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.