Apparently, text books are not longer hardbound, 300-400 page affairs. Um, I guess that's good. Never saw the point in paying big bucks for a hardbound book I would have absolutely no desire to retain when I was done with it. In fact, I cared so little about them, I generally took the 10 cents on the dollar the books store offered to buy them back at the end of the semester.
Fast forward to today. Had to order some books for Kazoo Jr. This text book is only about 200 pages long. It's about 4 X 6 inches and available in paperback. Good news for pricing, right?
Nope, this book was $150. Yes, written out longhand, that's One Hundred and Fifty U.S. Dollars.
Today's useless trivia from my own days as a college student: A 350 page hardbound Sociology Textbook (which had been superseded by a new edition and was, therefore, worthless despite having cost over $100 a mere 14 weeks or so before) will stop a 9mm, but not a .357. Plan your book based body armor accordingly.
ShawnG
UltimaDork
2/14/21 5:14 p.m.
These things can't be in an e-book version?
Hell, I have service manuals thicker than that in PDF form.
Buying used on Amazon not an option?
College textbooks are a huge racket. It's especially awful when you HAVE to buy a new one from a university Crook store.
And even if the material doesn't change, of course they release "new" editions with a few problems changed so you have to go get the new one and get ripped off.
Full disclosure: Part of this was due to a late publishing of a syllabus which meant the used copies were gone. The need have it ASAP for a quiz meant we had to get what we could get our hands on from Amazon.
The worst is the professors who write them and require you to buy their book- latest edition only please- I changed the spelling of colour on page 58. That'll be 250 instead of the previous edition used at 25.
02Pilot
UltraDork
2/14/21 5:39 p.m.
It may be of little comfort, but some of us do actually pay attention to the prices of the books we assign. I don't have control over all of them - some are department-mandated - but when I can I always try to choose something that can be had without selling a vital organ. The last book I required (the past two semesters inclusive) is just over $21 in hardcover, or $9.99 as an ebook.
Agreed that college bookstores are not in the business of making things affordable.
ShawnG said:
These things can't be in an e-book version?
Hell, I have service manuals thicker than that in PDF form.
A lot of time the e-book is the same cost. Also, sometimes e-books are required (at full cost) because that's the only way to get access to online assessments or other activities, which also rules out buying used.
Well the schools and their business partners need to make money somehow. I mean, it's not like tuition has increased dramatically in the last few years or anything.
02Pilot said:
It may be of little comfort, but some of us do actually pay attention to the prices of the books we assign. I don't have control over all of them - some are department-mandated - but when I can I always try to choose something that can be had without selling a vital organ. The last book I required (the past two semesters inclusive) is just over $21 in hardcover, or $9.99 as an ebook.
Agreed that college bookstores are not in the business of making things affordable.
you are a good man. Thank you.
ShawnG
UltimaDork
2/14/21 7:29 p.m.
I sell software to college programs that is about the price of a book, but the student can use it throughout their career and is handy in licensure. We often sell through the bookstore but then also offer it direct, because even though the bookstore is literally doing nothing other than processing the payment - they may charge 20% more. Generally kids on full aid are stuck with this option. We as the creators are not making more- the bookstore is.
college food programs operate in a similarly odd way.
1/4 of my tuition was for paper. I E36 M3 you not, paper. Reems and reems of paper. Because a majority of student mswere told, told, by instructors to print out 50-100 page workbook/guide/homework manuals instead of buying them for $12-20.
Congratulations, shiny happy person, out tuition had doubled.
KellyMofo is currently enrolled in her MSW (Masters in Social Work). The pain is shared.
In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) Forum Supporter :
Not just college kids. Rather than clutter up this I started one for the school kids.
Duke
MegaDork
2/15/21 8:58 a.m.
That's why you *always* rent textbooks if humanly possible.
I was an engineering student. Totally get this. So painful.
Seriously thinking of moving to Canada, working for an internet firm and actually being able to afford college for my kids.
wae
UberDork
2/15/21 9:04 a.m.
My kids' high school is pretty much the same way. Some of the books aren't too bad - Latin, for example, uses literally the exact same books that I used back in the late 80s - but the sciences are pretty bad. The upside for us is that since the kids are so close in age, we get three years' of use out of each book. I'm not looking forward to the book buys in college, though.
I don't view the price as for the printing of the book, its for the content of the book. A lot of academic books require extensive knowledge, research, editing, etc.
Also, as an engineer, I would buy a used book and sell it again at the end of the semester. It wasn't overly expensive. It may have cost $250 all in for any given semester, which compared with a $10k+ tuition bill didn't really seem like a big deal.
E-books can be a partial solution to the problem, but I hope they have made improvements to make them more conducive for scholarly work.
ProDarwin said:
I don't view the price as for the printing of the book, its for the content of the book. A lot of academic books require extensive knowledge, research, editing, etc.
Also, as an engineer, I would buy a used book and sell it again at the end of the semester. It wasn't overly expensive. It may have cost $250 all in for any given semester, which compared with a $10k+ tuition bill didn't really seem like a big deal.
E-books can be a partial solution to the problem, but I hope they have made improvements to make them more conducive for scholarly work.
Ooooh, digital was a solution to the problem alright.. The problem of used book reselling. Now the tests are online, and you have to have a code from a book to register an account online... So if you buy a used book, you cannot take the tests/quizzes/submit homework, etc. Replacement codes cost as much as the books.
wae
UberDork
2/15/21 9:34 a.m.
In reply to WonkoTheSane (FS) :
Welcome to the Internet of (rented) Things, right? Even at the high school level, the Chem and Bio books are available electronically but you get an 8 or 9 month subscription to them. Can't hand it down to the next kid, can't sell or trade it to an underclassman. Fortunately for those, they are still available as a physical book but even those come with a code to access the on-line content for the original purchaser only. I totally get that it costs real money to develop all that content and everything and I don't want to diminish what is rightfully owed to the authors and researchers, but at the same time it just feels a little underhanded and dirty. Plus, some of this stuff doesn't need to change:
