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    Joined: Apr 2013
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    Originally Posted by article
    The changes will be made in the textbook’s digital version and included in its next run.
    ...
    On the other hand, few students use the digital version, and as her son’s textbook is brand new (copyright year 2016), another print version likely won’t come out for another ten years...,
    This article's mention of the light use of the digital version of the textbook, plus previous discussion threads mentioning publishers going digital to save money and increase profits cause me to question whether the blatant error(s) in the print version of the book may have been allowed as a strategy to stimulate a drive toward greater usage of the more readily updated/corrected digital version of the textbook.

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    Wow, indigo, that's paranoid, but it might still be correct. It would not have occurred to me.

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    Seems like hindsight bias to me. I do not think they would have been able to accurately predict the public reaction. Such errors can also drive customers to the competition.

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    Originally Posted by Nyaanyaa
    Seems like hindsight bias to me. I do not think they would have been able to accurately predict the public reaction. Such errors can also drive customers to the competition.

    Quite the opposite, unfortunately. The misinformation is there on purpose in order to satisfy the demands of a massive customer: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/11/was-moses-a-founding-father/383153/

    As mentioned in the article, the Texas school board selections often go way beyond Texas.

    It must be remembered that parents are not the customer base here.

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    LOL, one person's paranoia is another person's familiarity with marketing history.

    Marketing can be an artful blend of making product changes appear to be driven by consumer demand and/or driven by research. The history of marketing is one of strategies to create a need, and then fulfill it. The process of creating a need can at times seem counter-intuitive or self-effacing.

    When a commercial enterprise is driving the consumer demand and/or research which creates the need which is then readily fulfilled by the commercial enterprise, some may inquire as to the true chronological order of events... what came first... the chicken or the egg... the planned change or the consumer demand/research?

    In this case, we see that McGraw Hill, long thought of as a "textbook publisher" no longer self-identifies that way, but rather as MH Financial and MH Education, "A leading provider of customized and adaptive digital learning solutions." whose webpage contains recent press release and posting with titles such as "... Accelerate Digital Conversion (6/29/2015)" and "Dear Students and Faculty: Please Go Digital (8/20/2015)".

    A healthy dose of skepticism is... healthy. smile

    Tangently related, an example of this type of marketing may be the undisclosed research which College Board claims has driven changes to the SAT.

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    Originally Posted by Dude
    It must be remembered that parents are not the customer base here.
    Exactly. The students/families/parents are the ultimate consumers of this product, however they are not the customers... the schools are. While US public schools are funded by taxpayers, there are many steps in-between, obscuring both transparency and taxpayer control/influence over the purse strings.

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    Dear Gandalf! I already knew our systems of education were a total mess, but it appears I ever overestimate the competence of the people in charge. . . .

    Breathe in . . . Breathe out . . .

    Well. At the very least school is ever improving, albeit slowly. We can call out such malpractices swiftly and find a global audience, and we can pressure companies to correct mistakes. Some errors have now been corrected in the digital versions; errors can more swiftly be corrected in digital publications. Those things, at the very least, are good.

    ETA:
    Originally Posted by dude
    It must be remembered that parents are not the customer base here.
    That I am actually aware of. But I naively assumed that the schools actually cared for precision and accuracy.

    Last edited by Nyaanyaa; 10/06/15 09:27 AM.
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    Originally Posted by Nyaanyaa
    Some errors have now been corrected in the digital versions; errors can more swiftly be corrected in digital publications. Those things, at the very least, are good.

    True. But what's not good is that a textbook can last up to 10 years, and those aren't being updated.

    And the alternative isn't very good either, because switching to digital content means the schools can no longer go 10 years between purchases, but must renew a content license every year. This is why publishers are so eager to switch to online publications, because they eliminate costs (printing) and raise revenues at the same time.

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    Originally Posted by Dude
    Originally Posted by Nyaanyaa
    Some errors have now been corrected in the digital versions; errors can more swiftly be corrected in digital publications. Those things, at the very least, are good.

    True. But what's not good is that a textbook can last up to 10 years, and those aren't being updated.

    And the alternative isn't very good either, because switching to digital content means the schools can no longer go 10 years between purchases, but must renew a content license every year. This is why publishers are so eager to switch to online publications, because they eliminate costs (printing) and raise revenues at the same time.
    Schools have also started to use Khan Academy, which is without financial cost; the development will hopefully continue in that direction with more such opportunities. If so, publishers will be forced to adjust. There are also platforms like Avaaz that can apply immense public pressure on corporations and policy makers to drive positive change, as well as support.

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