Textbooks are getting too expensive. And the only readers seem to be the unfortunate students whose professors may get a royalty from pushing..I mean..assigning the textbooks.
Much like the newspapers, why don't we let advertisers subsidize the textbooks? The value to the advertisers is immeasurable, since the students will be staring at them all semester. The ads are no worse than what the students get by watching TV or reading newspapers anyway (if they still do that at all). However, lowering the prices of textbooks can achieve great social benefits for the poor and the middle class.
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For the love of Pete, less ads, not more.
I think a distinction can be made between "good" ads and "bad" ads. What I mean is that ads which a poll of professors would support would be considered "good"; the rest not.
Having ads to subsidize books is a wonderful idea. But may be some standards should be set about kind of ads and number of ads. Else the textbooks will soon look like periodicals and magazines.
I see two ways to do this. First, you could use obvious full-page ads, either scattered throughout the book or clustered at a few locations.
Seconds, you could use product placement. Brand names on beakers, pencils, etc. Specific examples of software, including vendors, etc.
Personally, I'd like a bunch of full-page ads in the back of the book.
Great idea. That's all I have to add.
This among the worst ideas I have ever read here.It has sooo much potential for abuse.It might start as a few banners or a logo at the back but it ends with censorship, propaganda and lies.I can imagine an envioremental book that never mentions exxon-valdez, a biology book that leaves out evoltion because a special intrest group paid them to, product placement in literature, etc.This is not good.
NEVER. If there is something I am willing to pay for, it's a good book. Spoil whatever you like with ads, but leave my university text books alone. People who don't want to invest in their own education don't need universities anyway.
Very bad idea. In fact editors have trying to do this, offering free books for people who contribute polls, etc. You may be have had some of them and as you have realized are very bad books.
Eliseo
Yeah bad idea textbooks are already overpriced, have or no low content, slightly altered editions to prevent reuse and even printing on paper anymore for college level books is the definition of waste. But taking up more book space with useless advertisement, would just really be the icing on the cake for the publishers to take our students money.