全港推行電子書 需逾50億公帑

明報新聞網-港聞-港聞--全港推行電子書 需逾50億公帑-20111214
I just don't see how it will cost this much money and takes so much time.

The first step should be focused on delivering current level of service and a simple elimination of paper books.  The electronic white boards and redesigned text books to optimize the new media is a good idea, but not urgent.  These can be done after physical books are eliminated.  In fact, after teachers and students are switched to electronic version of the current text books, they will generate much better innovations in improving teaching materials.  To eliminate physical text books, all you need are ebook readers, tablet computers or laptops for all students and teachers, plus PDF files of current text books ready to be downloaded.  All books now exist in electronic formats before they are printed.  These can be transformed into PDF, pub or other electronic formats with minimal effort and time.  What it takes is for the government to negotiate deals with current publishers for a license to use the material and fee for producing the electronic files.  This cost can be lowered through a leveraging the contract to produce the next version of text book optimized for the media.