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The development of books in digital format is not new. Project Gutenberg (in the year 1971) was the first step in using books in digital format. Initially, companies were selling books on CDs. It’s in the year 2000, Stephen King launched a novel in an electronic format that was downloaded by people using Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In 2007, electronic reading devices were launched by Amazon and Sony. The launch of e-readers led to the development of books in digital format. In 2011, these digital books impacted the traditional publishing market, as Amazon reported that in the US it was selling 105 eBooks for every 100 print books.1 Since then, there is a development in digital book publishing. Initially, it was the traditional non-academic book publishing market that was being affected by this disruptive digital publishing. But now, digital is impacting the educational publishing industry, making publishers think about their future business models. Textbooks are the major source of academic material in the education industry. They are designed as per the prescribed curriculum of a state or country. With the advancement of computers and the web, we can see a new phase of the publishing industry in terms of digital textbooks. Initially, schools and students were skeptical about accepting these as a new study media, but various issues in printed textbooks and the advancement of digital publishing technology made digital books accepted in the education industry.
The coming paragraphs will tell the pros, cons, and impact of digital academic books over traditional paper-based books. The major problem faced with paper-based textbooks is that they are big and heavy, and it is not an easy task to carry all the subject books at once. This created inconvenience for the students as they need to carry heavy backpacks containing books to school every day. Mobility and accessibility issues are part of paper-based printed books. These issues made students and educational institutes think actively about digital textbooks. Instead of carrying heavy backpacks, students and teachers in the digital environment have to carry only a tablet or electronic reader containing all required academic material. Digital textbooks are handy and occupy less space in a large hard drive. This enables students and teachers to carry and read as many different textbooks on a single lightweight device.
Cost is another major problem faced by students with paper-based printed textbooks. We all know that printed books are costly. Various factors determine the price of a book such as the subject, its author, quality, quantity, cost of paper, print, storage, marketing, and distribution. E-textbooks are a solution to this problem as they are available at much cheaper prices at online stores. EBooks eliminate the crucial part of printing i.e. paper which in return reduces the publishing cost by directly affecting the printing, binding, packaging, transport, storage, and other cost factors. Digital textbooks are cheaper than printed books. Hence, giving direct benefit to the learner using these e-textbooks.
Another reason for the price hike for printed textbooks is the increase in renting and borrowing of used books. The book’s renting or borrowing has impacted the publisher’s sales. To stop renting practice and also to curb losses due to fewer sales, publishers are printing revised editions of textbooks with slight or mere changes in the design or content and pricing them at higher rates. Moreover, as education and technology are evolving, the subject matter printed in textbooks gets outdated and requires updating. Frequent revision of text is a costly process for publishers. Apart from printing newly revised editions, publishers have to bear the loss of recalling and dumping their old textbooks. Revisions and updations also affect students and teachers. In order to stay updated on the latest course, the student has to buy a new textbook. This high price is becoming a burden for students. A study reported that 67% of students skip buying textbooks altogether because of rising prices.2
In digital textbooks, updation of content on a regular basis is easy and cost-effective. The revision and updates are provided into the same file by connecting to the Internet. Like smartphones and computers, eBooks get updated without incurring any additional cost to the student. This reduces the monetizing cost faced by the student to stay updated on the new academic material. Even teachers and educational instructors benefit from the mass online library of all academic digital textbooks available in the palm of their hand at half the price. Also with availability of a collection of books that can be accessed through web portals such as Scribd.com and Kindle for a nominal monthly subscription. This has reduced the cost incurred of owning a digital textbook by 50-60 percent as compared to the cost of printed ones.
Another problem with the printed textbook is that they get easily damaged and have a low shelf life. Digital textbooks, on the other hand, do not have these problems and can be accessed for a longer period and at any place or instance on any device. Thus, making them an apt technology to use over time.
Talking about how the transition from printed books to digital versions took place. We can saIn the beginning when digital textbooks were introduced, they were the basic form of screen-rendered copies of printed textbooks. For example, a PDF version of a printed textbook. At that time, traditional textbook publishing companies were not much affected by these e-textbooks. For a traditional publisher, providing a PDF of a textbook became a marketing strategy to attract more schools and universities to buy their textbooks. During that time, even electronic readers were not that advance. Gradually the technology evolved and new upgraded versions of electronic readers (like Smartphones, Kindles, iPad, etc.) came into the market. Digital textbooks started redefining the educational experience by coming in a reflowable textbook format (EPUB and HTML) that does not maintain the layout of a traditional bound textbook. This made the text more dynamic and adaptable to the screen size, resulting in better readability. Epublishing and E-Textbooks became a rising industry in the electronic world which in turn brought audio versions of textbooks, a blessing for students with a sight disability.
