[Xanthe]

The cost of textbooks was already obscene when I was in college, and that was some time ago. At least I still got the main textbooks in hardcover for the price I was paying. Today, the later revisions of those same books cost much more, and are only available in softcover.

If the books are going to be used in electronic format, then the students are going to need the larger-screen ereaders. I'm sure the schools will make arrangements with particular suppliers to standardize the ereader usage and to enable their students to get discounted version of the hardware, just as they currently do for computers and software.

Much as enjoy books on a tactile basis, if I could have gotten etextbooks for some of less engrossing courses, I would have been first in line. The paper savings alone make the plan worthwhile. Besides, it's a matter of making the textbooks available in electronic format. That means they can be read on laptops and netbooks; with all of the available sticky note programs, highlighting and marginal notation will just take another path.