College Textbook Company Goes ‘Digital First’

 

One of the he world’s biggest education company says it will release all of its books for the United States college market in digital form first. This breaks from traditional publishing, and from the more costly¹ paper versions of college textbooks.

Pearson, a British company, provides textbooks, class materials and testing. In recent years, changes in the U.S. market have hurt Pearson’s sales and profits, as more students are trying to save money by buying used textbooks.

Pearson’s sales have dropped each of the last five years. Thousands of people have lost their jobs, and the long-time business had to sell parts of the company to rebuild.

But now, there is good news for the company’s business. Earlier this year, it said it was offering less costly digital versions of their textbooks. The company aims to see its sales grow in 2020.

John Fallon, Pearson’s chief executive², told the Reuters news agency, “I am increasingly confident and excited about this.”

Going forward, all future releases of its 1,500 current U.S. titles will be “digital first.” The company will update the books whenever there are new developments in the area of study. Most printed textbooks are updated every three years.

Pearson’s current e-books cost about $40. Students can bay $79 for extra learning tools connected to the e-books. Printed textbooks usually cost around $110, but can cost as much as $300.

Pearson leaders believe the change to digital first will help the company have more predictable earnings³ because students may have less of a reason to buy used books.

Pearson said 62 percent of its earnings now comes from digital or digital-enabled products and services.

The move to digital will also help the company cut costs. Fallon said the change gives him the belief he can stabilize⁴ the U.S. college business, and start growing his company’s profits once again.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

digital – adj. using or characterized⁵ by computer technology

textbook – n. a book about a particular subject that is used in the study of that subject especially in a school

title – n. a published book

stabilize – v. to become stable or to make (something) stable: such as : to stop quickly changing, increasing, getting worse

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

5 characterized   

adj.[医]具有特征的v.是…的特征( characterize的过去式和过去分词 )；以…为特征；描述（人或物）的特性；使…具有特点（或最引人注目的特征）

参考例句：

• Mozart's music is characterized by its naivety and clarity. 莫扎特的音乐特色是纯朴兴清澈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The world situation is characterized by turbulence and intranquility. 世界局势动荡不安。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》