Well I guess it’s about that time when folks are heading to college. Whether you’re the parent or the student heading off to college, those financial budgets always seem to get a little stretched no matter how well you plan. Those incidentals can add up, and those textbook prices are down right atrocious. Not to mention the cost of hauling those things around to your classes. Don’t know what I mean by that? You’ll see in a couple of years when you’re visiting a Physical Therapist, Orthopedic doc, or a Chiropractor.
Google Play is making an attempt to save your spine and to also help save you some of the financial burden. If you don’t already know this, those hefty prices on textbooks that range in price from $100-200 a pop aren’t going to return much to your wallet during an end of the semester buy back when you don’t need the book anymore.
According to the official Android blog, Google is launching a digital textbook rental program through the Google Play store. Apparently there’s a growing list of publishing partners, and I would assume that this list is going to continue to grow. If you’re a publisher still thinking about dipping your toe into digital media, please allow me to give you a push. This is where media is headed and our backs are tired of carrying the heavy load.
“Need your textbooks for just a semester or two? You can rent any textbook on Google Play for six months and save up to 80% as compared to buying print textbooks.”
Now I’m all for investing in an author’s published work, but the textbook industry is just over inflated and bad for the environment. The environmental impact comes from the constant updates each and every year that “require” a new edition, which in turn makes your current edition void of any financial return in a buy back at the book store, but more importantly the resources involved with going back to the press for updates and having to ship them out. In a digital format minor tweaks or major updates can be easily refreshed, which can be just as fluid as updating just about any app.
More and more college students are utilizing tablets for school, and colleges these days are wired for sound. Well, they’re just wired so you have access to the cloud. With these digital textbooks you’ll have access to all of this content in one place, you’ll be able to stay organized with note taking and bookmarking features, and you’ll have convenient access to Google’s translation and search tools.
You can imagine I was pretty excited to see that Google Play has a few nursing texts already available, and this list is sure to grow as more up and coming healthcare professionals embrace technology.
Not to worry iOS users. Google Play has an app for your devices too so you should be just fine accessing these textbooks from your iPhone or iPad. I’m a Nexus guy myself, so for all of those Android users out there, this capability can be easily accessed through the Google Play app already installed on the device.
I think Google Play is really starting to give Amazon’s Kindle platform a real run for its money, especially since the Kindle tablets are as some would say, “locked down.”
I actually have no need for a college textbook at this point, but hey, I’ll admit that this technology is making me think about furthering my education and I can make it happen in a more streamlined fashion. Are you a college student (whether young or “experienced”) returning back to school, and is this something that you’re thinking about taking advantage of? Let us know.
*Image courtesy of the Official Android Blog
What a good idea! Rent a Google text for a limited time! Nice
Artrotter Yep, it’s about time we get more digital access to textbooks. Thanks for stopping by.
These e-books would be really helpful for students…because from these books they could easily improve their skills also.
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