Quote:
Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj
Won't that just cause less sales for the publishers, and make them raise the price next year? Current users of textbookrevolt will pay less, but will make the next year's buyers pay more. So it's really some buyers taking money from later buyers.
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If the project was large enough, it probably would, at least initially. The other feedback loop I notice, though, is the pressure to get textbooks from non-traditional sources as
traditional sources become more financially prohibitive.
Since these two loops work against each other, in a closed system I'd anticipate that an optimal or sustainable compromise would be reached. However, as I've mentioned before, with the explosion of internet technology and the increasing opportunity for educators to compile and distribute their own textbooks cheaply and
legally, I'm growing doubtful about the survival of the traditional textbook industry, at least in a form that would be recognisable to us now.