After reviewing Haag-Cummings-McCubbrey’s Management Information Systems (online edition), I found the experience to be quite agreeable and the online viewer easy to use. Personally, I think that the use of online textbooks can be more convenient than traditional hardcopies. Online textbooks use no paper, so it is more environmentally mindful. Morever, as long as you have a large enough monitor, the text on screen can be as large, or larger than the original text. The online format can be customized to meet each person’s requirement. Further, a digital book can be downloaded into a e-book or tablet PC, allowing the student to have and read the book wherever he or she goes.
As far as pricing goes, I found that in this particular case, the Management Information Systems book and expensive “online downloadable version” price made it most cost effective to purchase a used hardcopy. The online edition costs $94.70 and the hardcopy, “used”, could be found for less than half the online version price. How this can be is beyond my understanding but I believe that if publishers wish to sell more ebooks, their pricing strategy must change dramatically towards the benefit of the student or buyer. Overall, I believe a reasonable price for this book should be between one-quarter to one-half the current online selling price. Perhaps the publisher and writers will make less money on each copy, but they must know that online versions do not have the usual overhead of hardcopies such as paper, binding, and ink.
If ebook devices were less expensive, online books were cheaper, I would definitely use online textbooks for all of my classes. Eventually, as costs come down, the trend for this type of market situation to occur seems very apparent and reasonable. Not only will humanity as a group save more trees and protect the environment, but books can finally become a more interactive and fun resource.
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