Once upon a time, a law student at Weorge Gashington University Law School was enrolled for a class that he really wanted to take. Unfortunately, the neighborhood bookstores were sold out of the assigned, third edition textbook. Rather than wait a few weeks for the book to be delivered, this law student decided to order the book from a special technology called “The Internet.” What joy the student experienced when a few days after placing an order, he was greeted by a box at his front door that contained his textbook. In his over-eager joy to start studying, he sat down with the book and started to read his assignments, highlighting and underlining everything he read. After finishing his reading for the following day, he closed the book and went off to bed. Because he was so happy at getting his textbook, he dreamed a happy dream about libraries and neverending book deliveries.
When the sun rose the next morning, our student went back to his desk and looked at his book, his smile quickly turned into a frown. You see, he noticed that the book he had ordered was not the required third edition of the textbook, but rather the second edition that had been published years earlier. What was the law student to do? Sadly, he had no choice but to pay another $90 to purchase the correct book. Returning the old book was a foreclosed option, because he had already written and highlighted an entire chapter worth of material. Our law student learned two important lessons from his experience. First, always make sure you order the correct book from “The Internet.” Second, textbooks are ridiculously expensive.
Apparently, it seems like professors and authors are starting to realize the second less too. Today’s NYTimes had an article about professor and authors who have started to make their books available online for a fraction of the cost – or for free! Wow! What a great idea! Why can’t more professors and authors do that? It’s an interesting read, so I encourage you all to check out the link to see how these professors and companies make it profitable.
Sua Sponte 