preferred using an actual textbook to accompany the lectures.

 

[frankly]

Sorry, but I think this is the stupidest thing ever, at least for grad students such as myself. Anyone who is serious about their field would keep their textbooks for reference material.

I love how it is the stupidest thing ever, and then you qualify it by saying for grad students like yourself. Is it that easy to forget all the undergrad students taking courses that are not in their major who would find this type of thing great? No one is saying that every book should be sold this way. It is just another option.

 

[uberamd]

His post was ridiculous. If the part about an author making enough simply from the sale of a textbook to buy a $20,000,000 house is true then it is definitely the exception. Do you have any idea how many textbooks someone would have to sell to make that kind of money? I know several textbook authors and none of them have been able to quit their day jobs, even though one of them has written textbooks that are used all over the world.

Same here. Many professors at my college are authors and co-authors of textbooks and none of them live in gigantic mansions. Sure some of them have a decent amount of money, but they are college professors with doctorate degrees, thats to be expected. Should all professors live in poverty or what?

 

[frankly]

Same here. Many professors at my college are authors and co-authors of textbooks and none of them live in gigantic mansions. Sure some of them have a decent amount of money, but they are college professors with doctorate degrees, thats to be expected. Should all professors live in poverty or what?

Not to mention the part where he says, "As far as I can tell, assigning a textbook to your college class is academic malpractice."

I love when people start something with "As far as I can tell." In other words, I'm probably completely wrong here but this is the most I'm going to do to acknowledge that.

Personally, I go out of my way to assign textbooks that my students can find used copies of for much less than the retail cost. I provide them with the ISBN in order to make that search easier and I even point out places online where I found the book at bargain prices on the first day of class. I also ask the publisher for an extra copy of the text and place it on reserve in the library so that students that can't afford the book at all can at least have access to it in the library.

The idea that professors have enough time in their schedules to basically create all of the material that you would need to replace the use of a textbook is absurd. It ignores the tremendous amount of time it takes to create and compile such information AND the tremendous amount of work that professors already have on their plate. Just ask my wife if she thinks I have enough extra time to write this type of material on top of teaching, creating material for online courses, grading, meeting with students, advising, serving on committees, serving as faculty advisor for student organizations, attending meetings, and the list goes on.

 

[uberamd]

Personally, I go out of my way to assign textbooks that my students can find used copies of for much less than the retail cost. I provide them with the ISBN in order to make that search easier and I even point out places online where I found the book at bargain prices on the first day of class.

I like professors that do that. My statistics professor (who is a young guy) told us a textbook is optional, but he recommended us getting a used, older edition for $20 vs the new one for $120. Why? He said it was the *same* material as the new edition, just ordered differently. The same professor also told us we didn't need to buy a book for our economics class as he would provide the material. He is young, he just paid for all of his school, he understands that we don't want to pay for books that don't get frequently used.

Also, Android has an app that lets you scan a barcode, and it finds online prices. Similar to snaptel for the iPhone, but the barcode scanning feature makes finding the exact book online a breeze.

 

[frankly]

I like professors that do that. My statistics professor (who is a young guy) told us a textbook is optional, but he recommended us getting a used, older edition for $20 vs the new one for $120. Why? He said it was the *same* material as the new edition, just ordered differently. The same professor also told us we didn't need to buy a book for our economics class as he would provide the material. He is young, he just paid for all of his school, he understands that we don't want to pay for books that don't get frequently used.

Also, Android has an app that lets you scan a barcode, and it finds online prices. Similar to snaptel for the iPhone, but the barcode scanning feature makes finding the exact book online a breeze.

I do something similar to that. The current edition of the book I use for one of my classes retails for $118. I tell my students that they are welcome to use the previous edition which can be picked up used for as low as $14. When I assign problems from the book I give the numbers for both editions. For one of my other classes I do the same thing plus I use the same book for part 1 and part 2 of the course so during the second semester the student doesn't need to buy anything.

I had a professor that used price as one of the criteria when choosing textbooks and I really appreciated it as a student. I try to remember the things I appreciated and do the same for my students. As an aside, this is the reason I spend so much time on advisements sessions with my students. From a student's perspective there is a huge difference between a passive and active advisor.

 

[DanielWestman]

It is bad form to quote an entire blog post without the author's permission and especially without a link back to the original post.

Fixed.

His post was ridiculous. If the part about an author making enough simply from the sale of a textbook to buy a $20,000,000 house is true then it is definitely the exception. Do you have any idea how many textbooks someone would have to sell to make that kind of money? I know several textbook authors and none of them have been able to quit their day jobs, even though one of them has written textbooks that are used all over the world.

