Textbooks. I could write a textbook on how textbooks are a ripoff.
Needless to say, depending on how popular your subject may be, you can pay upwards of $150 for a [required, mandated, don’t have it you’re screwed] textbook. Now I understand that much of that money is in fact pure profit to go pay the publishers/authors for their time/research. After all, I can buy a book of the same dimensions at Chapters [Canadian bookstore] for about $40.
I’ve learned that University is a business, and nothing else. Aims of ‘higher morals’ were simply a fantasy taught in schools. But if a standard author can be content with the profits from his $40 sell, why can’t a university professor that authored the book? Especially, since by the virtue of being introduced in any one university, his sells increase exponentially? Think of it: 3,000 students a year at University X are forced to buy his book. And thats just in one year. Who else can enjoy such market permeation?
Anyways – my thoughts are that textbooks are ripoffs. And just when I thought that it was at its worst – it got even more abysmal.
Coming to campus: E-books with expiration dates
By John Borland, CNET News.com
When students at Princeton University, the University of Utah and eight other colleges start combing their school bookstore shelves for fall semester textbooks, they’ll find a new alternative to the hard-covered tomes they’re used to buying.
Alongside the new and used versions of Dante’s “Inferno” and “Essentials of Psychology” will be little cards offering 33 percent off if students decide to download a digital version of a text instead of buying a hard copy.
So – you now pay $100 instead of $150. But you also don’t have anything tangible – no books. Therefore, the cost of producing this eBook on CD is nada. Maybe $2 at best. They cash in $98 in pure profits. Now such figures are pure speculation on my part, but needless to say that the final figures won’t be all that far off.
Not only that, but that $100 purchase is essentially deleted in 5 months by the author (DRM). Now with a normal book at $150, I can at least resell it for $70… if the new annual edition isn’t out [another ploy]… or if I fail the class [as I have], I can at least reuse it.
Not so with 5-month DRMed books. This is an exercise in pure greed if ever I saw it, and the fact that the administration of Princeton sees nothing wrong with this exploitation is even worse. My faith into the integrity of universities suddenly dropped.
I should note that price is normally somewhat irrelevant to me. I am fortunate enough that I can still live at home while I attend. That said, all my money goes to pay university. All of it, so that I may not be caught with a $20,000 debt when I get out. I have bought stuff yes – but pretty much all of it was with either tips I get in the day (I’m a tourguide), and a second job I did a month ago (which went to pay off my previous debt).
But price – is not irrelevant to my friends. Take Corie, and a million of my friends. They’re returning here in Ottawa to continue their studies. Most don’t live at home because their home is hours/days away. Here they are, now paying rent. That’s $400 a month. Plus living expenses. That’s what… $200 a month? That’s the equivalent of a month’s parttime paycheck at a standard lowly job. They are below the poverty line. If they weren’t attending university – then they could at least work fulltime. But they can’t because university schedule takes up some prime working hours. Then in summer, if they live in Ottawa, rent/living-expenses takes up much of their profits. They’ll save up maybe half of whats needed to pay off this year’s tuition, if that. They have to take loans, and go further in debt. Maybe they’re about $10,000 in debt already. 19/20 year olds.
And this university wants them to buy $100 CDs of text that will go bad in 5 months?
This is precisely why I lost faith in the institution.
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