The cost of college textbooks in the United States appears to be rocketing out of control.

Hoping to fix this problem, the California state senate passed legislation in 2009 requiring publishers who sell textbooks at California colleges to also offer those textbooks for sale in an electronic format. This e-book requirement takes effect on January 1, 2020.

Can digital textbooks provide a more affordable option for struggling students? Are digital textbooks superior to traditional page-turners in other ways? We may not need to wait until 2020 to find out.