Personally, I have kept many of my textbooks as a reference.

When I was a student I took several courses where instead of a textbook we had material that the professor made available to us for free as handouts or downloadable material. I much preferred using an actual textbook to accompany the lectures.

About the $20,000,000 I´m a bit sceptic too. I didn´t think of the number first, that´s an insane amount of money! I´m sure the publisher takes the biggest cut of the earnings, leaving some royalty to the authors so I´m not suprised that your friends haven´t been able to quit their day jobs.

I wonder what the margin is on a typical $100 textbook?

 

[doctor-don]

It's been a while since I was in college but when I was the textbooks were insanely expensive. I imagine they're even more so now. To the current students out there I ask: is an e version of the textbook at 50% the cost compelling? Wouldn't there be some textbooks that you'd want to own in hard copy for future reference (or nostalgia) purposes?

Maybe the info in the ebook isn't useful next semester or even next year.

Reading college-level texts on a small iPhone is ridiculous. Even on a larger reader such as the newest Kindle, how does one make notes in the text and highlight useful portions? I know the Kindle allows notes, but can they be transposed into any word processor or into a pdf? And certain technical texts may never be replaced with electronic books.

The biggest point here is that eliminating the weight of textbooks is finally practical, although it is not economical at present.

 

[frankly]

Maybe the info in the ebook isn't useful next semester or even next year.

Reading college-level texts on a small iPhone is ridiculous. Even on a larger reader such as the newest Kindle, how does one make notes in the text and highlight useful portions? I know the Kindle allows notes, but can they be transposed into any word processor or into a pdf? And certain technical texts may never be replaced with electronic books.

The biggest point here is that eliminating the weight of textbooks is finally practical, although it is not economical at present.

I haven't highlighted or marked up a book in ages. I find it far more useful to type up my notes by chapter and section in a document than to write notes in the text. Then I can review an entire chapter in just a few pages rather than going through the book over and over again to find and read some notes I wrote in the margin.

This is a dated concept.

 

[doctor-don]

I haven't highlighted or marked up a book in ages. I find it far more useful to type up my notes by chapter and section in a document than to write notes in the text. Then I can review an entire chapter in just a few pages rather than going through the book over and over again to find and read some notes I wrote in the margin.

This is a dated concept.

So you think your notes would be all you would need next week, next month or next course? And your notes accurately reflect the author's intent?

Type up notes? Good solution when preparing for teaching a class. I had a physics professor who used typed notes that he had prepared years previously.

 

[frankly]

So you think your notes would be all you would need next week, next month or next course? And your notes accurately reflect the author's intent?

Type up notes? Good solution when preparing for teaching a class. I had a physics professor who used typed notes that he had prepared years previously.

I didn't say my notes would be all I would need. I said that when I was a student I would take notes according to chapter/section. That way, if I needed to look up more details when reviewing my notes then I could open the book to the exact section. I was disputing your assertion that you need the physical book so that you can highlight it and or write notes in the margin.

Let me also say that highlighting is one of the most useless tools there is when studying and learning something. Unless you are someone like Leonhard Euler highlighting isn't going to do you a bit of good.

And what do you mean about the author's intent? Who cares what the author's intent is? You are reading a textbook to learn the subject, not to glean the author's intent.

 

[zioxide]

still a rip off

**** text books.

 

[doctor-don]

I didn't say my notes would be all I would need. I said that when I was a student ...

And what do you mean about the author's intent? Who cares what the author's intent is? You are reading a textbook to learn the subject, not to glean the author's intent.

Obviously you are not referring to philosophy (as one example) where the intent IS what is important. If you are teaching facts, then your function can be replaced with electronic information. On the other hand, if you are teaching how to use those facts to analyze and make predictions for the future and invent new ideas or products, then you are useful.

 

[frankly]

Obviously you are not referring to philosophy (as one example) where the intent IS what is important. If you are teaching facts, then your function can be replaced with electronic information. On the other hand, if you are teaching how to use those facts to analyze and make predictions for the future and invent new ideas or products, then you are useful.

So in your world a Math teacher can be replaced with electronic information? We don't actually need a person teaching the students?

And even if I were referring to philosophy you are complete confused as to the importance of the intent of the author and the student's understanding of that intent as it relates to where they take notes. If the student does not understand the intent of the author then please enlighten me as to how it makes a difference whether their notes are in the margin or in a Word document.

 

[CQd44]

I would much rather have an actual textbook than some digital copy that eventually expires.

