Textbooks. Every time a new semester rolls around, it’s time to get a new stack of them. Textbooks are the bane of students, being oversized, expensive lumps that burn a hole through our wallets. Often, professors don’t even use these books, except for homework problems, leading to what students view as a gigantic waste of money. Adding to the problem is the fact that, often, new editions of these textbooks are released and required for the course, and such editions are identical to the previous, cheaper versions, except for the homework problems.

Nonetheless, because the homework problems are different, students need the new edition, and therefore the older copies that can be obtained online or from former students of the same course are rendered unusable. Of course, textbook companies must constantly release new editions to remain in business, but the gigantic texts are quickly becoming anachronistic in today’s digital age.

Rather than spend hundreds of dollars purchasing new textbooks, I would personally much rather have digital copies that can be updated on my computer or other personal devices and would allow me access to the material across many platforms in a much lighter device. While this would certainly not appeal to textbook manufacturers, doing so would both save universities money and allow much richer educational experiences with interactive and updateable media. Frankly, textbook manufacturers currently represent a vestigial industry that is, for the most part, unnecessary in its current form in this day and age. While there are certain advantages to physical textbooks, I personally find the advantages of digital media to be far greater.

We are beginning to see certain changes: notably interactive texts online and the fact that some texts can be acquired in digital formats. I can now carry about three of my textbooks in my backpack at a time, in digital format, rather than lug around at most a single book that I wish to use for my homework. I believe, however, that there is an incredible missed opportunity in textbook innovation. Corporations would rather support an outdated business model than innovate. Innovation is happening, albeit far too slowly, and we continue to purchase large compendia that are left in a stack on our desks and rarely consulted.

In short, I, along with many students, find traditional textbooks to be an expensive and nearly useless fact of life in college. Rather than purchase new paperweights that happen to contain homework problems at the beginning of each semester, I would much rather purchase a digital version that could then be printed should a physical copy be needed. This would also allow textbooks to be updated without students having to purchase an entirely new one and would make course material purchases seem much more worthwhile and useful.