New Kindle Details Emerge- Built For Textbooks
Image courtesy engadget
The tech world has been abuzz about the larger Kindle rumored to be announced tomorrow, and more details are emerging in the fashion they usually do. The WSJ is reporting that this new, larger Kindle will be aimed at providing not only periodical content to subscribers but also will become a focus for electronic textbooks.
The new Kindle is reported to provide a test for six universities to use it, which engadget is calling the Kindle DX, for use with textbooks that Amazon will provide. The Kindle Project will enable the distribution of textbooks via Amazon for students of the schools in the test.
Amazon has worked out a deal with several textbook publishers to make their materials available for the device, Mr. Gonick added. The new device will also feature a more fully functional Web browser, he said. The Kindle’s current model, which debuted in February, includes a Web browser that is classified as “experimental.”
Five other universities are involved in the Kindle project, according to people briefed on the matter. They are Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State.
The folks at engadget have uncovered that the Kindle DX will have a 9.7-inch screen, making it better for displaying both periodicals and textbooks. What is not clear is how the textbook publishing industry will jump on this electronic distribution model. There’s a reason that textbooks can often cost as much as $100; they have a captive market that can’t get the material any other way. I can’t see how they would participate in a sales method that lowers these costs. It’s not like the market can get their material anywhere else.
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My understanding was that text books tend to have a higher price due as much to the limited market as the captivity of it.
If this is the case, then one of the largest costs, the printing and distribution, will be mitigated. I’m waiting for technical texts to become more widespread in digital format before taking the plunge on an e-reader. I can’t wait for this to happen, having a library of useful books with me at all times would be awesome.
One thing for sure- say goodbye to the big used textbook market. :)
You just answered your own question on the distribution model. Even if they cut prices in half for ebooks, publishers will make out by having all students buy their books first-hand, eliminating the revenue they lose from second-hand purchases.
My hope for Wednesday’s announcement is that the Kindle will be available outside of the US (Canada in my case).
For those who say that the loss of printing costs will drop the price, did you not pay attention when digital downloads of music suddenly made albums cost a couple of dollars?
Oh wait, that didn’t happen. I predict that eTextbooks will still cost a lot, and there will be DRM on them for ‘security theater’ to justify/enforce the same pricing model.
I teach college and to me the strategy seems like something the textbook producers would be all over due to reasons prior commenters mentioned. Printing and distribution costs a lot. These textbooks are usually large and heavy. E-books are not significantly cheaper, so they can break even.
But the big plus is the elimination of the used book market. Publishers have been trying everything they can think of to kill that market. They are offering incentives to instructors to package customized worksheets and syllabi with the book. They’ll print it, they’ll shrink wrap it just to force the students to buy new.
Professors who write these books release new editions every other year. Often times all that changes are the problems at the end of the chapter. (For crying out loud, how much did intro to calculus change since the last 30 years?)
All this to rip off the students more. The system makes me want to puke. Now they found a new way. Sell electronically. Don’t worry, you can still charge your 80-150 USD per textbook. And you eliminate the used market. Magnificent, isn’t it?!!
I was teaching an intro level course in the US again, I would assign the previous edition on purpose. Those can be had for $10 usually from Amazon Used…
I think there is also a huge market here for elementary and high school textbooks. Typically my children have come home at the end of each day with a back breaking load of tedxt books required in order to do all the homework that was assigned that day.
I think there is also a huge market here for elementary and high school textbooks. Typically my children have come home at the end of each day with a back breaking load of tedxt books required in order to do all the homework that was assigned that day.
I wonder if the students will be renting rather than buying the textbooks. In other words, how long does the student have access to the book? Will it expire at the end of the semester? 6 months after? Will they be able to print? If not, then I can’t see paying close to the same price as a hard copy.
Also, I thought that school bookstores counted on students reselling their books back to them for the needed revenue.
Either way, I really hope this works. It’s been a long time coming.
Ellen
Just as long as they make the books available on the rumored 10″ Apple ‘MediaPad’. I have no intention of buying a single use ePaper device when, for reference use as well as short reading periods, I prefer a backlit LCD.
The eBook model for text books would allow updates to your books whenever they became available – which would be a reason to go digital – but the publisher would probably be looking for a hefty payment for the update :o(
I like the idea of a rental model…
Have no fears…this will not replace the paper text book market where revisions occur only every couple of years.
The cost of printing these text books is a very small proportion of the profit margin as opposed to newspapers, where printing and distribution costs are proportionally very high. So it is not as if there is a large incentive for publishers to go the electronic route.
This adds choice to the students. I personally would not have choosen to have all my textbooks trapped in a device that can break or be stolen. But I imagine it will appeal to many.