I’ve gotten a lot of complaints from students about having to purchase an access code if they bought a used book. I would be annoyed myself, but as a prof., I recognize that there are things on the website for the book that I can’t give to the students, at least not in an on-line class.

I have a hard time thinking that textbooks will truly just vanish, though. Maybe I”m the last of a dying breed, but I actually have and use textbooks back to undergrad as references for all kinds of things I’m still doing. The part of digital textbooks I think is most unfair is the idea that it has an expiration date.

Mostly unrelated thought: I have heard that DRM for music is going the way of the dinosaur recently – does your metaphor extend to foreseeing the end of DRM for textbooks? If not, what different factors are causing the maintainence of DRM in the textbook world?

I also appreciate your perspective on the impact of textbook publishing on promotion and tenure. I don’t have direct experience in this area, so the input is great.

Textbook authoring does *not* count toward promotion and tenure at most colleges. In fact, it is more often than not perceived to be a distinct *negative*. Authoring a textbook before securing tenure is a very dangerous move for most junior faculty to make.