[netcan]

Obviously the price of textbooks isn't the ultimate bottleneck for learning stuff. But, there are important difference between free & cheap. Easier access has all sorts of catalyzing effects.

For example, a free textbook can be referred to. "For a more detailed discussion of this read chapter 4 of Gaussian Processes for Machine Learning."

[SatvikBeri]

When I was a high school student trying to learn subjects outside what my school taught, free access to books was pretty much necessary.