Quote:
Originally Posted by guyanonymous
Sorry - did I read that right? They put an expiration date on the etextbook? Face palm. Who publishes these things? GM? It sounds like planned failure of a product.
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They figure, I think, that once you're done with the class you're not gonna read it again, so you may as well just rent it for the duration. Depending on the price of the e-textbook, it may be worth your while. For example, I had to take an econ course, even though I'm not an economics major and after that econ course was done there would be no way I'd ever need to look at that econ book again. My choices for the book were:
Buy it new for $100-something
Buy an old edition used for $70-something
Pay $30 in order to access the e-textbook for six months
Now, once class is done, I'm not going to use this book again.
If I have a paper book, I can:
1. Sell it back to the bookstore for $2. Yeah, no, not gonna happen.
2. I can try on my own to find someone to sell it to over the internet. However, I won't get back as much as I paid for it. I'm also likely to have trouble finding a buyer, as a new edition comes out fairly often, so my old edition will probably be a REALLY old edition by the time my course is done. In addition, I'll need to take the time to set up an account on whatever website I use, go to the post office to package and ship the book, and make sure the book *gets* there or deal with the customer if it doesn't.
3. Keep the book and let it gather dust on my shelf.
For me, the $30 textbook rental was the best option. Now, if they're charging more for e-book rental than for a paper copy of the book, that's just stupid...