With today’s seemingly endless technological advances, it’s no wonder electronic books (“e-books”) are becoming such a hot commodity. E-books can be purchased for use on laptops, iPads, and Kindles. Many e-books cost substantially less than print texts and can be downloaded in a minute or less (Barr). However, not every textbook has an electronic counterpart and these e-books cannot be sold back to the supplier. Nevertheless, hundreds or even thousands of e-books can be stored on a single device at a fraction of the cost of print. Online rental programs, too, are starting to change the way students use textbooks. PackBack, a pay-per-use eTextbook startup, offers online books to users ranging from $3-$5 for a rental period of 24 hours (Lazare). If you’re only looking to use the book to cram for an exam, this is the perfect system for you. Currently, there are over 15,000 users of PackBack. Similarly, firms like BookRenter and Chegg offer book rentals varying in price according to how long the book will be needed. One text with a list price of about $180, for example, was quoted at one third of the price, $60, for a semester-long rental on BookRenter.com (Cox, Matthews & Associates). Boundless is a new website that is aiming to be in the same mold as Wikipedia, but for textbooks. E-book downloads are also available there for roughly $20, a fraction of the cost for a print textbook (Keohane). Online libraries were unheard of until recently. “In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began to help fund Rice University’s initiative to provide online textbooks for five of the most-attended college courses” (Barr). Lastly, many college bookstores offer “buy-back” programs for students that cannot find a way around buying the actual textbook. When the semester comes to an end, students have the option to sell their textbooks back to their college bookstore. While bookstores often buy back textbooks at a fraction of the original price, it is still a way for students to cut down on how much they spend towards books.
Monday, November 17, 2014
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With today’s seemingly endless technological advances, it’s no wonder electronic books (“e-books”) are becoming such a hot commodity. E-books can be purchased for use on laptops, iPads, and Kindles. Many e-books cost substantially less than print texts and can be downloaded in a minute or less (Barr). However, not every textbook has an electronic counterpart and these e-books cannot be sold back to the supplier. Nevertheless, hundreds or even thousands of e-books can be stored on a single device at a fraction of the cost of print. Online rental programs, too, are starting to change the way students use textbooks. PackBack, a pay-per-use eTextbook startup, offers online books to users ranging from $3-$5 for a rental period of 24 hours (Lazare). If you’re only looking to use the book to cram for an exam, this is the perfect system for you. Currently, there are over 15,000 users of PackBack. Similarly, firms like BookRenter and Chegg offer book rentals varying in price according to how long the book will be needed. One text with a list price of about $180, for example, was quoted at one third of the price, $60, for a semester-long rental on BookRenter.com (Cox, Matthews & Associates). Boundless is a new website that is aiming to be in the same mold as Wikipedia, but for textbooks. E-book downloads are also available there for roughly $20, a fraction of the cost for a print textbook (Keohane). Online libraries were unheard of until recently. “In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began to help fund Rice University’s initiative to provide online textbooks for five of the most-attended college courses” (Barr). Lastly, many college bookstores offer “buy-back” programs for students that cannot find a way around buying the actual textbook. When the semester comes to an end, students have the option to sell their textbooks back to their college bookstore. While bookstores often buy back textbooks at a fraction of the original price, it is still a way for students to cut down on how much they spend towards books.
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I personally use e-books to replace my textbooks. With our different types of technologies such as iPads and laptops, it makes sense to be able to utilize these resources in part with textbooks. Not only does it make the carry load lighter, it makes taking notes and highlighting the important information neater and more visual. If there is a certain website that can help define a subject in the textbook, one can now copy the link to the e-book, making the note taking process more informative and efficient. As I do see the love for paperback textbooks and the desire to sell back these texts, I think having them more conveniently is more attractive. I see e-books taking over the textbook industry by transferring all paperback books online in the near future..
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