Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ First It Was Downloads. Now It's Organic Chemistry.

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
The battle over digital copies of textbooks is just heating up. "College students may be the angriest group of captive customers to be found anywhere. Consider the cost of a legitimate copy of one of the textbooks listed at the Pirate Bay, John McMurry's 'Organic Chemistry.' A new copy has a list price of $209.95; discounted." Moreover, "Used book sales return nothing to publishers and authors. Digital publishing, however, offers textbook publishers a way to effectively destroy the secondary market for textbooks." Where the textbook conflict diverges from music downloads is that, in learning, students access a learning management system (LMS). I have no doubt that at least some LMS vendors are thinking of ways to enforce textbook purchases.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 22, 2024 03:03 a.m.

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