The textbook pictured to the left, Marketing Research, I purchased for $180. A book, for $180. It is hard cover and printed in color on fancy glossy pages. Because I guess students absorb information better if there are pretty color pictures on fancy expensive paper. They also had to pay designers to layout these pretty pages and had to pay for the use of photos in the textbook, or so you would think.
Now despite the fact that the textbook companies could print these in black and white on cheap paper and still convey the same information to save the students money, or charge the same price and make even larger profits, because the students have to buy the book regardless. Despite these easy routes to cut costs, apparently they still decide to do it by stealing the stock art in the books. This was the picture I found in the Marketing Research book. (click for larger image)
It is harder to tell from this lower resolution scan, but the picture in the book is extremely pixelated, which actually caught my attention before the obvious iStockphoto watermark did. Now, I realize it is kind of going out on a limb to say that the image is stolen, it is possible that whoever layed out and proofed the page just didn't realize that they were using the low rez watermarked image that they had actually payed for. Although that would be hard to believe because of how obvious it is, it isn't a complete stretch as there are many other typographical errors I have come across in the book. Errors happen, it is excusable, but this is the 6th edition of the book. Should not they have caught these errors sometimes in the first five editions? Should not each edition be improving on the last, they would not just be releasing new editions to undercut the used book market would they? Or say they actually did steal it to save costs, this image would have cost them $12. They are willing to compromise morals to save themselves $12 but not willing to print black and white or on uncoated paper to save the students any money? $180. I could have bought a hand held device that is capable of picking up invisible radio waves out of the air, can process billions of electronic instuctions in a second, understand my handwriting my voice and communicate with satelites in space for that price. Instead I spent it on some paper with 'pretty' possibly stolen pictures printed on them.
