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Can the iPad completley replace College Textbooks??

T

TeddyLeroux

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 28, 2009
89
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I am going to be a freshman in college next year and i really want to save a bunch of money on my textbooks ... is there a good possibility that some if not all of the textbooks i want will be in the iBookStore?? Is anybody else doing this??? I hope i can do this!!!!!:apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:
 
I guess it depends if the publisher of the books you need is signed on with apple. If so, I would DEF take advantage of it!
 
I know for me at my school plenty of teachers write their own books. If they made them into eBooks that they could give out as well, then we'd have something. I'm hoping that happens.
 
The best way you can do that right now is to buy used textbooks. They're cheaper for you to buy and the stores make more money on them.

You'll just have to find out what books you need when you get to your classes. Some classes will use widely used texts, but others will use ones written by professors. The latter is especially true at big schools. I had one teacher in my upper-level courses who only used his own books. But they weren't too bulky and were paperback. Some math and science books are huge and cost you way more than $100.

You also have to consider how much you'll save. If you wouldn't buy an iPad otherwise, you're already starting $500 in the hole. I don't think you'd be able to save $500 between the cost of used textbooks and iPad versions.

So basically don't plan to save money going this route. But you might save your neck because of how heavy some books are. I would give anything to have had this back in college and earlier. A device weighing less than 5 pounds versus books that weigh more than 20? Yes!!!!
 
Michael CM1 said:
The best way you can do that right now is to buy used textbooks. They're cheaper for you to buy and the stores make more money on them.

You'll just have to find out what books you need when you get to your classes. Some classes will use widely used texts, but others will use ones written by professors. The latter is especially true at big schools. I had one teacher in my upper-level courses who only used his own books. But they weren't too bulky and were paperback. Some math and science books are huge and cost you way more than $100.

You also have to consider how much you'll save. If you wouldn't buy an iPad otherwise, you're already starting $500 in the hole. I don't think you'd be able to save $500 between the cost of used textbooks and iPad versions.

So basically don't plan to save money going this route. But you might save your neck because of how heavy some books are. I would give anything to have had this back in college and earlier. A device weighing less than 5 pounds versus books that weigh more than 20? Yes!!!!
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Plus the fact that you can sell the books back after you use them.
 
I wish they would be replaced. I hate college textbooks. They bruised my arms and hurt my back. :(
 
lotusindigo said:
I wish they would be replaced. I hate college textbooks. They bruised my arms and hurt my back. :(
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and they take up space in a dorm room where space is a premium! I guess an iPad would be somewhat susceptible to theft but if you have the 3G version, you can track it from mobileme if you have that and possibly hunt the thief down. The plus side is that since you can restore your apps for free, and will have the backup images on your mac (which you presume-ably would have backed up on mobile me or other removable storage, your loss will be quite minimal), you can just go grab a new iPad and be back in business quickly. I'd just chalk up the stolen iPad as a cost of education. pretty sad that students will resort to stealing stuff instead of going out and finding a job.

i guess the iPad can also promote distance learning, my favorite part of distance learning is that I control when I study, whether it's at 4am or 6pm, it's up to me, as long as I meet the deadlines, i'm good. I can start a course in India, take the first midterm in London, do more homework in Australia, take the 2nd midterm in Argentina, do more homework while in China, and then fly home for a few days to go and take the final! Only the final would have to be on site, everything else, I am free to do wherever I may have a connection to the WWW and I can work faster if I wish and get stuff done quickly.
Universities really should make most intro level courses distance learning, there just isn't much of the course where peer interaction is that crucial, like freshman calculus, intro stats, intro economics, multivar calculus, non-lab parts of chemistry/physics/biology, intro pol sci, intro history, intro to logic, etc...
 
I hope so.

I went to college back in 1987 and for four books it was around $200.00 USED. I hear nowadays books cost about 3x that! And the thing about school text book publishers is that they come out with new books each year for the most part so you are forced to buy the so called "new editon." instead of being able to save by buying USED ones.

