Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Drib
One has to wonder where those college textbooks came from and how they were acquired.
Maybe, maybe not.
|
Okay, I can see that for some people money is the most important thing in life. Books are for authors and publishers to make money. Copyrights are for making even more money. It is really important that nobody who doesn't pay gets to read the work, because cheating the IP owners is really bad. Who cares about any other reason for books. They are simply commodities for buying (but not reselling).
If you think that's ludicrous, then you should look more into the example you brought up. Some courses force you to buy a textbook, whether you want it or not. It is changed every year to ensure that everyone must buy a new one, even if it is no better than the previous one. And of course, the prices are ridiculously high for the captured market. Even worse, they are coming up with business models that take the book away from you when the course is over. For the textbook industry, the paragraph above is gospel. It's what happens when one side gets to make all of the rules.
I believe that books are important for far more than just making money for authors and publishers, and that putting books behind paywalls is bad for everyone. I believe that you should pay for a book if you can, but if you can't or won't pay, then we're still better off if you get to read the book anyway.