[cudgy]

At least they have physical textbooks. Many classes now only provide links to a PDF document and the students still pay $100-$200 for the privilege. Plus, you can’t recover a portion of the cost of the book by reselling it nor can students save money by buying used books.

I disagree that K through 12 is not part of the problem though. The presence of phones in schools, especially smart phones, has definitely had an impact on the learning skills of students. In the old days, if you will, people had to pass physical pieces of paper around in class secretly to communicate, which was riskier and usually a one or two time event. Smart phones are a Pandora’s box of distractions. I also blame schools for lowering their standards to accommodate the lower standards of the students entering their schools. The schools are simply passing these students down the down the river of eventual disappointment. There should be remedial courses and schools should dismiss students that are not willing or able to pass these courses in order to have the ability to perform at an acceptable level.

Taking their money and providing a degree when they haven’t actually learned the material is borderline fraud.

[soupfordummies]

Pfft one of my text books isn’t even a PDF— it’s a proprietary app that requires internet access and is 350mb. Doesn’t allow copy and paste either of course. And I’m sure I’ll have to pay another $60 for the license again next semester for the second part of the class.

[cykros]

THAT is gross. At least when books were expensive, you knew you could recoup some of that cost the following year selling them back. It also meant you could buy them cheaper used. Assuming you didn't have a professor assigning their own texts and insisting you got the latest edition...

[znpy]

It’s your moral duty to dump that app, extract the contents and make a torrent out of it.

I know I’ll be flagged and downvoted for this but I don’t care.