Digital T extbooks They text their friends all day long. They do research for their term papers on laptops. But as they walk the path s of Hamilton College, student s are still carrying around bulky (笨重的) , old-fashioned textbooks — and loving it. “The screen won’t go blank,” said Faton Begolli, a sophomore. “There can’t be a virus. It wouldn’t be the same without books. They’ve defined ‘academia’ for a thousand years.” Though the world of print is decreasing before a tide of digital books and other websites, a lot of college students appear to be keen on traditional textbooks. That loyalty (忠诚) comes at a price. Students’ frustration with the expense of textbooks, as well as the emergence of new technology, produced confusing choices for obtaining them. Internet retailers, like Amazon, are selling new and used books. They have been joined by several Web services that textbooks to students. Here at Hamilton, students this year have a new way to avoid the middleman: a nonprofit website, which lets them sell used books directly to one another. The increase of stores and forms — including digital books, which are rapidly becoming more sophisticated (复杂的) — has made some students confused. After completing course selection, they are forced to weigh cost and convenience, analyze their own study habits and guess which texts they will want for years to come. “It depends on the course,” said Victoria Adesoba, “Last term, I rented for psychology, and it was cheaper. But for something like organic chemistry, I need to keep the book. E-books are good, but it’s tempting (吸引) to go on Facebook, and it can strain your eyes.” According to the National Association of College Stores, digital books make up just 3 percent of textbook sales, although the association expects that share to grow to 10 to 15 percent by 2012 as more titles are made available as e-books.