The great thing about my undergraduate career was that it whirled by SO fast. That’s because I was enrolled in classes that lasted a quarter—around three months give or take a few weeks. That system served my intellectual curiosity well because I was able to take a lot of classes in a short period of time. (I was enrolled in the University of California, which has since reverted to the semester system.)

The one complication of the quarter system for me was the number of textbooks I had to buy. That was a tremendous expense on top of everything else. Currently, I am very interested in the state of the publishing industry given the proliferation of digital tablets, smaller laptops, smartphones and of course, e-readers like the Nook and Kindle. So, what companies are taking advantage of these “game changers”? Whose business model is adjusting to tip the revenue scales in their favor?

Two companies have caught my attention. One is the “old” standby, textbook rental service Chegg.com and the other is upstart competitor Bookstep.com.