<p>
[quote]
College textbook sales are a $6.3 billion-a-year business, according to the National Association of College Stores. The cost of books and supplies for the 2005-06 academic year ranged from $801 to $904 per student.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Protecting that market is ALL the industry care about. While the computer software industry understands why they need to offer cheaper versions to students, the textbook industry simply believes in milking its customers for all they can. Their tactics not only include ridiculously frequent rewrite of textbooks but highly questionable kickbacks to teachers to obtain "recommendations" of the latest versions, and enroll them in protecting the campus bookstores through late announcements of text books. The situation is probably even worse in the K-12 where the lack of centralized purchasing offices allows for abject shenanigans. Inasmuch as a number of subjects require timely updates, one has to wonder about the need to frequent updates in economics or science. Does Calculus changes that rapidly for a new biennial version coming out like clockwork? </p>
<p>The entire industry, with the help of acolytes, seems to share the desire to render the books obsolete as fast as possible, and reduce the resale value of textbooks to a strict minimum. </p>
<p>The long and the short is simple: they do it because they can get away with it. One has only to look overseas to find out that the pricing of the SAME book is drastically lower. The only differences between the "foreign" textbooks are different covers and an occasional "black only" printing. Pick your most expensive textbook and check one of the Amazon foreign web sites. When one can save 50% --even after paying shipping-- there is little wonder why the US industry is trying to protect its golden goose of a market, without any attention to its paying customers.</p>
<p>PS Would it be hard for Harvard (just an example) to set a moratorium on new versions based on few criteria such as minimum percentage of new material in new books, and prohibit "commercial" arrangements that have a direct impact on students? That may help reduce the costs!</p>