<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" > <channel> <title> Comments on: Never pay for textbooks again, in six steps. </title> <atom:link href="https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps</link> <description>Human Animals at the Crossroads of Science, Religion, Media and Culture</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:44:47 +0000</lastBuildDate> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title> By: Tony Coyle </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/comment-page-1/#comment-42346</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Tony Coyle]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:44:47 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=7417#comment-42346</guid> <description><![CDATA[I loved some textbooks - but they were way overpriced and mostly useless. the only books I wished I HAD retained were my copies of Knuth's "Art of Programming" - the lessons remain timeless, and the volumes are still classics (the CS equivalent of Plato!). I am mostly at my computer whenever I need to learn - so download pdfs to my laptop for reference (especially on planes and while working). I have used most of Erika's online sources (not being a student, I don't have her ready access to scholarly material!) I must admit, though, that I love the feel and heft of a good textbook. Viscerally I feel I get more <i>value</i> from 10lbs of book than a few hundred Kb of PDFs. I get just as much knowledge from each, however, and much more accessibility with PDFs (I have hundreds of reference books on my laptop). The writing is on the (video) wall. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I loved some textbooks – but they were way overpriced and mostly useless. the only books I wished I HAD retained were my copies of Knuth's "Art of Programming" – the lessons remain timeless, and the volumes are still classics (the CS equivalent of Plato!).</p> <p>I am mostly at my computer whenever I need to learn – so download pdfs to my laptop for reference (especially on planes and while working). I have used most of Erika's online sources (not being a student, I don't have her ready access to scholarly material!)</p> <p>I must admit, though, that I love the feel and heft of a good textbook. Viscerally I feel I get more <i>value</i> from 10lbs of book than a few hundred Kb of PDFs. I get just as much knowledge from each, however, and much more accessibility with PDFs (I have hundreds of reference books on my laptop). </p> <p>The writing is on the (video) wall. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Erika Price </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/comment-page-1/#comment-42154</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Erika Price]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:28:19 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=7417#comment-42154</guid> <description><![CDATA[Dan: Ebooks are truly the wave of the future. Online texts have been available for a while, but have not flourished because many students refuse to read from an LED screen for a long period. Amazon is trying to change the system by donating Kindles to students in a several universities such as Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. This is part of a pilot program to make ebook textbooks more feasible and popular. I would love for the authors of educational books to actually get a kickback for their work. Not only does this seem more "just", I imagine it would promote the creation of better quality products. Right now the publishers are in control, and they push for books that are attractive and not functional. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dan: Ebooks are truly the wave of the future. Online texts have been available for a while, but have not flourished because many students refuse to read from an LED screen for a long period. Amazon is trying to change the system by donating Kindles to students in a several universities such as Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. This is part of a pilot program to make ebook textbooks more feasible and popular. </p> <p>I would love for the authors of educational books to actually get a kickback for their work. Not only does this seem more "just", I imagine it would promote the creation of better quality products. Right now the publishers are in control, and they push for books that are attractive and not functional. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: grumpypilgrim </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/comment-page-1/#comment-42143</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[grumpypilgrim]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:44:04 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=7417#comment-42143</guid> <description><![CDATA[Classmates of mine in b-school used to buy textbooks from websites that sold the international version of texts. The international versions were softcover and were priced quite a bit less than the hardcover versions sold in the U.S. As I recall, the discounts were anywhere from 20-80%. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Classmates of mine in b-school used to buy textbooks from websites that sold the international version of texts. The international versions were softcover and were priced quite a bit less than the hardcover versions sold in the U.S. As I recall, the discounts were anywhere from 20-80%. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Dan Klarmann </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/comment-page-1/#comment-42137</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Klarmann]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:05:49 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=7417#comment-42137</guid> <description><![CDATA[Eventually the professors will delve into the eBook realm. Instead of paying $100 for a text that kicks $10 back to the author, students may just pay $11, and know that the author who put the material together gets the lion's share. They will personally know who they are cheating by duping copies. eBooks can be updated piecemeal. This process is ever so much less stressful than putting out an annual revised edition. Just fix or update whatever comes up as it occurs. But I am biased. Many of my engineering courses required texts that were obsolete by the time they flowed through the printing industry pipes. The professors still managed to use them as a platform from which to teach. This was back before IBM joined Apple in the small computer marketplace. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Eventually the professors will delve into the eBook realm. Instead of paying $100 for a text that kicks $10 back to the author, students may just pay $11, and know that the author who put the material together gets the lion's share. They will personally know who they are cheating by duping copies.</p> <p>eBooks can be updated piecemeal. This process is ever so much less stressful than putting out an annual revised edition. Just fix or update whatever comes up as it occurs.</p> <p>But I am biased. Many of my engineering courses required texts that were obsolete by the time they flowed through the printing industry pipes. The professors still managed to use them as a platform from which to teach. This was back before IBM joined Apple in the small computer marketplace. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title> By: Niklaus Pfirsig </title> <link>https://dangerousintersection.org/2009/06/10/never-pay-for-textbooks-again-in-six-steps/comment-page-1/#comment-42118</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Niklaus Pfirsig]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:12:25 +0000</pubDate> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=7417#comment-42118</guid> <description><![CDATA[Back in my college days (78-82), while yard sale shopping, I spotted a numerical methods textbook in a pile of books priced at 10 cents. Realizing it was the current issue, I bought it, then sold it back to the bookstore for $50 (Their price was $120 new, $90 used). So I got some satisfaction for the fact they had bought my calculus textbook from whoever stole it, and inspite of the fact I wrote my name on the spine of all my books .. In Russian so I could prove it was mine, they said it was my problem. As for E-books, I love 'em. I actuall have one of the Sony ebook readers, which can work with non-DRM'd books in open file formats. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in my college days (78-82), while yard sale shopping, I spotted a numerical methods textbook in a pile of books priced at 10 cents. Realizing it was the current issue, I bought it, then sold it back to the bookstore for $50 (Their price was $120 new, $90 used).</p> <p> So I got some satisfaction for the fact they had bought my calculus textbook from whoever stole it, and inspite of the fact I wrote my name on the spine of all my books .. In Russian so I could prove it was mine, they said it was my problem.</p> <p> As for E-books, I love 'em. I actuall have one of the Sony ebook readers, which can work with non-DRM'd books in open file formats. </p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>