Just in time for the new school year to begin, Google has begun allowing Textbook rentals in Australia in a bid to cash in on the lucrative textbook market in Australia.
The textbook market is a profitable one for publishers, and Google is looking to cash in, with up to 60% off on their introductory sale. The rental period is up to 180 days, with the rental period beginning after the rental transaction is completed. When Google launched their Textbook rental scheme back in August of 2013 in the US, they included books from well know publishers such as Wiley, Pearson, Macmillian Higher Education, McGraw-Hill and Random House, with the Google Play Books focus introducing rentals offering Australian specific texts as well.
Textbooks purchased from Google Play Books can be used most places, with Google offering their books on Android and iOS as well as offering Chrome apps and access from any web browser. The Google Play Books apps include tools which also allow you to look up phrases and spelling in the app, as well as use Wikipedia and Google Search. Finally, you can also make notes as you read and export them as required.
To find your required Textbook, you can search by Author or Title, as well as the more Uni-friendly ISBN number. But as with any purchase, shop around first, with a number of comments advising you can find cheaper deals on some titles elsewhere.
If you need to know more, you can head over to Google Play Books, or check out the Textbook rental support page.
I purchase quite a few books from gPlay (probably a few too many). One thing I have noticed is the quality. Words are broken (for example, I am reading a book at the moment where the word submarine is written as submar ine and submersible is written as submers ible). A few months ago, I read a Wilbur Smith book that had so many mistakes/errors (including sentences/paragraphs that was inexplicably broken in half .. I hope that makes sense) that it was almost impossible to read. So if Google cannot get good quality eBooks, how good a quality will these… Read more »