poho

I would be very happy to see more Supersizers. I learned a surprising amount between, y'know, all the drinking. The 80s episode was fan-blimmin-tastic.

The cost of digital isn't non-existent, sadly. The process for making digital books involves specialized workflows, specially trained staff, database and server maintenance and costs etc.

Digital texts aren't (well, shouldn't be) just copies of PDFs or print files. Print files have to be converted into XML so that they work properly on numerous devices. There's a lot of time and effort that goes into those conversions, checking that they're okay to run on publisher's own platforms as well as working on mobile devices (and goodness knows there's a million of those out there).

Digital workflows require typesetters that can convert files, TCIs developed by specialized staff, checks done by specially trained staff, staging and final platforms that have to be continually developed and maintained...all that's on top of what goes into the standard print workflow. Which involves copyeditors, proofreaders, at least one or two in-house editors...and that's without subject specialists needing to get involved (dose checkers for medical books, tablers for law books etc etc). A lot of people have to get paid. Then there's printing. That isn't cheap, especially for textbooks.

I do wish that this myth of digital being free would go away. It's not at all. Is the price of textbooks ridiculous? Absolutely, especially in the US. Is it cheap to produce an eBook? No, it isn't.

Source: Work in publishing. Am equally tired of companies trying to squeeze every penny they can out of students. But there are myths out there about the relative costs of producing eBooks, too.

Whilst it would be wonderful to see more affordable homes in Oxfordshire, particularly within Oxford and the ring road, how do you propose getting them built when there's such opposition to new builds in the area? I'm tired of developers proposing new accommodation and then my council tax being wasted on endless rounds of appeals (see Temple Cowley Pools, Port Meadow student accomodation, and Botley development as examples).

Houses in villages and towns are definitely a step forward, but when/where is the travel infrastructure going to happen? Once you're outside the ring road, the buses just don't exist, and commuting into the city becomes an expensive, time-consuming problem; just as costly as trying to buy or rent within the ring road. It's a pretty awful situation for a lot of young people who have a really hard time getting employed at a relatively decent salary, I really feel for them.

Thanks for answering my question, by the way! I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to people in a less traditional fashion, more candidates should follow your lead!