Dr. Telly Kamelia 
If you only need the buying answer
The cheapest short-term route for Communication in Our Lives is rental, not the current print listing. The sampled eBook is also slightly cheaper than the print copy. That means print is not the lowest-price answer. The current print listing still matters because it sits below the sampled used-print market and below MindTap, which makes it a reasonable ownership route if you want a book to keep rather than just access for one term.
| Format | Source | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merybook | $60.89 | Check price | |
| Rental (90 days) | CampusBooks | $26.75 | Check price |
| eBook | CampusBooks market | $53.99 | Check price |
| Used print | CampusBooks market | $69.64 | Check price |
| MindTap | Cengage | $89.00 | Check price |
This is a classic “what kind of access do you want?” market. Rental clearly wins if the book is temporary. Print becomes reasonable only if you want a keepable copy and prefer it to the short-lived access routes.
What this book actually teaches
An introductory communication text matters because it helps students understand how communication works across relationships, groups, presentations, conflict, culture, media, and everyday interaction. A good book in this area is useful when it helps students recognize communication patterns in real life rather than just memorize chapter terms.
That can still make ownership worthwhile for some readers. Students who expect to revisit public speaking, group work, interpersonal communication, or media critique later may still prefer a print copy. But the market itself is saying clearly that the cheapest route is temporary access, not ownership.
Who should rent and who should buy print
Choose rental if your priority is the lowest possible first cost. Choose print if you specifically want to keep the book and do not mind paying more than the short-term access routes. In the current market, rental wins on cost and print only wins if ownership itself matters to you.
