And tachyons. When you're having signal problems, it's because the tachyons are slipping backwards through time.
Mal: Okay. She won't be winning any beauty contests anytime soon. But she is solid. Ship like this, be with ya 'til the day you die. Zoe: 'Cause it's a deathtrap.
'Out Of Gas'
Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!
Sean K - May 08, 2009 7:48:40 am PDT #9948 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Jessica - May 08, 2009 7:49:20 am PDT #9949 of 25501
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
If only someone would release the iReversePolarity app, all my signal problems would be solved!
megan walker - May 08, 2009 7:50:19 am PDT #9950 of 25501
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
FYI, all major US textbook publishers are currently working on agreements with Amazon re the kindle.
There is already a different price structure for e-books vs print (I think it's about 60%). This difference is made up for in the fact that e-books actually reduce the size of the used-book market.
Steph L. - May 08, 2009 7:50:22 am PDT #9951 of 25501
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
Just don't cross the iStreams.
NoiseDesign - May 08, 2009 8:17:58 am PDT #9952 of 25501
Our wings are not tired
I know in my area of study and also for many of the high end sciences the cost of some textbooks can run easily over $100 each. Part of the reason for that is the very small market and the need for new editions coming out on a regular basis. It's the actual printing and production costs that drive the price high. In theory, if the book can be released in a digital only format like Kindle or PDF then those costs could be brought down quite a bit.
tommyrot - May 08, 2009 8:20:09 am PDT #9953 of 25501
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
In theory, if the book can be released in a digital only format like Kindle or PDF then those costs could be brought down quite a bit.
Yeah. I suppose it could lead to more self-publishing of textbooks too, huh?
Vortex - May 08, 2009 8:24:37 am PDT #9954 of 25501
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman
I know in my area of study and also for many of the high end sciences the cost of some textbooks can run easily over $100 each.
$100? Try $200+ for science textbooks. One of my students' microbiology books cost $249 last semester.
Typo Boy - May 08, 2009 8:27:07 am PDT #9955 of 25501
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Yeah. I suppose it could lead to more self-publishing of textbooks too, huh?
I'm not sure. Professional editing and layout is really important in a textbook, maybe more important than in publishing for the popular market. For example problem sets had better have a low error rate, graphics and charts in science texts have to be laid out just right.
And there is a what amounts to a self-publishing racket in textbooks now. There are publishers who specialize in publishing very small run text books by professors who will assign them to their own classes. These often sell not for $100 but for $150 and $200. So the book is not officially self-published, but 100% of sales are to students in the school at which the author teaches.
flea - May 08, 2009 8:33:25 am PDT #9956 of 25501
information libertarian
There are already a lot of (especially science and engineering) textbooks and academic journals available scanned to pdf at filesharing sites. You can ahem Chemistry books! (Not that I, as an academic librarian, could ever recommend this.) If this catches on - and I don't see why it won't - we may see the 'digital music revolution' clusterfuck all over again.
omnis_audis - May 08, 2009 8:36:12 am PDT #9957 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir
I had a prof like that in undergrad. Had to buy his books. And then we spent the first class period going through and correcting the errors, mostly typos. Folks got frustrated, and he was like "be thankful, it was cheaper to do it this way than to do a 2nd printing". And the book wasn't all that great either. Clearly, editor was sleeping on the job, if there was one at all.