maybe i was just lucky. i went to a nontrad uni like the brit open uni. i didn't see Educating Rita til years later, but that's just about what my life felt like! :)
I couldn't afford books even though I'd gotten a scholarship awarded during high school but which I could never take advantage of til later in my life. even so, i couldn't afford books. the wasband used to give me $20/wk for groceries; it was n't forking over for college or books!
so, i got nearly every one of my books from the library. i used the local library and the state university libraries.
>MIT's courseware will probably be difficult to access, etc. etc. - but
>possibly, just possibly, with a bit of hacking it can be made useful.
>And then the useful stuff can be squirrelled off onto the far
>corners of the Internet (though no doubt that would be against
>the license agreement). I don't hold up much hope, but its better
>than nothing.
could be. but, my point was that it simply wasn't that noble a gesture. making that info available costs them nothing. and, further, hacking would have made it available to the very people who'd squirrel it away anyway!
>This, and the pressure on science journals to put issues online
>after a given period (e.g. 6 months) is a *good thing* in my opinion.
>If only something similar could happen to humanities texts - then
>maybe I could join in the quoting spree that you and Yoshie indulge
>in.
it's not a bad thing. it's a good thing. but it is new. it's an old aspect of the professions! it's an old aspect of the university system--to "donate" their knowledge. come one. universities have always done stuff like this. So, when Brad fawned all over the initiative as if it was some kind of noble gesture... please!
>Peter
>P.S. maybe I should go and register bitterautodidact.com right around
>now. :)
you're referring to me or you?
kelley