- University texts are expensive because of the short runs. Authors get only a couple of $ for $100 sales. - University texts are heavy. - Students are the ones carrying multiple books around daily. (all those scenarios of not needing to pack 10 books on holiday...)
Throw in the fact that students are a great segment to introduce these sorts of products to & it seems crazy that they haven't targeted colleges as the inroad for this product.
I mean if you could convince Universities that: - Lecturers can prescribe aby books they want without worrying about being stuck with early editions or the print houses running out. - Lecturers can publish books themselves without a minimum run & keep 4X the profit from 1/4 of the cost to students.
I mean they could almost make it a mandatory buy. Consider that over 3-4 years you spend approx $1000 (including buying & selling second hand), if they could sell college texts for $20, the total cost to students would be about 1/2 of the cost of hardcovers with reduced hassles.
Amazon seems not to give a damn about that market. I think that they didn't do well in negotiations with publishers. Apple might have done a better job there I think.