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What is your opinion on textbook costs?

randomuser
edited November 2007 in General
I spent 450$ this term on textbooks.

I'm pretty sure I could have gone without using 3 of them.

This one time I had a teacher, and he made us all photocopies of various texts which ended up being like 40 pages double sided. We didn't have to buy one book for the class which I thought was so cool.

I also like when I buy a book I could have gone without, then when you try and sell it back there is a new edition.

Comments

  • NukeChem
    edited November 2007
    Custom Courseware's the real rip-off. The bookstore blames "copyright" for why they can't take back the books, but I found out it's actually entirely dependent on the contract they have with the publisher. Copyright's just their lazy excuse to avoid having to do real research to find out which Coursewares they can buy back or not. As it is, if you buy Courseware, you're stuck with a $30 book you can't even use.
  • Student0667
    edited November 2007
    I believe professors should be limited as to the amount of textbooks he/she can use for a class. This way, students will not be 1.) forking huge amount of cash on books and 2.) forces professors to make their course more lecture oriented.
  • Ether
    edited November 2007
    When I sold back my calculus textbook:

    clerk: "This textbook looks almost unused."
    me: "I got a C-."
    clerk: "oh.."
    Having said that, I generally try to avoid buying textbooks unless I really think I'm going to use them. This may or may not be a good idea.
  • Student0667
    edited November 2007
    Ether;18187 said:
    Having said that, I generally try to avoid buying textbooks unless I really think I'm going to use them. This may or may not be a good idea.
    It is a great idea, especially for us Arts and Social Science guys who often have to read texts that are already in public domain. Why buy a textbook when you can read yours online for free?
  • NukeChem
    edited November 2007
    It's too bad we can't start a textbook lending circle. I bet the copyright Nazis would find away to bust that one up. Can't deprive the textbook publishers of their licence to print money.
  • Student0667
    edited November 2007
    NukeChem;18200 said:
    It's too bad we can't start a textbook lending circle. I bet the copyright Nazis would find away to bust that one up. Can't deprive the textbook publishers of their licence to print money.
    We don't have to operate in the open. However, it is unlikely that different professors teaching the same course would use the same textbook. For example, the two different professors teaching HIST 249 uses two different textbooks.
  • Kevin M.Kevin M.
    edited November 2007
    I can't wait until they start making textbooks available in e-book format so we can exploit books like we exploit mp3s lol

    *this message will self-destruct in 7 days* grins
  • Student0667
    edited November 2007
    Kevin M.;18389 said:
    I can't wait until they start making textbooks available in e-book format so we can exploit books like we exploit mp3s lol

    *this message will self-destruct in 7 days* grins
    There are already course textbooks out there that are free and online, think Plato Symposium and Emily Brontes' Wuthering Height.
  • JayDub
    edited November 2007
    Not going to lie, all of my textbooks are free because the are paid for by your tax dollars :-D.
  • Ether
    edited November 2007
    think Plato Symposium and Emily Brontes' Wuthering Height.
    ... sure, but what about "Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics - An Applied Introduction".

    not exactly public domain..
  • Student0667
    edited November 2007
    Ether;18402 said:
    ... sure, but what about "Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics - An Applied Introduction".

    not exactly public domain..
    You know what I am talking about. I am refering to books that are written a long time ago and thus on public domain...

    Anyway, I feel really sorry about you science boys and girls who can never get a break from textbooks.

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