[Vision2020] Textbook and media prices (was: Professor Campbell)

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Thursday 24 February 2011 21:22:25 Donovan Arnold wrote:
> Why are college books five times the price of other books? Who has $70 for
> each book? Especially when you can get all that information for free
> online or at your local library.

College books are more expensive because, historically, publishers have 
accustomed themselves to semi-captive markets -- if they can capture adopting 
professors, they (authors and publishers) can augment their revenues from 
students required to avail themselves of the texts. Semi-captive markets are 
not competitive, so suppliers can raise prices. I suspect this isn't news.

You may notice that some of the MIT Press books have higher prices, say $70, 
for cloth covered books, and lower prices, say $35, for paperback covers over 
the same published materials. You don't have to pay the higher price if the 
paperback cover is acceptable.

It's true that some philosophical texts have been available for as long as 
dozens of centuries. Many of those texts are readily available. Various texts 
from different authors have content specific, if not unique, to that text and 
its distinct author. A particular text from a particular author may not be 
represented by any other author's text, so one may have to have that specific 
text to understand what that particular author thought and wrote on that 
subject at that time. So, if one wishes to read specific writings associated 
with participants in the annual philosophy conference on the Palouse, one 
needs these volumes, not just general search access to the Internet or a local 
library card.

On the other hand, sometimes information that has been around for centuries, 
and is available if one looks for it, can be repackaged in ways attractive to 
professors and expensive for students, to the distinct benefit of publishers 
and their authors. For example, James Stewart is a Canadian math professor and 
author of many books, most notably a series of calculus books that have earned 
him quite a bit of money. He chose to invest a large amount of it in his 
personal residence, which he calls Integral House. Here is a link to a Wall 
Street Journal article with a description and images of the residence.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123872378357585295.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Here is a link to a MAA interview with James Stewart:

http://www.maa.org/news/061809stewart.html 

I suppose if one is into jealousy, envy, and schadenfreude one might take some 
enjoyment from the thought of the Canadian real estate market taking its toll 
on his investment, but if he's not in the market to sell his home any time 
soon, it's probably a moot point to anyone but the most wicked and cruel.

Investment diversity remains the recommended strategy, despite his mansion.


Ken