Even into this computer age, textbooks are overwhelmingly hard copies that are distributed. In American colleges, many students complain of unreasonably high textbook costs, commonly $100 USD or more. In American K-12 schools a local school board often has a deciding vote on which textbooks are purchased, and often many levels of people have a say and influence in what should or shouldn't be said and how it should be presented, leading to textbooks that are often of limited effectiveness for learning.
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