Budget Saver

E-books are the only way to save education budgets, according to a growing group of politicians, educators and publishers. In England, it is estimated that using digital-format textbooks could save the UK hundreds of millions of pounds and the jobs of thousands of teachers. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the record as saying that California's textbooks should be put online to reduce the $350 million it currently spends on printed books. Not only are e-books far more cost-efficient, but they also allow for easy updates, regional specializing and the embedding of video and audio. Add to that their ability to coordinate with online test-taking and a student's chance to digitally bookmark, highlight and search.