Well, I'm more cynical than most people about this.
It's always about monetization.
So follow the money. No, not the local budget. Goodness, no. That's small potatoes.
No-- where is the REAL money in education/supply chain these days?
It's in control of CONTENT. It's in licensing content-- not SELLING it.
Licensing, see, takes money again and again from the same customers. Because they don't actually OWN what you're selling. They just "rent" it for a defined period.
Software giants have recently figured this out, as well. That's why downloads have gotten SO much more popular. Hard-core DRM and built-in repeat customers.
The better question might be why schools are falling for this (fairly obvious, IMO) marketing ploy.
I mean, these are the same publishers that have been foisting awful textbooks on classrooms and curriculum selection committees for several decades at this point. If they can't generate reasonably good content over THAT time-scale, what on earth makes anyone think that they can do it with a faster-to-market series of products?
So I have no real idea what the driving force is on the school side of things.
