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Amazon.com has launched a textbook rental service, allowing US students to borrow print editions for a school term at up to 70 per cent off the price of new titles, but the education industry is expecting the growth of rentals to slow.
亞馬遜(Amazon)推出一項(xiàng)教科書租賃服務(wù)，允許美國學(xué)生每學(xué)期能以不超過新書售價(jià)70%的價(jià)格租用紙質(zhì)教科書，但教育行業(yè)預(yù)計(jì)租賃業(yè)務(wù)的增長將會放緩。
Book Industry Study Group research found that textbook rentals rose last year from 8 per cent of the market to 11 per cent, with a corresponding drop in new textbook sales, from 59 per cent to 55 per cent. There is also a sizeable second-hand market in textbooks.
美國圖書工業(yè)研究會(Book Industry Study Group)的研究表明，教科書租賃在整個(gè)教科書市場所占的份額已由去年的8%上升至11%，而新教科書銷售的份額則相應(yīng)從59%降至55%。此外，二手教科書市場的規(guī)模也相當(dāng)可觀。
Student Monitor, another research group, put rentals' penetration of the print textbook market at 13 per cent last year. Cengage, one of the largest US college publishers, predicted that this could double to 26 per cent by 2015 before flattening out.
另一家研究集團(tuán)Student Monitor的調(diào)查顯示，去年租賃對紙質(zhì)教科書市場的滲透率達(dá)到13%。美國最大的高校教材出版商之一圣智學(xué)習(xí)出版公司(Cengage)預(yù)測，到2015年該比率可能翻一番，達(dá)到26%，之后增長將趨于平緩。
However, Cengage also forecast that rentals' impact on higher education revenues would fall from 5.2 per cent this year to just 0.8 per cent by 2015. "We're beginning to see textbook rentals peak," said Laura Ricci of Outsell, a publishing research firm.
然而，圣智學(xué)習(xí)出版公司也預(yù)測，到2015年，租賃在高等教育營收中的份額將由今年的5.2%下降至0.8%。出版研究公司Outsell的勞拉•瑞西(Laura Ricci )表示，"我們將開始看到教科書租賃達(dá)到頂峰。"
This is because publishers are increasingly using technology to enrich traditional textbooks, and students are finding it easier to sell their used texts online.
這是因?yàn)椋霭嫔陶絹碓蕉嗟乩眉夹g(shù)手段使傳統(tǒng)教科書變得豐富多彩，而學(xué)生們也發(fā)現(xiàn)在網(wǎng)上出售二手書變得更容易。
"Users are beginning to expect more from textbook content [than] just words on a page," she said, pointing to the rise of interactive testing technology and other "full course solutions" as publishers such as Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, broaden their business models.
瑞西表示，"消費(fèi)者開始希望教科書的每一頁不僅出現(xiàn)文字，還要提供更多的內(nèi)容。"她所指的是，隨著英國《金融時(shí)報(bào)》的母公司培生集團(tuán)(Pearson)等出版商拓寬其業(yè)務(wù)模式，交互測試技術(shù)和其他"全課程解決方案"正在興起。
Existing textbook rental companies such as Chegg and BookRenter.com are diversifying, Ms Ricci added, saying they need not be threatened by Amazon.
瑞西補(bǔ)充道，齊格網(wǎng)(Chegg)和BookRenter.com等現(xiàn)有教科書租賃公司正在開展多元化經(jīng)營，它們未必會受到亞馬遜的威脅。
Mehdi Maghsoodnia, chief executive of BookRenter.com, welcomed Amazon's move, saying it would increase awareness of textbook rental services. BookRenter.com and Chegg offer similar discounts to Amazon.
BookRenter.com首席執(zhí)行官麥迪•馬蘇德尼亞(Mehdi Maghsoodnia)對亞馬遜此舉表示歡迎。他表示，這將提高人們對教科書租賃服務(wù)的認(rèn)識。該網(wǎng)站和Chegg提供與亞馬遜類似的折扣。
"It's a recognition that the reality is that 99 per cent of the educational market continues to use physical texts," he said: "To help students, given the increase in tuition fees, you have to lower the cost of textbooks."
"我們承認(rèn)，實(shí)際情況是99%的教育市場將繼續(xù)使用實(shí)物教科書，"他表示，"要幫助學(xué)生，鑒于目前學(xué)費(fèi)上漲的幅度，你必須降低教科書價(jià)格。"
According to the National Association of College Stores, US students spend on average $655 a year on required course materials. Multiplied by roughly 20m students in college, that suggests a $13bn market, BookRenter noted.
根據(jù)全國大學(xué)商店協(xié)會(National Association of College Stores)的數(shù)據(jù)，美國大學(xué)生每年在規(guī)定教材方面的平均支出為655美元。BookRenter指出，把這個(gè)數(shù)字乘以大約2100萬大學(xué)生，說明市場規(guī)模為130億美元。
Mr Maghsoodnia said by some estimates rental could grow to be half of the market by volume, although such a shift would reduce the overall market's value in dollar terms.
馬蘇德尼亞(Maghsoodnia)表示，根據(jù)一些估計(jì)，租賃業(yè)務(wù)可能將占到這一市場的一半，盡管這一轉(zhuǎn)變可能會降低以美元計(jì)算的整體市場價(jià)值。
Several publishers have worked with print and digital rental services. McGraw-Hill and Chegg announced a partnership in 2009, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced a deal on Tuesday with Kno, an education software company, offering year-long digital rentals of school texts for $9.99 or less per book.
幾家出版商已經(jīng)在紙質(zhì)和數(shù)字租賃服務(wù)上采取合作。2009年，麥格勞希爾集團(tuán)(McGraw-Hill)與齊格網(wǎng)建立合作關(guān)系。周二，霍頓-米夫林哈考特集團(tuán)(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)也宣布與教育軟件公司Kno合作，以每本9.99美元甚至更低的價(jià)格提供為期一年的學(xué)校教科書數(shù)字租賃服務(wù)。
Many college students still find that selling their print textbooks once they have finished with them is cheaper than buying or renting their digital equivalents, Outsell reported this year.
研究機(jī)構(gòu)Outsell今年表示，很多大學(xué)學(xué)生仍然認(rèn)為完成課程之后出售紙質(zhì)教科書要比購買或者租賃電子版教科書劃算。
