Schools should switch to using e-books

Honestly, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here. Are you saying that every student would have their own personal eBook, or are you saying that eBooks would serve as textbooks (ex. a Science class needs 30 textbooks, so instead, they have 30 eBooks with the textbook downloaded on it)? Either way, it makes no sense to switch over. If eBooks replaced textbooks on a one to one basis, in each individual classroom, it would still cost more than a textbook. The average eBook costs about $200. That's more than a textbook, that costs around $70 to $140, which is a figure you gave. Plus, to download the textbook on the eBook would cost even more money. I already talked about why personal eBooks for every student wouldn't be rational. Here are some reasons from my Round 1 post. "Another reason why it wouldn't work is because it would be more confusing for the kids. When the kids in a certain classroom need a new book downloaded, they would most likely have to give their eBooks to their teachers who would download it overnight. However, they may need another book for homework that night that is on their eBook. It would be somewhat chaotic." "Another reason why it wouldn't work is if a kid broke it, it would cost more money. Let's set up two scenarios; One is where a kid has 4 textbooks worth $100 each, and the second scenario, is where a kid has an eBook worth $150 plus the 4 textbooks on it worth $100 each, a total value of $550. If the kid from scenario 1 breaks one of his textbooks, that's only a $100 fine. However, if the kid from scenario 2 breaks his 1 eBook, that's $150 to replace the eBook, plus the $400 to re-download all of the textbooks that were downloaded on the other one, a total fine of $550. That's a difference of $450, and considering today's economy, that is a lot of money." You said that schools can buy a license so the books can be copied onto each eBook when necessary. Well, how much money would that cost? That's just another extra charge that you wouldn't need to pay with regular books. Same thing goes with the charging docks. You don't need charging docks on each desk with textbooks. Your argument about no longer losing textbooks is invalid. A student could still lose an eBook. The difference? More books would actually be lost if an eBook was lost than just 1 textbook. If 1 textbook is lost, that only affects one class. However, if an eBook is lost, you lose all of your books for all of your classes. You argument about nobody wanting to steal books anymore is also invalid. A student could steal an eBook just the same as a student can steal a paper book. Same thing goes with putting graffiti on the product. A student can and might graffiti an eBook the same as a regular book. Here is something you stated in your last argument. "Dead-tree books can be destroyed in all the same ways as eBook readers." I didn't say that eBooks are easier to destroy than regular books. But it would cost more to replace an eBook than it would a regular textbook. Your figure for how much a textbook costs was $70 to $140. An eBook averages at about $200. Plus, to replace all the books on the eBook would cost possibly a few hundred dollars more. In today's economy, some families only make a few hundred dollars a week, so that's not a small amount of money at all to replace school material. In conclusion, it's more money for the school, more money for the kids. Why waste money?