Amidst the hotbed of web startup innovation that is Austin, Texas, comes the news that the University of Texas at Austin will trial the use of electronic textbooks. According to Ars Technica, about a thousand students will participate in the trial next year and will get free access to e-textbooks that normally cost between $25 and $40, rather than over $100 for their print counterparts. If the trial is successful, the university could open up the program to more students, though not for free.
在德克萨斯州奥斯汀市的网络创业创新温床中，有消息称，德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校将试用电子教科书 。 据Ars Technica称，明年将有大约一千名学生参加该试验，他们将免费获得通常售价在25到40美元之间的电子教科书，而印刷版电子书的价格不会超过100美元。 如果审判成功，大学可以向更多学生开放该计划，尽管不是免费的。
Ars reports that UT’s estimated budget per student for textbooks each semester is $409 (which is ahead of the national average of $702 per year), and going electronic could slash that by up to 75%. Even without a used aftermarket, and adding in the initial outlay for an eBook reader for those that don’t want to read on a computer, that would save students a substantial amount of money over the long haul.
Ars报告说，UT估计每学期每位学生的教科书预算为409美元(高于全国平均水平每年702美元)，而采用电子技术则可将预算削减多达75％。 即使没有二手市场，也为那些不想在计算机上阅读的人增加了电子书阅读器的初始费用，从长远来看，这将为学生节省大量资金。
We wrote in August, though, that that isn’t always the case. A study by a handful of Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) found that digital textbooks “cost on average 39% more than a used hard copy of the same title bought and sold back online.” In order to sell most students on digital text books the benefit will have to be economic, and not just environmental.
不过，我们在8月写道，情况并非总是如此。 少数学生公共利益研究小组(PIRGs)进行的一项研究发现，数字教科书“的平ASP格比二手书的在线购买和售后价格高39％”。 为了向大多数学生出售数字教科书，收益将是经济的，而不仅仅是环境的。
The Student PIRGs laid out three requirements for digital textbooks in their August report that would make them work for students: lower prices, better printing options, and accessibility. That would mean ditching DRM restrictions that Ars Technica reports exist on some electronic textbooks, such as “limiting printing to 10 pages per session and texts that are no longer accessible after 180 days.”
学生PIRG在8月份的报告中对数字教科书提出了三项要求，这些要求将使它们适用于学生：更低的价格，更好的打印选项和可访问性。 这意味着Ars Technica报告在某些电子教科书上放弃了DRM限制，例如“将打印限制为每节10页，并且180天后将不再提供文本”。
As we noted last month, pairing free or cheap educational materials and digital textbooks with a low cost eBook reader will be a winning combination for students. That appears to be where we’re headed, so it is exciting to see a major university (Texas is one of the five largest by enrollment in the US) taking the first steps toward a future where textbook costs can be lowered by going digital.
正如我们上个月指出的那样 ，将免费或廉价的教学材料和数字教科书与低成本的电子书阅读器配对将是学生的一个成功组合。 这似乎是我们前进的方向，因此，令人激动的是，一所主要大学(德克萨斯大学是美国入学人数排名前五的大学之一)迈出了迈向未来的第一步，通过数字化可以降低教科书的成本。
翻译自: https://www.sitepoint.com/major-us-university-trials-electronic-textbooks/
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