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Textbooks are an slow-moving, entrenched market with unusual incentives. Many students are paying with loan money, teachers require books with little concern to
by dwaltrip 10y ago
Textbooks are an slow-moving, entrenched market with unusual incentives. Many students are paying with loan money, teachers require books with little concern to cost, etc.
Scientific papers is also not your typical market. I remember reading that university libraries are somewhat compelled to subscribe to the status quo publishers, even if they are disliked. It's an industry where pedigree and tradition is quite important.
I fully agree it's good analyze why the system outputs what it does. I would question the idea a lot of the observable dynamics in the system have been consciously chosen for. That's not to say we shouldn't make the effort now though.
- gizmo 10y agoI'm not suggesting that the college textbook market has been designed by moustache-twirling evildoers, just that we should look at, as you say, the observable dynamics in the system. Regardless of market dynamics I think it's immoral to restrict academic knowledge to those who can afford it, when it can be distributed at 0 marginal cost.
- dwaltrip 10y agoDefinitely. I believe amazing things can happen the more we make the collective knowledge of humanity accessible to all. Thankfully, I think we are moving in that direction.