Digital Books are constantly upgrading and Evolving for better usage and understanding of Students and Teachers. One such advancement is the use of Rich – Media Publishing tools. These tools were for smartphones and tablets, which, unlike traditional textbooks, made new upcoming Digital Textbooks more lively and interactive. The companies like Inkling, Vook, and AcademicPub that provide these tools and services were getting associated with education publishing houses, educational institutes including teachers and professors, as well as a group of academics who want to create original text. Now, even publishers realize the growth potential and importance of digital textbooks. And can see the vast pool of opportunities created for them through digital education publishing platforms. Apart from traditional print publishing, many known education publishers like Macmillan, Cengage, Pearson, Mc Graw-Hill have started working on digital publishing.
The apps (Apps Names) and services that were created using rich-media publishing tools offer the ability to generate content and publish it in a form that is unavailable with paper-based textbooks. This included content that can be resized and searched, and added links can navigate to related audios, animations, videos, 3D charts, interactive maps, continual updates, related games, and quizzes with instant feedback. For instructors, the tools offer various options for creating and presenting course material from various sources and making them interactive. Instructors can manipulate the content as per the curriculum, add online quizzes, and tests, and annotate and cross-reference content. 2
They have to evolve their business model in order to adapt to the change in the education industry due to digital publishing.
Digital textbooks are serving as study mediam for traditional face-to-face, online classes, and massive open online courses. Learning has gone much further, with the advent of interactive educational games, online portals, and mixed-media courses. Students are benefited from more ways to understand and immerse in the content.
Talking about transition from old. The transition from traditional to digital publishing is not easy and quick. Currently, there is a limitation to adopting hundred percent digitization throughout the world. Not all countries and their educational institutions and people are advanced and equipped with the required technology to access digital books. The internet access rate is very low among the population of the world. The transition from the traditional way of learning and teaching requires training and time to get used to and to build efficiency.
Age is another major factor involved Small kids cannot handle digital devices and technology. They need textbooks to study. For them, digital is a value add used by teachers or parents. Therefore, for primary and secondary education, digital is serving as a value addition along with textbooks. It’s only senior secondary and higher education institutes that can or are switching to these digital textbooks than printed paper-based textbooks. Therefore, traditional textbooks are still in demand throughout the world.
For publishers, this transition to a digital publishing business model will have both opportunities and concerns. In terms of opportunities, publishers will benefit by selling digital textbooks as digital textbook publishing is a streamlined and cost-effective publishing process. There will be the elimination of printing costs, costs related to buying or renting warehouses, or physical storage placed. There will be no loss due to damages or dumping of old printed books. Less expenditure due to a simple supply chain and online distribution. In digital publishing, tracking and predicting sales and the needs of consumers are easy. With the advancement of digital publishing tools, there will be new marketing and distribution opportunities. Unlike, traditional textbooks where the rates are printed prior, giving discounts to the major bookstores or institutes affects the publisher. The digital textbooks rates are managed online by publishers without any involvement of a lot of middlemen. Thus, great potential for making a profit. The potential for greater flexibility and interactivity of content. The potential for new levels of creativity to produce new and interesting features and products. 3
https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/404/ZP_Files/Innovate%2009/Articles/the-effect-of-digital-publishing.zp40045.pdf
Changing consumer behaviors and the further integration of technology gives publishers a wealth of angles, but it also requires some serious adaptation. The initial cost of transition is huge. This will impact the business of small publishing houses. In order to replace the whole traditional printing and marketing process, there is a need for extensive research, consultation, and experimentation. A publisher needs to find solutions for the alignment of digital and traditional intellectual property rights and the accompanying digital rights management (DRM) restrictions and expenses. The next concern is the selection of different electronic book formats and the confusion to choose the right format for updating new reading devices. There will be confusion around pricing models, as there is a lack of standards in pricing, and the complication of users expecting e-textbooks to be cheap or even free.
Therefore, to transit to digital textbook publishing is not easy and swift. The acceptance of digital textbooks will increase as per the development and acceptability of technology by students and countries. Still, there will always be a positive bent toward traditional paper textbooks. Digital textbooks and learning in today’s time will act as an interactive and great development that is complementing traditional printed textbooks. Though, every publisher should be prepared to gradually adapt to changes in digital publishing.
References
- Maxim, A., & Maxim, A. (2012). The Role of E-books in Reshaping the Publishing Industry. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences,62, 1047. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.178 (Maxim & Maxim, 2012, p. 1047)
- Echevarria, G. (2018, December 04). Almost 80% of the textbook industry is dominated by 5 publishing companies that make books so expensive most students skip buying them. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/why-college-textbooks-expensive-textbook-publishing-2018-12/?r=AU&IR=T
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