Textbooks

Sometimes I just can’t ignore the ridiculousness of people. Washington Post has an article on the cost of textbooks with a couple of gem paragraphs:

Costs for new textbooks have risen as publishers have tried to fight off an expanding trade in used books. The market for used textbooks began exploding with the growth of the Internet as students from across the country connected to buy and sell their books, cutting into the sales of new books and eating away at publishers' market share.

So the textbook company’s solution for slumping textbook sales is to increase the price of textbooks? Maybe they should read some of the economics textbooks they publish. These textbooks would tell them that increasing price is a sure fire way to drive down demand. In all fairness, the next paragraph goes on to demonstrate how textbook manufacturers are actually aiming to destroy a market that threatens them rather than simply increasing the price:

Publishers began making new books more attractive by packaging them with workbooks and CDs -- but with a higher total price. They are making them indispensable by equipping them with one-use codes needed for access to additional course material online. They are creating custom editions for specific professors or universities, limiting the resale market for the books.

To me, this amounts to extortion from those with a very limited capacity to pay. Still, the market is what it is, and private enterprise can do what it will. Hopefully there will be enough backlash that students will simply not buy the textbook, or force profs to come up with options other than a text. Course packages seem to work well at my school. They might run $30 or $40 depending on the content, but it’s a hell of a lot better than $100. For non math/science courses at least I often don’t see the need for a text. Based on the number of unused, or lightly used books I see sitting around people’s rooms when I visit it seems that many students agree with me.

Instructors need to be less lazy in preparing material for their students, and students need to be less lazy in using that material to prepare for class. If students are unwilling, then they shouldn’t complain about high costs of textbooks. If profs are unwilling, students should ask their schools for their money back, but I guess this might be a chicken and egg problem. Tear it all down, lets start from scratch.