Textbooks should serve two purposes for students. Firstly, they are an important resource in the teaching of a specific discipline. As such, they need to be well written, have numerous examples and problems, and be written on a level that a student can understand. Secondly, they serve as a valuable reference for students when they move on to other courses which use the material learned in that class. Generally, students were expected to keep their textbooks to build their own academic library as they moved through their education.
Right now there are several problems with achieving the desired results from textbooks at a college level. Many of these problems stem from the fact that textbooks are increasingly expensive and the subscription model is rapidly taking hold in academics. Students now rent their textbook (whether in print or electronic form) and then give the textbook back (or have it disappear from their device) when the course is done. Moreover, they are expected to pay dearly for the privilege of temporarily possessing the text. Additionally, textbooks are changed very rapidly through various editions to prevent students from using previously used textbooks for their course. Therefore, in many cases, a book becomes out of date within a few years of its use. All of this has put a heavy burden on students who are already paying very high tuition to obtain their education. While these are all large problems for university students in wealthy countries, the students from poorer countries face even bigger problems. Namely, the price for a good text is often so high relative to their income that buying a text becomes impossible. This puts academics in these countries at a great disadvantage, since they often do not have access to first rate textbooks.
These are major problems in the education of students, but many publishers are making record profits. In reality, the academics do all of the work in constructing the textbooks, the students pay all the money and the publishers reap all of the profits. It seems that in disseminating this information we can do without the middle man in this situation. The internet now allows for the free dissemination of academic information from academics to students. (Interestingly enough this was one of the original goals of the internet). We should take advantage of this.