Digital text books have now officially arrived: The upcoming
school year will be the first without paper textbooks for
California, which has one of the largest school systems in the
nation. California is looking to close a $24 billion budget gap,
so it’s going to use online textbooks for its math and science
courses. Last year California spent $350 million on textbooks
alone. Online textbooks will be easily updatable and students
will be able to download their books to handheld devices like
the iPod. Poorer students present a problem for budget-crunching
California because the state will likely have to purchase
computers and readers for those families that cannot afford
them. You can be sure other states will be paying attention. If
the Golden state's move to online text books saves them money it
could become a trend across the nation as states seek ways to
tighten their belts and avoid raising taxes. What's more, this
is just one more giant step in the e-book revolution...