First All-Digital Science Textbook Will Be Free

Science textbooks are born as clunky, out-of-date tomes the moment they roll off the printing press. Research simply moves too fast for the publishing industry to keep up. Digital texts could end this cycle.

Textbooks designed to be all-digital and interactive from the start (as opposed to simply converting print books) could bring not only salvation to schools because they’re easily updated, but also a revolution in how students learn science. Yet publishers are comfortable with a $5 billion-per-year college textbook industry that has recently seen price increases outpace inflation by more than 250 percent, and 99 percent of the market is tied to paper.

One not-for-profit organization is done waiting for the digital textbook revolution.


Read More