Everything Costs

I know that everyone needs to make a living, support their families, blah, blah, blah BUT, why do all of the good, used-to-be free resources on the web require subscriptions.

I think everyone needs access to a good grammar handbook. I also think that grammar handbooks are ridiculously expensive for what they are-- rules and examples. I will agree with publishers that some are much better than others. Some are "pretty." Some truly are handbooks for dummies they are so easily laid out. But still, they are over-priced. There used to be a couple of pretty good e-handbooks that were online, and so I would refer my students who couldn't afford a paper copy to those resources, but alas, now one must subscribe. Honestly though, what's the point of giving someone an ebook when they buy the paper book? Either the student will only use the e-book, and the paper book will sit somewhere on a shelf lamenting the trees that died so it could collect dust, or the student will never bother with the e-book because he/she will get familiar with the paper book and experience doubt or hesitation toward the e-book. When I asked a publisher about just buying the e-book-- he said that it's the same price as the paper book-- that doesn't seem right-- no trees, no ink, no shipping-- A student can buy just the paper book, but not just the e-book, but it doesn't matter because it's all practically the same price.

So, now I'm looking for company that lets students view a grammar book, and uses advertisements like every other commercial site.

ps-- yes, I know about Purdue's OWL-- I just like having multiple options, and I would like to find an online book.