No more homework, no more books...

Half of that familiar childhood cheer may be coming true faster than many of us thought, but not in the way most kids wanted.

As one way of dealing with the state's budget crisis, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is resorting to greater use of digital textbooks. No more lugging around a bagfull of oversized tomes: digital texts weigh nothing, cost less and can be updated instantly with the latest information (what's that? Pluto's not considered a planet anymore? No, sweat. I'll just hit "delete").

There are drawbacks. As pervasive as computers are, not every family has one. About one out of every four Americans does not have Internet access. What do they do? Yes, you can give them physical textbooks, but in doing so, aren't you telling the entire school population which students have Internet at home and which do not? Are you, in effect, calling out the poor?

I don't mean to reject the idea of digital textbooks. Broward County is starting to use them in some classes, and as far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of time before they become the norm. Is now the right time?

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