🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <CzKA66.G31@qdpii.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au>
     ianst@qdpii.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au (Ian Staples) writes:
>woodlab@u.washington.edu (Steven Ross Shook) writes:
>> 
>>In article CB5967A@american.edu (Christopher Brunn) writes:
>>===========================================================
>>>> Does anyone know why college textbooks are so expensive?  It has gotten
>>>> ridiculous.

<snip>

>>> I think some of the reasons they are so expensive are:
>> 
>>> 1) Smaller audience that say a hard cover King novel, therefore higher
>>>    price per book.
>>> 2) More expensive to produce:  equations, pictures, mistakes, etc.

I am not in the book industry but I will tell you that I have found that
one of the big problems with textbooks is the fact that they are hardcover.
Do we really need a hardcover if the information inside is the same, and
let's face the facts, it will become obsolete faster than a paperback
edition will become unusable? I have many paperback references that are in
as good a state as many of my harcover text books (which by the way, are
mostly ornamental by now).

Interesting story, echoing some other people's experiences:

I bought a book by mail from a person who studied in India for approx $6.00.
I was totally surprised when I received it because it was a paperback and
it said "International Student Edition". I checked the text and it was
identical to the regular version which should have costed over $30.00 at
the time of the original printing (I should add that this is an old book,
but other people have had the same experience recently)

So I guess that if I can catch a very cheap plane ride to London a few months
after several books I want come out and buy them all at once, I can save a
bundle and enjoy the visit to another country all at once!

But if the publishers made them paperback and cheaper by, say 40%, I would
bu, and buy, and buy...

And, by the way, are there ANY Kluwer Academic Press books for under $80?


Sincerely,


Alfredo Ortiz
C&DH Hardware Design Engineer
Martin Marietta Astro Space
East Windsor, NJ, USA