I think it is time that the publishers get their ass handed to them finally after ripping students off for so long.
 
lotusindigo said:
I wish they would be replaced. I hate college textbooks. They bruised my arms and hurt my back. :(
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You ever do a problem on one page and have to constantly flip back to the examples to figure what to do? Trust me it's not fun even attempting that on a eBook.
 
Not immediately, no. But I've got another year until I'm in college; so maybe the industry will make some improvements.
 
TeddyLeroux said:
I am going to be a freshman in college next year and i really want to save a bunch of money on my textbooks ... is there a good possibility that some if not all of the textbooks i want will be in the iBookStore?? Is anybody else doing this??? I hope i can do this!!!!!:apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:
Click to expand...
It will take a while for electronic publishing to get where it needs to go for college textbooks. The following are a few points that I learned from a recent conversation with a salesperson:
  1. The publisher has definite plans for the iPad and other ebook readers.
  2. Electronic textbooks will sell for approximately 60% of their dead tree versions.
  3. Each electronic textbook will expire no later than one year after purchase.
  4. The publisher has no plans to sell electronic textbooks that do not expire.
  5. Supplementary materials will be available.
From where I sit, electronic textbooks will not realize their potential as long as their production is dominated by old line dead tree publishers. However, the barriers to entry of electronic publishing are much lower than for publishing on dead trees. Hopefully, this will allow new players to wrest control of publishing from the old line publishing houses.
 
well I think it will, it has to be honest

academic printing houses are now moving away from larger runs and printing on demands.

digital delivery could ensure that authors still are producing pub's
 
The iPad doesn't have enough weight or thickness to keep your door open so no, it won't replace textbooks.
 
Freis968 said:
I hope so.

I went to college back in 1987 and for four books it was around $200.00 USED. I hear nowadays books cost about 3x that! And the thing about school text book publishers is that they come out with new books each year for the most part so you are forced to buy the so called "new editon." instead of being able to save by buying USED ones.
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This is going to be the problem for publishers and win for students as if any group of users is going to pirate something it will be students. The colleges will have to pay for big licences to the publishers and the greater purchasing power will drive the cost down. :)
 
miles01110 said:
"...has announced that starting in Fall, 2010, every full-time student will pay for an iPad as part of their tuition."

I think that's what you meant.
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No that's not what I meant since you and I don't know for sure. While it's very likely to be included in the tuition costs there are other possibilities. For instance there could be an endowment ear marked to pay for "new" use of technologies for students. Do you know for a fact this is not the case or are you just speculating (rhetorical since you have no way of knowing for sure)?
 
Julien said:
No that's not what I meant since you and I don't know for sure. While it's very likely to be included in the tuition costs there are other possibilities. For instance there could be an endowment ear marked to pay for "new" use of technologies for students. Do you know for a fact this is not the case or are you just speculating (rhetorical since you have no way of knowing for sure)?
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Since Seton Hill students pay a $100 Technology fee per semester, it's quite safe to say that some of that goes towards their "free" iPad.
 
Text Books on an E-Reader

My wife is starting her 2nd career (after 25 years as a Pastry Chef). She's in nursing school and has HUGE medical books. I picked her up a Kindle at Christmas with the idea of replacing them.

Well, it's a yes-and-no solution. Not all her books are online yet. Also, a lot of her physiology lab books rotate every semester. One of them, a particuarly large dissection manual, costs $300 used. On the Kindle the same thing costs $192. Some savings...on one hand I am aghast at the cost, but as a business owner I understand about making a profit...so let's drop that there.:rolleyes:

Anyway...when we downloaded the manual I was amazed it was edited.??!!?? There txt was basically the same but the graphics had been reduced in resolution. At the time I felt that textbooks and Kindle's weren't ready for prime time (my observations..YMMV). When the iPad came out I said "Aha!" a e-reader with a quality screen....THIS is what the txt book world needs. ;)

Unfortunatly for my wife...the first iPad is mine :) We don't splurge much but we do take turns...and it's my turn!! :D

Can't wait for Saturday...
 
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