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Re: MG: the Untold Story--Books-Overpriced?

To: Mike Hartley <mganut@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: MG: the Untold Story--Books-Overpriced?
From: "Scott Gardner" <gardner7@pilot.infi.net>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 15:27:48 +0000
> I guess that it is all a matter of what you are used to.  It seems to me that 
>a
> $40.00 book is not that bad, relatively speaking.  I just finished my degree 
>in
> Biomedical Engineering and I cannot remember buying a text book for less than
> $90.00.  These books were all just 200 pages or so.  Now I am working on my
> Master's in Biology, and all of my books are around $70.00.  I am more than
> happy to spend $40.00 on a book about MGs.  Hell, they are half the price of 
>the
> other books that I am reading these days and 10 times more interesting!
> 
> Mike
> 
Mike,
        That reminds me of another great scam.  My degree is in Computer 
Science and Engineering, and I don't think I ever payed less than $45 
for any of my books, and there were several semesters where my books 
cost more than my tuition.
        The scam?  Coming out with a "new" edition of a textbook every 
semester or every year.  The bookstore won't buy back my "nth" 
edition copy, because all the professors next semestetr will be using 
the "n+1th" edition, and you can't find any cheaper, used copies of 
the new edition, because it's brand new.
        I could understand if there were a world of change between the two 
versions, or if the class relied so heavily on the textbook that you 
NEEDED the new version, but it's usually not so.
        As expensive as college textbooks are, you would think they could 
just print semi-annual updates the way encyclopedia companies do.
(rant mode off)
Scott

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