Today's electronic textbooks (e-texts) are technologically backward and over-priced. Yet publishers continue to press for contracts with colleges and universities that move toward the mandatory purchase by students of e-texts instead of printed books. The author lays out his vision for digital learning materials, explains the details of the present state of the textbook market, and argues that the current path of the publishing companies will lead them to failure. If the companies do not change, more visionary competitors will replace them.