Electronic Textbooks Must Be Available in California by 2020

According to recent legislation, companies that sell textbooks in California must make digital versions of the books available by 2020. Senator Elaine Alquist, the author of the law claims that it will significantly reduce costs for students.

I'm mostly scratching my head: what's the point here? And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the effort, but there's really nothing more to it.

One thing for sure, it just supports my opinion that what is necessary for some people, it greatly helps others. People with disabilities will be able to receive the books in electronic format in California by 2020, while hopefully it will be major cost savings for most students in California. The oldest people this legislation will effect are the ones who are in the process of learning to read and write today. However, the legislation did not mention people with disabilities, therefore the accessibility of the digital versions will have to be ensured somewhere else.

While this legislation says that digital books will have to be available in 10 years, it has another reading to it. For a whole ten years, it is not even mandatory to make them available electronically. And what I don't see here is why exactly ten years. In December, 2009 Amazon closed Christmas day stating that people purchased more electronic books than paper books. Of course, one Christmas day at Amazon does not make statistics. It is not an average day, and it is not the only place where you can buy books. But while it is not considered to be statistics, it is history. So, electronic books are out there, together with the need for being sold.

Though this legislation does not mention people with disabilities, it clearly states that in fact, it is not talking about all books, it does not include novels, for example. From my college years, I remember having to purchase novels, for hundreds of Dollars, for history, language, or culture classes. Those people, who pick the "wrong" major will continue purchasing the paper books.

Also, let's consider for a second how are those paper books printed. Mainly, from an electronic source. The reason why many visually impaired people are not able to enjoy different titles electronically is not because those do not exist, but because the publisher did not provided it to them as needed. So, what the legislation is delaying for the next ten years is something that's already out there, but this way it does not have to be provided, unless under reasonable accommodation.

What do you think? Am I too pessimistic about the situation? Will this legislation bring more advantages people than what I thought it would?