On average, full time college students spend around $700 on books each year. This is a ton of cash for something you will use for a few months here and there. Books have been one way that college campuses have squeezed a little extra out of starving students for decades but with more and more students choosing to share, rent, sell, and buy books online the burden of cost that is imposed will likely go down over the next few decades.

I have read that some students will even buy the book they need - at a discount online, and then make PDF copies to hand out to their friends, some even leave copies up on the internet for other to use free of charge. I personally applaud these students for standing up to the colleges and printing companies who are making billions or more off of books each year.

I am glad the internet has been changing the face of this decades long rip-off. Looking back at my own college experience we would have to buy a book that we read maybe 1/3 of and then repeat the process each quarter. That is so much wasted paper, wasted time, and wasted money that could have been better spent on more important things (like eating). I hope that the scam of "new editions" that happens so often is finally put to rest by making books cheaper, digital, and more affordable over the internet. I personally would not mind seeing all text books in the future be completely digital - and available to all who want to learn. In the meantime, keep up the good work students across America!