Re: Course Pre Reading


Bilge wrote:
PD:
>Not really. There's stuff that you just can't get in print: Animations,
>video clips of demonstrations, simulations, instantaneous feedback on
>automatically graded homework problems, etc.

All of which has dubious value.

Gee, I dunno about that. There are now multiple rigorous studies of the
effectiveness of some of these methods, although admittedly they've
been slow in coming. A terrific example is peer-instruction (which is
commonly enabled by "clickers") -- see study by R. Hake.


>> It is exactly as you said, they don't earn anything from the used book
>> market. So instead, books come with software that has a limited
>> subscription. If someone has your book after the subscription runs out,
>> and wants to use it in class, too bad! They have to buy a whole new
>> subscription.
>
>That's right. And you can go completely digital for 75% of the list
>price of the print book, and get more stuff than what's in the print
>book.

There are few, if any, textbooks which would be improved by expanding
the same content into more words/pictures/etc. On the contrary, most
textbooks would be improved by conciseness and eliminating everything
that could be left out.

I agree that textbooks would not be improved by adding more *to the
book*. This has been the fundamental point of friction between
publishers and teachers. Teachers say the books are too thick,
publishers ask what should be left out, and then there is absolutely no
concensus on that. It *is* true that if the assessment and many of the
completely overwrought worked examples were moved to another venue, the
book would shrink by 1/3. I know the issue of 4-color printing has come
up repeatedly, and a 2-color book would lower a book's price
significantly (by about $10-$15), but the fact is no department adopts
a 2-color book. Teachers and curriculum committees vote with their
(students') wallets, not with their words.


>Or you can buy a print book at full price and sell it back at the
>end of the semester for 20% of your purchase price. Hmm...

At least with a printed textbook, you have the option of keeping
the book, reading it without restrictions and not having to print
out stuff when you don't feel like straining your eyes reading a
computer screen (assuming the digital versions allow you to even
print the material - even if they do, there goes your savings).

Keep in mind that 90% of students that are buying the books equipped
with all the digital versions and ancillaries will never keep them --
they are not going on in a career in physics. Even the engineering
students will sell back their intro physics books. Thus the delivery
decisions are NOT set by physics majors for introductory texts.
Publishers are already offering a lifetime subscription option to the
digital media (which sells for about the same as the print book) as
well as a cheaper 18-month subscription. (It's not typically 1 year
AFAIK -- some students take a break or repeat a semester.)

Most eBooks I've seen allow printing but not cutting and pasting
(simply to protect copyrighted material from appearing freely on the
web). However, a 1000-page book printed out even in B&W at $0.05/page
is simply not cost-effective for the student.

As for the ease of reading a print book under a tree -- agreed, and
that's perhaps why even the cheaper digital versions have not taken off
with wildly successful sales.

Summing up, the consumer speaks with forked tongue:
- complains about prices, but is willing to withstand a 25% markup for
convenience of campus bookstore
- complains about length, but is unwilling to forego any of the
content, and in fact wants *more* selection in the non-core content
like problem sets, to battle fraternity solutions files that accumulate
during the life of the edition
- complains about overly high production values, but is unwilling to
buy a streamlined or two-color book
- complains about short revision cycles, but wants new technology
components and wants them for free

PD

.

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