26 Jun
Posted by Aaron J. Walker as Books, Of Interest, One's To Watch, Other Gadgets, Rant
Okay, big disclaimer out of the way first. I've got a vested interest in how well e-book reading devices do as well as the success of e-books in general. Most MorninPaper readers know I've written and illustrated a children's e-book "Good Morning, Friend Moon." You can read a very nice review here.
With that piece of business out of the way, I still think it is about time textbook publishers finally woke up and smelled the digital coffee.
Gizmodo is linking to a story via Yahoo!
Imagine a campus in which students carry only man-purses, instead of 80-pound packs stuffed with textbooks. Amazon may soon get additional academic credit as more university publishers sign up with its wireless reading device. (Yahoo!Buzz)
Princeton University Press join Oxford, Yale and the UC in putting some of their titles into e-book form, allowing students to bypass the used book store and directly download their textbooks onto their Kindles. (Gizmodo)
All I can say is ... about friggin' time!
Digital textbooks should have been a no-brainer from the day the technology matured enough to support them, whether on the Kindle or any other e-reading device (I'm an agnostic when it comes to which device).
And it shouldn't just be for college students, every student should be able to get their textbooks digitally.
It would save on printing cost, shipping cost, not waste so much paper or other natural resources. Young kids wouldn't develop back problems from having to schlep those heavy text books back and forth to school.
I'm a firm advocate for cheaper devices, most e-readers are still at or above the $300 mark keeping them an expensive luxury of the well-to-do reading aficionados.
But the day is coming when some company is going to figure a way to make these very affordable for Joe and Jane Q. Public and their school age children. Then we'll all wonder what took them so long.
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One Response
ProKindle
June 27th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
1As a recent undergraduate and current graduate student, this is outstanding! I have been waiting for the digital textbook, whether downloaded to the laptop/computer or now, downloaded to a device like the Kindle, to take flight.
Students spend so much money on hard copy textbooks and reading materials, and often have to carry them all around which is not convenient or easy to do. Digital textbooks on the Kindle will make it so quick and easy for students to access any of their books or other resources whenever and wherever they need them.
I, myself, am a Kindle champion, and all in all, while $359 for this device plus the cost of the books etc. seems high, you are getting a great deal of value out of it. I can’t wait for the textbooks to be offered for my courses at graduate school.
I recommend this to anyone and everyone, but especially for students considering this good news!
For more info on the Kindle, visit http://www.prokindle.com!
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