Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
I don't know about you, but I still have my college textbooks. I couldn't sell them back to the bookstore because a new edition comes out every 2 to 3 years. Publishers do this to hurt the used book market. They have to otherwise they won't make a profit.
I don't have a problem with their profit, but it galls me to see a new edition of a math, physics, chem, or bio textbook that contains the same information as the old. [/url]]
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Not that there isn't some truth to that, but it's also not entirely true. I'm speaking as someone whose brother is the coauthor of a psychology textbook now in its (I think) 5th edition. The authors, in fact, work very hard to incorporate new knowledge, and to rewrite and change emphasis on old knowledge according to feedback and what seems to work and not work.
Physics, chem, and bio in particular need to be updated regularly to account for changes in the fields.
I'm an advocate of electronic textbooks, but I do wonder how this will play out economically. I gather that my brother's publisher is running scared on the question, since they really don't know how to make it work.
I expect the transition, while inevitable, may be painful.