As Jay and I start writing the 11th edition of our OM text, we are excited about a whole variety of changes and additions we plan to make. But one discussion we have now had for over a decade is how to deal with the way students want to learn. And this always leads to the growing interest in e-books.
Our books have been available in an e-book format for a dozen years now, but students still buy, in overwhelming quantities, the printed text. This is despite the fact that students using our MyOMLab assessment software get a free version of the book on-line. Our editor just sent us an article from The Chronicle of Higher Education that may explain it.
The article opens with this line: “The vast majority of students say they prefer print textbooks over electronic ones, and attitudes have not shifted markedly in the past year”. The recent survey shows that 76% of students would pick a printed book over an e-textbook if given the choice. About 13% of the students had purchased an e-book, but most did so because their prof required that version. Why would that be, we wonder?
Maybe it’s because students are still uncomfortable with the technology. Only 8% of students own an e-reader device. Or perhaps the right 
technology has yet to hit us. I just reviewed the Kno and think it may be the machine that makes note-taking and interaction with the internet more comfortable to many of us. After you watch a 1-2 minute video at www.kno.com you may want to show it to your class and see what they think. Would you like your copy of the 11th edition delivered on a Kno?