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

[Joe Campbell]

Keep in mind that the libraries, which Donovan mentions, are part of that captive audience. 



On Feb 24, 2011, at 11:54 PM, Kenneth Marcy <kmmos1 at frontier.com> wrote:

> 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
> 
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