Educators, Students and Parents Increasingly Frustrated by Costly Physics Textbooks

Kinetic Books Responds with Interactive Physics Curriculum at a savings of about 66% per student.

SEATTLE -- August 2, 2005 -- At colleges and universities around the country, students are paying $900 per year on average for their textbooks, and over $120 for a physics textbook. High school districts are dropping hard sciences and related lab classes because of decimated budgets. American students continue to lag their counterparts around the world in math and science achievement, at risk to fall behind in the global economy.

Seattle-based Kinetic Books Company today announced some relief for those struggling to balance quality education with insane textbook prices. Combating high prices, and already having demonstrated how they can excite students about a future in science, the company has created a comprehensive digital physics textbook that costs one-third the price of traditional print textbooks, and suite of virtual labs that allow for more student involvement and experimentation. At a starting price of $24.95 per student, these new products offer a quality alternative to expensive textbooks, and provide the dynamism and interactivity students seek today.

“Returning to using the school’s traditional, printed textbook after using the Kinetic Books electronic textbook was a harrowing experience, much like returning to school after a three-month vacation,” said a high school student who attended a Kinetic Books summer physics camp. “Beyond making physics enjoyable, the digital textbook made concepts a great deal simpler to understand without forfeiting meaning. My printed textbook, on the other hand, makes me feel like an ESL student in his first day of class.”

“A digital product doesn’t have the high paper and binding costs of a print textbook. Digital textbooks should and will be less expensive, just like Microsoft Encarta is so much less expensive and easier to search than print encyclopedias,” said Bruce Jacobsen, president and founder of Kinetic Books Company.

The digital textbooks and lab created by the Seattle-based company cover first-year physics and include hours of audio, hundreds of interactive java simulations, thousands of animations, hundreds of interactive problems and the requisite end of chapter problem sets. The textbook is a complete text covering all the topics from the top textbook vendors for introductory, two-semester physics curricula and is already in use by over 100 instructors and over 4,000 students across the United States and Canada.

“The current high-cost, static print textbooks do not allow today’s students to learn in the interactive environment they are accustomed to as a result of growing up in the ‘digital age,’” stated Jacobsen. “Students use technologies from graphing calculators to Google today. To them, the thought of a print encyclopedia is almost quaint. They expect search, animation, current content and animation in an encyclopedia. They have shown they want the same from their textbooks.”

“Our products have been designed with multiple learning styles in mind,” said Mark Bretl, Kinetic Books’ director of marketing. “Students are given a self-paced, self-assessing approach to experimenting with, and learning, basic concepts and problem solving skills. Using our products, students can experiment and learn what it means to be a scientist: They can plan and conduct a mission to Mars, or re-create Einstein’s major thought experiments.”

Kinetic Books offers three digital textbooks created specifically for different levels of introductory physics: Conceptual Physics, Physics for Scientist and Engineers and Principles of Physics. Kinetic Books' Virtual Physics Labs is a stand-alone product consisting of 16 labs, and does not require calculus or the use of the company’s textbooks. Some of the labs include planning a mission to Mars, and determining velocity using a multi-player cannon game.

In a new version, shipping now for Windows and Macintosh computers, Kinetic Books has included two new chapters on quantum and nuclear physics, as well as new features. To enable students to become further involved in the learning process, the products now also allow students and teachers to add notes and highlight text.

Both the textbook and labs are offered in four pricing strata, starting at $24.95 for individual pricing. Class Set, Computer Lab and Web Access pricing models are also offered. Evaluation copies are available for instructors at no charge. For more information about Kinetic Books' digital curriculum, visit the company's Web site at www.kineticbooks.com, or call the company at 877-4-KBOOKS (452-6657).

About Kinetic Books:

About Kinetic Books: Kinetic Books Company creates digital curriculum. Experiment with Kinetic Books' physics curriculum, or find out more about the company, at www.kineticbooks.com. For those who prefer to reach the company by phone, call 877-4-KBOOKS (452-6657) or at 206-448-1141. Experiment with Kinetic Books' physics curriculum, or find out more about the company, at www.kineticbooks.com. For those who prefer to reach the company by phone, call 206-448-1141.

Contact Kinetic Books Company:
Mark Bretl, 206-267-1756

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