The editorial is titled, “College students will stick to paper books” and was published by Washington Square News today.
The benefits of these e-Textbooks include the ability to quickly search through large amounts of text, insert marginalia in electronic comment boxes and access hyperlinks. Yet the tactile quality of textbooks, something e-Books will never have, allows readers a certain intimacy with their academic material. It’s a lot easier to curl up in bed with a textbook than it is to go to bed with a hunk of heated metal by your side.
It is evident from the limited success of e-Textbooks that students are comfortable with the current order of things: we prefer to have the option of choosing between printed textbooks and e-Textbooks. Though academia’s current preferences may lean toward physical books, this preference may change with future generations. Nevertheless, it remains a vital part of our college education that students have access to their reading material in medium that they can engage with.
[Via INFOdocket]
Questions:
Which “ereaders” heat up when in use?
Which “ereaders” are made of metal?
Is it easier to read in bed with a paper-bound textbook than a plastic one? Even if the plastic one has a leather cover? And is much lighter?
Is “curling up in bed” the recommended manner of academic study?
How does one “engage with” a medium?
“Which “ereaders” heat up when in use?”
None of the eink models and precious few tablets. The things are built off cell-phone tech.
“Which “ereaders” are made of metal?”
Hardly any. Some Kindles have metal backplates. And older, out of production Sonys had metal shells. Most use plastic with rubberized backs.
“Is it easier to read in bed with a paper-bound textbook than a plastic one? Even if the plastic one has a leather cover? And is much lighter?”
A matter of taste. Some people really like the smell of dead tree pulp.
“Is “curling up in bed” the recommended manner of academic study?”
If you’re a cat.
Or if you’re reading a juicy pot boiler.
Probably not a good idea if you’re working linear algebra or topology… unless you need to catch up on your zzzz’s after a long weekend of partying.
“How does one “engage with” a medium?”
If you’re male, on bended knee, with a 2-carat ring in hand and a hopeful look on your face. But only if you believe in ghosts. 😉
(Translation: Not.A.Clue.)
What a complete loser that Editor is. His fetish is quite disturbing.
No assessment of eTextbooks at this moment in time is a meaningful one. It is simply too early in their development.
There may be sub rosa issues at work here. Just for the sake of discussion, I’ll describe a hypothetical scenario:
Semester begins and student uses some combination of parental allowance and financial aid (other peoples’ money) to acquire c. $500 in pBooks. Semester ends and student sells those same books for $200 pocketing those proceeds. A nifty transfer of filthy lucre.
Since student can’t do that with eBooks student continues to prefer pBooks.
Plausible?