Pioneer

Issue date: 6/4/09 Section: Opinion

If PDF's are being used in the classroom for textbooks, that's a step forward toward electronic media being an alternative to lugging around an 80-pound sack of books. As a reference, most of my technical books have electronic versions of them for many media sources such as PDAs, PDFs, and e-books.

I subscribe to a couple of associations where I can get online courses and Safari books. I can subscribe up to 10 slots, with each book ranging from one slot to three slots depending on the content.

I have the ability to print, search, bookmark and take notes on any book. Best of all I get a discount on the purchase. Another avenue that the textbook publishers can take is to create a textbook Safari.

The current business model for textbook publishing and sales is profitable, economic issues notwithstanding. I don't see the main publishers wanting to make the change to electronic form anytime soon, unless the economic climate forces their hand.

Even then, I don't see the students making that switch to the Kindle when a netbook and a PDF reader would be more cost effective.

Palladino works in Pierce's tech department.

< prev Page 2 of 2

Article Tools