The world’s beefiest politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has declared war on a new adversary: school text books. So what does this mean for the written word?

Just as the newspaper industry’s been working itself into a lather figuring out whether it actually has a future, so too have book publishers.

Perhaps not surprisingly it seems we’re all purchasing fewer of the printed tomes, preferring instead to get our information electronically. Amazon’s in on the act with its Kindle book reader and a range of other devices are either already on or about to hit the market.

Yet one of the last bastions of dead-tree information stores has been academic institutions where students have traditionally been forced to carry back-breakingly large text books as they strive to get an education.

But now we have actor-turned-politician Arnie decreeing that this too must come to an end. In an effort to bring his state back from the brink of bankruptcy, the big man has told children at California schools to ditch the books.

A report in the timesonline quotes the Governator as saying textbooks are “outdated and too expensive”.

Desperate to find any ways to save money, Arnie says texts will be replaced by electronic devices and the internet so students can have access to the information they need. With each supplied text costing the state between $US70 and $100, the move could mount up to big dollar savings.

But where does such a mandated policy leave the book industry generally? And what’s going to happen when it inevitably spreads around the world? Are academic publishers ready to move to a completely digital delivery mechanism for their offerings?

My guess is no. Text book publishers are not the most progressive companies on the planet, but if they’re not putting a lot of thought and planning into this trend they may well find their market swept out from under them.

What do you think? Should Australia follow Arnie’s lead and terminate texts?