Comments on: The $9.99 Textbook http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: barbarabaptiste http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-165 barbarabaptiste Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:05:39 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-165 Could someone PLEASE solicit Pearson to sign on....YESTERDAY! I signed up for a College Speech course. It is internet blended....all homework, tests, etc. The *&^&%%^& program does not support Windows7 ...but, the best...it does not support MAC.... How can this be? Ludicrous. Antiquated. How can an institution of higher learning function with 1960's (80's at best) technology! How can they be allowed to "charge" $65.00 for this nightmare of a learning experience. Who has hours upon hours to spare just to "try" to get it up and running....which I have been "trying" to do...thwarted at every turn...one of which is getting an old laptop up and running to "try" and support installation of this program that (supposedly) will allow XP & Vista...and only Explorer! Do you think the education system, publishing especially, needs to join in the New Millenium....by yesterday! (ThankYouVeryMuch for listening to/reading my diatribe). <br><br>PS Anyone out there who has had experience with these Pearson "educational?" programs and can offer any assistance, it would be greatly appreciated. Could someone PLEASE solicit Pearson to sign on….YESTERDAY! I signed up for a College Speech course. It is internet blended….all homework, tests, etc. The *&^&%%^& program does not support Windows7 …but, the best…it does not support MAC…. How can this be? Ludicrous. Antiquated. How can an institution of higher learning function with 1960's (80's at best) technology! How can they be allowed to “charge” $65.00 for this nightmare of a learning experience. Who has hours upon hours to spare just to “try” to get it up and running….which I have been “trying” to do…thwarted at every turn…one of which is getting an old laptop up and running to “try” and support installation of this program that (supposedly) will allow XP & Vista…and only Explorer! Do you think the education system, publishing especially, needs to join in the New Millenium….by yesterday! (ThankYouVeryMuch for listening to/reading my diatribe).

PS Anyone out there who has had experience with these Pearson “educational?” programs and can offer any assistance, it would be greatly appreciated.

]]> By: Jason L. Baptiste http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-164 Jason L. Baptiste Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:21:36 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-164 Once again, the same could have been said for wikipedia back in the day, and things turned out pretty well I believe. I'm not suggesting peer editing/ wiki style editing either. Once again, the same could have been said for wikipedia back in the day, and things turned out pretty well I believe. I'm not suggesting peer editing/ wiki style editing either.

]]> By: Darren Lehane http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-163 Darren Lehane Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:21:02 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-163 Great post yet again, Jason.<br><br>Have you seen a recent Diggnation episode discussing the Apple Tablet?<br><br>Kevin Rose touches on some of the points you make here about the possibility of implementing such social aspects into the Tablet's eReader. E.g. Comments on certain pages, discussions, etc.<br><br>If I remember correctly, he also talks about how you could "follow" people in a Twitter-like fashion so when you're reading through a book you can see comments that all those people have left on those pages, etc. which is also similar to the idea above.<br><br>I don't know about the whole price point aspect, but the "Living Document" definitely seems lucrative. Great post yet again, Jason.

Have you seen a recent Diggnation episode discussing the Apple Tablet?

Kevin Rose touches on some of the points you make here about the possibility of implementing such social aspects into the Tablet's eReader. E.g. Comments on certain pages, discussions, etc.

If I remember correctly, he also talks about how you could “follow” people in a Twitter-like fashion so when you're reading through a book you can see comments that all those people have left on those pages, etc. which is also similar to the idea above.

I don't know about the whole price point aspect, but the “Living Document” definitely seems lucrative.

]]> By: Narkor http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-162 Narkor Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:48:53 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-162 As Wikipedia's problems with expertise show, this isn't the case at all. Wikipedia truth is about who is the most persistent editor, not who actually knows what they are talking about. Editing and fact checking is long, tireless and thankless work. It doesn't get done properly unless you pay someone good money to do it. <br><br>You've got caught up in the cult of the amateur ( <a href="http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/the_great_seduction/2006/10/my_book_now_not.html" rel="nofollow">http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/the_great_seducti...</a> ) - that somehow experts and their knowledge don't have any place in education. What sort of society do you expect to build with half-arsed textbooks? One that falls even further behind the education standards of the rest of the world.<br><br>You know what textbooks are going to be published for $10 - the ones that assert evolution is wrong (and don't think that the creationists won't get involved in your little peer group editing project), that MMR vaccine causes autism (lots of motivated editors there) and that Global Warming is a hippy plot. As Wikipedia's problems with expertise show, this isn't the case at all. Wikipedia truth is about who is the most persistent editor, not who actually knows what they are talking about. Editing and fact checking is long, tireless and thankless work. It doesn't get done properly unless you pay someone good money to do it.

You've got caught up in the cult of the amateur ( http://andrewkeen.typepad.com/the_great_seducti… ) – that somehow experts and their knowledge don't have any place in education. What sort of society do you expect to build with half-arsed textbooks? One that falls even further behind the education standards of the rest of the world.

You know what textbooks are going to be published for $10 – the ones that assert evolution is wrong (and don't think that the creationists won't get involved in your little peer group editing project), that MMR vaccine causes autism (lots of motivated editors there) and that Global Warming is a hippy plot.

]]> By: Jason L. Baptiste http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-160 Jason L. Baptiste Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:29:38 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-160 It's an important detail, but one the Internet solves easily. If we<br>can recreate the encyclopedia for free, we can certainly make<br>textbooks that are paid for correct. It's an important detail, but one the Internet solves easily. If we
can recreate the encyclopedia for free, we can certainly make
textbooks that are paid for correct.

]]> By: Narkor http://jasonlbaptiste.com/jason-l-baptiste-random-thoughts/999-textbook/#comment-159 Narkor Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:13:14 +0000 http://jasonlbaptiste.com/?p=414#comment-159 Sure, if you don't want to pay all those pesky editors or fact checkers. Very few textbooks end up with money in the author's pocket - the large costs are because of all the people involved that aren't the author. You might as well just print off pages of Wikipedia and use that - because it will be far more reliable than a ten buck textbook that hasn't had any fact checking or editing because those things are a luxury. Sure, if you don't want to pay all those pesky editors or fact checkers. Very few textbooks end up with money in the author's pocket – the large costs are because of all the people involved that aren't the author. You might as well just print off pages of Wikipedia and use that – because it will be far more reliable than a ten buck textbook that hasn't had any fact checking or editing because those things are a luxury.

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