Open Source Textbooks Challenge a Paradigm

Article

by Chris Snyder

The cries of many college students have ended because there is a solution to the ancient problem of overpriced textbooks that at the end of a course has little value due to the fact it’s a used book or the professor is using the newer edition of the book. Flat World Knowledge is a company created by two former textbook industry executives who understand the business behind the textbook companies.

The textbook companies aims to make money by charging individual for “convenient” downloadable as well as a printout and study guides separately. Then after a certain amount of time change the old textbook to the newer edition which make the older textbook hard to sell. The current digital version of print textbook, is actually just as unaffordable and more of a lost because you cannot sell it back.

But Flat World Knowledge wants to create a site where books are online and free along with study guides on the related items. ‘“The nice thing about open content is it gives faculty full control, creative control, creative control over the content of the book, full control over timing , and it give students a lot more control over how they want to consume it and how much they want to pay,’” quoted Eric Frank who is a cofounder.

The funding for this project come form investors which includes authors and university trustee. The project has collected 750,000.

The official website will launch next January, which will be a test for business model over the next semester for a private beta with over 20 U.S. universities.

I think that this type of freeconmics is one that will lead the future. I love this idea, I just wished it was already out and running, it would have saved me a lot of money this semester and next.