Comments on: Will Digital Textbooks Work for Students?

By: Rod

Rod — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:03:11 +0000

I’m a student and I currently use e-textbooks. They have been working very well for me. I use my laptop and get my boos from ichapters.

By: Kailash Badu

Kailash Badu — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:12:39 +0000

Ok, I have done so much of reading from e-books. Nonetheless, it’s nowhere close to matching the convenience of actually reading off a hard copy.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:37:56 +0000

Man, just thinking back on how much I spend on books brings back memories of college expenses that I want to forget…

If you spill coffee on a book you can probably still use it, what happens if you spill coffee on or drop your digital reading device?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:37:45 +0000

5.5 million or billion? Billion right? Haha. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be much of an opportunity.

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:20:51 +0000

Publishers are definitely trying to make more money off of the eBooks market. However, production and transportation costs are so low that they should be able to make a sizable profit and still keep costs down. I currently use a Cybook ebooks reader, which I love... once the price goes down, students will benefit greatly from ebook readers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:19:00 +0000

I don’t understand how a book in digital format costs more than hard copy. Seems publishers are trying to make more cash in the digital market.

By: XLCowBoy

XLCowBoy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:44:52 +0000

I own a Sony reader myself, and I can honestly say that the technology, both on this machine and on the kindle, are far from what can be considered “mass marketable”.

A few notes to add to the very valid complaints stated above:

1) Page turning is slow.

2) Bookmarking is slow.

3) You cannot “skim” if you can’t remember what it was exactly you were looking for, you could try the search phrase, but…

4) The search phrase has to match the content in the document – so if you were looking for “guava” and typed out “gwava” because you were unsure of the spelling, you’re not going to find it.

5) You cannot “write” on most pdf documents – even the touchscreen ebook readers do not give you that option (yet).

6) Inability to export notes into another file – e.g. typing out notes and saving it as “out-takes.txt” for printing out a short bulleted list for review (rather than printing out full pages).

7) The ROI on such a device is pointless for a student. I recently paid $35 for a PDF. Why? There’s no paper. No Ink. No hardbound cover. So why did I pay that much for something that requires no physical materials?

I’m not saying the products are awful – far from it. I bring it everywhere I go (to re-read Sitepoint books while commuting or waiting at the doctor’s for example), and it’s fantastic that I can have hundreds of books in a single, lightweight device (which answers the question of why I paid $35 for a pdf), but the thing is – I’m not a college student, so the product suits me.

However, if I were a college student, I wouldn’t purchase one at all.