[Relsenlilky]

Because we value education.

[Qahtwugc]

Text books are ridiculously high. They were even I was going. Tuition reimbursement covers tuition, not books.

[Plaumpholavup]

If everyone had an education, it's value would drop dramatically. Biosciences are already seeing the problems with this.

[Dertrioz]

dashi, the problem with what exactly? What is the problem? OMG THE BOOKS ARE TOO CHEAP NOW! RUN FOR THE HILLS!

[expomeHattePe]

It's because US publishers have higher costs from having to print warning labels like "DO NOT EAT" on their textbooks

[Indessasp]

Originally posted by LordShiva
It's because US publishers have higher costs from having to print warning labels like "DO NOT EAT" on their textbooks

[elton]

Originally posted by LordShiva
It's because US publishers have higher costs from having to print warning labels like "DO NOT EAT" on their textbooks

[gIWnXYkw]

Originally posted by Pekka
You figure that's the first thing theyll teach kids to read as well? It's not working if they can't read. Images? That can cost a lot, plus with all the differencies in cultural context and whatnot, you never know what kind of an image you should relaly put there so...

MY NAME IS REBECCA. I DO NOT EAT.

How, precisely, does the Fourier transform of a function vary from culture to culture? Does the cardinality of the naturals change from Aleph Null to Aleph One if you move from the USA to India?

[Solo3uc4]

Originally posted by aneeshm


That should have been your response to my first post.

[biannaruh]

Originally posted by Pekka
You never know. If you put some fatass eating a cookie there will be law suits, "FAT PEOPLE ARE HUMAN TOO!" and "COokies, wtf? Cookies are the work of SATAN!". "WHY is that kid white/black/brown/yellow/etc"? "WH YCOOKIE THIS BOOK IS NOT COOKIE WHY CAN'T I EAT COOKIES? THIS BOOK SAYS SO."

YOu know... even the most simple things can become the most irritating and misunderstood. This is because people are idiots. Hey, if they weren't, you wouldn't have to print "DO NOT EAT" in the first place.

But since we're all about protecting idiots, this is the way it has to go. Here in India, we believe in maintaining the health of the race.

We believe in natural selection, as embodied by the adage,

"Remove all the warning labels, and let God sort them out."

[mr.calisto]

Originally posted by aneeshm


Here in India, we believe in maintaining the health of the race.

We believe in natural selection, as embodied by the adage,

"Remove all the warning labels, and let God sort them out." So did someone else who liked Indian symbols.

[payloansday]

I imagine they're cheaper over there because Indians can't afford/won't pay American prices. I know nothing about India (which is how I like it), but I imagine the people who work overtime milking horses or whatever so their kids can be the first in their family to attend college would set things on fire if they were charged the kind of prices we tolerate. We Americans are used to indebting ourselves outrageously for education, so what's another $400 or so a semester?

They're expensive over here because, unlike almost every other book purchase, which textbook to use is not decided by the person actually shelling out cash. It's decided by the professor, who probably gets a free promotional copy anyway, or by the department, which gets bombarded with free promotional copies by the publisher as part of their marketing campaign. So the decision of which textbook to use is based on the number of impressive names on the authors list, the color and number of fancy charts, the sophistication of those little CD-ROM supplements nobody ever uses, and pretty much everything else except price.

Plus college bookstores typically add a hefty markup of their own, since they're the only non-online source for these things and are almost guaranteed to have buyers no matter how obscene their prices. Most people leave off buying books till the last minute, which rules out ordering used copies online, and there are only so many used copies anyway. They come out with new editions every year or so (rendering a whole generation of texts obsolete and allowing professors to add another line of text to their list of published works), and lots of students are too lazy to bother selling their old books online. They just sell back to the college store for a terrible price at the end of the semester. College then turns around and sells the "used" books for about 90% of the new price.

SUMMARY for the tldr crowd: "Market forces."

[HsSp82U8]

That's why they have to make a new edition as well, every year... with few typos fixed, two more pictures,, just enough that some of the page numbers won't match .

[quack!]

SUMMARY for the tldr crowd: "Market forces."

Exactly. It's basic supply and demand. The demand is very high, because students HAVE to buy the books. There is, of course, a level of pricing to where students will pool resources and get one and make copies of the rest. That price hasn't really been reached for everyone yet.

Supply is, of course, low, because who else is going to buy these things?

[pprropeciaaa]

Uh, we pay tens of thousands per year for college. It's really quite obscene. Call it decadence if you want. :shrug: I'm just glad I'm finished with college. Now, if I could only get a freaking job...oh, and books are set and mandatory for most courses. Mandatory in name, at least. I've gone through courses where I didn't have to crack open the book once.

I suspect the market's still profitable because the book's already written (and sold at ludicrous American prices); they just get a tiny extra bonus printing and selling the same material locally, at Indian prices. Probably they hope that India, or portions thereof, will someday become wealthy enough to excrete money on education the way America does. They're building brand awareness, or something--I don't know economics that well.

[gniewkoit]

There's also a pretty vibrant second-hand textbook market in teh US.

[Auzuigcx]

Because we enjoy obscinities like eating cows.

[letittbe]

Originally posted by Perfection
Because we enjoy obscinities like eating cows.

[usaguedriedax]

Is there any place in India where there is something like the mediterranean climate? That is, where the winters are mild and the summers are hot but bearably hot (low humidity)? Just curious.

[sesIgnose]

If you are thrifty in the US, you can pass some classes by just taking notes. Literature classes are also easy because you can just find the books in digital form online.