On Sun, 17 Sep 2017 01:01:54 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Tue, 12 Sep 2017 03:08:01 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Either way, its nothing that a chemistry book can't fix. (They don't actually bite)

Book? This is the 21st century. Today, we do web pages, blogs,
forums, wikis, YouTube tutorials, online courses, and online reading.
Books are an anachronism.

What do you think still keeps Barnes and Noble and all of the
classrooms still churning? Ask about them when you go by the
applied sciences dept. at the local college.

Barnes and Noble stock has dropped -34% in the last year. 11 years
ago, the stock peaked at $30.31 but is currently at $7.15. They might
be churning for a few years more, but if the present trend continues,
they would not be a great investment opportunity.

Why they're still in business and why colleges prefer paper books to
electronic media is a messy question. I have a Kindle paper white
reader, a Google Nexus 7 tablet, and several Chromebooks, all of which
have the Kindle reader software installed, along with various other
eBook readers and converters. I'm a prolific reader of technical
publications and reports. The electronic readers have several
advantages over paper books. They take up less space, the documents
can be searched, and they don't get moldy when my roof leaks directly
over my bookshelf:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/home/slides/bookshelf.html
Yet, I prefer to read on paper instead of LCD and have to force myself
to read the eBook equivalent. The is reason is the same as why Barnes
and Noble is still in business... tradition, inertia, habit, and
resistance to change. The present trend towards digitized books will
continue until all the dinosaurs, like me, are gone.

Of course, the skools are even more conservative, even bordering on
reactionary. Electronic textbooks really cut into the textbook
vendors profits. The skools are always looking for ways to save
money, but textbook sales are a sacred cow, where the complex
financial arrangements between the skools and the vendors has
stabilized into a mutual beneficial arrangement. Never mind what's
good for the students. That arrangement has created abominations such
as Elsevier, Springer, etc,
http://www.vocativ.com/culture/science/five-corporations-control-academic-publishing/
which will gladly sell research papers, that were originally paid for
by public funds, for exorbitant prices (Paywall). Much of that goes
back to the copyright holding skools. When that cozy arrangement
finally breaks down, as I'm sure it will, I suspect electronic books
and papers will magically become far more popular. Meanwhile, there's
Sci-Hub:
https://scihub.org
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-woman-has-illegally-uploaded-millions-of-journal-articles-in-an-attempt-to-open-up-science

(you are familiar with continuing ed., right?)

Never heard of it. I'm too busy reading, writing, designing, and
repairing to bother with any formal education program.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558