 

[frankly]

I would much rather have an actual textbook than some digital copy that eventually expires.

Isn't it great that you can do just that. And those that would rather have an electronic version have that option as well. Sounds like a win win to me.

 

[CQd44]

Isn't it great that you can do just that. And those that would rather have an electronic version have that option as well. Sounds like a win win to me.

Indeed!

 

[aerodoc]

Isn't it great that you can do just that. And those that would rather have an electronic version have that option as well. Sounds like a win win to me.

But is it? If the precedent is set that is expensive and expires, do we really "win"? This technology IS coming, but if it is restricted like this, then it may take a lot longer before we as the consumer actually "win".

Think about this, DRM protected music and old school CD's (a great analogy). I hated that concept as many did, essentially setting back the technology. Once DRM free music became available, that's the way to go for me (Amazon and iTunes).

DRM protected music did not do anything for me, while DRM free is great and I will pay for that service. But how many years were lost? No, we are not winning with this 180 day expiration format...this may just be setting back a technology that would otherwise thrive much soon. I call that a loss.

 

[frankly]

But is it? If the precedent is set that is expensive and expires, do we really "win"? This technology IS coming, but if it is restricted like this, then it may take a lot longer before we as the consumer actually "win".

Think about this, DRM protected music and old school CD's (a great analogy). I hated that concept as many did, essentially setting back the technology. Once DRM free music became available, that's the way to go for me (Amazon and iTunes).

DRM protected music did not do anything for me, while DRM free is great and I will pay for that service. But how many years were lost? No, we are not winning with this 180 day expiration format...this may just be setting back a technology that would otherwise thrive much soon. I call that a loss.

It is only a loss for you. Once again, this may be perfectly fine for some people. Keep in mind that this has already been going on before the iPhone app was released. If they don't see the volume of business that they would like to see then perhaps they will change the parameters to meet the suggestions of potential customers.

Sorry that it didn't come out exactly as YOU would like it on the first try.

Did you ever think that at this moment while the publishers test the waters with electronic distribution they want people that want permanent access to the material to continue buying books? This is something that you can't jump into with both feet. They have to protect the product, which is the text itself, not the electronic distribution or the printed page.

 

[Optimistic.Dude]

e-Textbooks

Considering the high cost of earning a college degree, electronic textbooks are one way to lessen the burden. Kindle's version is interesting and, in my opinion, would be cost effective over time vs purchasing/reselling the old fashioned hardbacks. http://www.newsy.com/videos/the_evolution_of_textbooks

 

[aerodoc]

It is only a loss for you. Once again, this may be perfectly fine for some people. Keep in mind that this has already been going on before the iPhone app was released. If they don't see the volume of business that they would like to see then perhaps they will change the parameters to meet the suggestions of potential customers.

Sorry that it didn't come out exactly as YOU would like it on the first try.

Did you ever think that at this moment while the publishers test the waters with electronic distribution they want people that want permanent access to the material to continue buying books? This is something that you can't jump into with both feet. They have to protect the product, which is the text itself, not the electronic distribution or the printed page.

Some good points and I especially agree about jumping in with both feet. That could create a big mess with piracy. Of course "I" would like a different solution, but clearly "MY" opinion reflects those of many. My big fear is that this approach would set a precedent that becomes hard to break. Look how long it took for DRM free music to occur.

 

[frankly]

Some good points and I especially agree about jumping in with both feet. That could create a big mess with piracy. Of course "I" would like a different solution, but clearly "MY" opinion reflects those of many. My big fear is that this approach would set a precedent that becomes hard to break. Look how long it took for DRM free music to occur.

Yes, but there were a ton of people buying music from iTunes with DRM. If what you say is correct and your opinion reflects those of many then they won't see a huge number of sales using this current policy. And if a precedent wasn't set with iTunes and its billions of sales then I'm not sure why you are so worried about this.

 

[DELLsFan]

TURKEY.

If Apple had a larger format, like a TABLET, this might be worth it. Digging around and spending hours squinting at an iPhone for school work is insane.

CHICKEN.

Maybe this means an Apple iTABLET isn't quite the rumor made out to be here and elsewhere, hmmm?

 

[frankly]

Maybe this means an Apple iTABLET isn't quite the rumor made out to be here and elsewhere, hmmm?

What have you been reading here and on other sites? Because the Apple tablet hasn't been written about as a rumor at all in months. Everything I have read says that it is coming out. We just don't know what the specs are and whether it will be out this fall or if Apple is waiting until the beginning of 2010.