Good points on the (intentional?) inefficiency of the distribution channels for books, but it illuminates another aspect of the opportunity for GMST.
In the late 1980s, a few colleges mandated all incoming frosh be given a laptop, and this made access to some college services more democratic. Reserved books and articles were laptopped, lecture notes went online, etc. Today, that's taken for granted in many places, but the cost of a computer was a significant item in 1989.
Professors may see a profit point in creating specialized textbooks for their own classes, with articles, text chapters drawn from different sources, etc. The e-book technology lets each professor build a learning program and the direct the royalty stream. No more old textbooks being resold or articles being photocopied 100 times. Yesterday's research is included, but every document is tracked for royalty purposes, unlike Adobe. Lab notes, chat sites, etc are all integrated.
Bertelsman's a huge player in textbooks (canibalizing your own and your competitor's markets before they do yours?).
GSR |
