Comment by crazygringo
4 days ago
I would assume that a good chunk of students in poverty simply don't have a device that works well for consuming books on.
If you don't have a tablet or laptop, just a phone with a small screen, I can see people saying z-lib isn't helpful for them. That they'll just use physical books at their library. (And students without computers is definitely still a thing, that's why computer labs still exist.)
I can definitely imagine a lot of undergrads who would assume that if a book isn't available in their college library then they'd never need it anyways. (Rightly or wrongly.)
And remember that so many textbooks now contain a mandatory online component where assignments get submitted and tests are taken, so you're forced to buy it even if z-lib has it. (I'm not defending that... just explaining it.)
>And remember that so many textbooks now contain a mandatory online component where assignments get submitted and tests are taken, so you're forced to buy it even if z-lib has it. (I'm not defending that... just explaining it.)
It's a disgrace that universities are willing to use books that have been turned into consumable goods by single-use software or usurious saas rental messes.
Yes, this is how textbook manufactures sell to university. One time codes for online exercises / labs. This happens mostly for intro classes. I have no idea why universities do this, my guess is they are sold on hw problems being randomized so it makes cheating more difficult.
What I don't get is that 20 or so years ago there were professors writing online books meant as no-cost alternatives to the corporate publishing companies which controlled much of the academic market.
Why did all of those projects fail?
If you don't have a laptop, the place you live in / study at probably doesn't have a good public library.
Not a public library -- their institution's library. The context here is higher ed students in poverty situations, and I've never heard of a college or university (that isn't online-only, at least) that didn't have a library.