Quote:
Originally Posted by elemenoP
$15.99 for a textbook. HOW did they do that? There are a lot of costs (and several years of work) that go into making a textbook, and printing up the books is just one of them. So I'm wondering how they got that price and whether/for how long the publishers are going to go along with that. I guess they have textbooks from the big publishers with books in the store at that price today, but does that mean that they all have to go along with that price to get in the ibookstore?
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These are high school texts, not college. That matters because a high school text has a larger market and is a bit cheaper (one news source today quoted $75). The second trick is that this is the price per student. A physical text might cost 75 and last for five years. Under this program, the cost would be 15 per year for five years to get to the same $75.
Which leads to the next problem. If these books cost the same as physical books it doesn't seem to me to be cost effective for schools. There is the additional cost of the iPad, and the replacement cost for the inevitable broken iPads.
I suspect it won't be any special deal for publishers either. Providing rich media has to cost more. And what about teachers? Assuming these books are updated every year (electronic distribution, you know), then preparing for constantly updating texts is no joy.
I see two winners. Students: I tablet (instead of many, heavy books) with interactive learning tools. Apple: more iPads sold.