Amazon’s deal with UMass interests me.  There is probably no cause for alarm, but it seems suspicious that the UMass administration announced the deal with a single email during winter break.  The timing and the lack of fanfare make it seem like they are only grudgingly making the deal public.

I have used Amazon several times in the past, but only very rarely.  I like that they can offer me cheaper books than the textbook annex.  The annex has ridiculously overpriced books and I hate giving them my business.  It’s an uncomfortably hot building where I am treated with veiled hostility as a guard shouts about having to leave my bag in a front room where it is supervised by an apathetic employee making minimum wage.  After that, I have to sort through row after row of books looking for what I need.  When I have what I need, there is still a huge line an irritated cashier to deal with.  It makes for an unpleasant experience all around.

I don’t care about the Amazon deal as much as other people might because I hate buying books for school from anyone.  Freshman year, I asked my professor if I could use a previous edition of the textbook for the class.  She said no, I had to buy the new version right off the presses for a $150.  Junior year, my professor insisted that I buy a book that had just been published for $350.  No.  Hell no.  For me, textbooks are a means to access and learn facts.  Nothing more.  I don’t buy novels or criticism for classes.  I have never had a test asking about what Dr. Whathisface thought about DNA or the cell cycle.  I ended up pirating the $350 tome.  I felt no shame whatsoever.  I know for a fact that it didn’t cost that much money to make one book.  The markup on textbooks is ridiculous and I refuse to be treated a bloated cash cow for some company.