We are in the middle of a ten-year shift in how technology is used in everyday life. And a large reason for that is that our younger generation (millenials, if you will) don’t know any better. Just like the telephone, television, and the automobile; online media for millenials is just there.

So a grand experiment begins on the main campus of UT. A pilot program that offers downloadable textbooks for select classes (free, for now) will begin this spring, hoping to drive down costs and reduce overhead and confusion. If the semester goes as planned, this program will expand.

For many students, this seems like the next logical step. Although personal computers aren’t required at UT for students, they are becoming the norm. Notes are taken on them…wireless access is available across campus…they have become a necessity in the backpack. So why not clear off a little room in the backpack to fit that laptop. And why not have that laptop also contain the textbook.

Although e-books aren’t as widely adopted as they were thought to be by this point in our society, UT makes the shift to making online reading of required texts an option. And that’s all we really want….the option.

Congratulations, UT.