When I was in school I was suprised to learn about "international editions". All the Indian guys that were in my research lab had the same books, but theirs had a black and white soft-cover and slightly worse print. Now that I'm overseas I find these all the time at a fraction of what I remember paying for textbooks. Who cares if they don't have a color hard-cover, the content that you're buying them for is the same.
The amusing thing is that they often have some text on them: "Nor for sale outside ". I've always wondered whether that's actually enforceable.
I will say that the *one* bad thing about them is their lack of durability. Keeping one on a book shelf in your lab or room is fine, but I'm not totally sure they'd get through an entire semester of being carted around in a backpack. The comment above about the Chinese texts being broken into parts is also nice in this regard as they're lighter to carry around *and* wear and tear is spread out across several different books. If only I could find book covers of some sort...
Besides, any half-decent student waited a week or so to see what a class was like. If the professor didn't really use the book and relied more on his own notes, etc. or if the book just plain sucked, well... then it's a purchasing decision. Or drop the class if it's that bad...
Seen a ton of these comments condemning setting foot in a McD's because they're filthy/smelly/diseased/whatever. I guess it all depends on where you hang out. In some parts of the world (Japan, for example) the McD's are cleaner, more pleasant restaurants than the average establishment in America.
Slashdot Mirror
When I was in school I was suprised to learn about "international editions". All the Indian guys that were in my research lab had the same books, but theirs had a black and white soft-cover and slightly worse print. Now that I'm overseas I find these all the time at a fraction of what I remember paying for textbooks. Who cares if they don't have a color hard-cover, the content that you're buying them for is the same. The amusing thing is that they often have some text on them: "Nor for sale outside ". I've always wondered whether that's actually enforceable. I will say that the *one* bad thing about them is their lack of durability. Keeping one on a book shelf in your lab or room is fine, but I'm not totally sure they'd get through an entire semester of being carted around in a backpack. The comment above about the Chinese texts being broken into parts is also nice in this regard as they're lighter to carry around *and* wear and tear is spread out across several different books. If only I could find book covers of some sort... Besides, any half-decent student waited a week or so to see what a class was like. If the professor didn't really use the book and relied more on his own notes, etc. or if the book just plain sucked, well... then it's a purchasing decision. Or drop the class if it's that bad...
Seen a ton of these comments condemning setting foot in a McD's because they're filthy/smelly/diseased/whatever. I guess it all depends on where you hang out. In some parts of the world (Japan, for example) the McD's are cleaner, more pleasant restaurants than the average establishment in America.
The trick is finding one that's smoke-free. heh