Yes, I didn't even mention that these "ebook" and "interactive platforms" are really just ways to eliminate the used book market so that students can't buy used books or use older editions that are 90% the same.
In a way, I'd prefer books that are licensed to just me and 50% cheaper just so I don't have to deal with selling books back at 40% of their purchase price.
They're only 50% cheaper because they want to make them more attractive than physical copies. If they ever kill the physical publishing they will charge whatever the hell they want for DRM'd digital copies again.
The actual printing/shipping costs are a rather small percentage of the full cost of textbooks.
States and State College systems should fund an org to create standard open text books for everyone to use. The content can be refined and tweaked with updated pedagogical techniques and knowledge as they develop.
The ebooks don't need to be bound by regular page numbers and the print books can be compact guides and references.
